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It doesn’t matter if you have a freshman or a senior, once you have a high schooler in the house, you know the college experience isn’t far off. There are many things that your high schooler can get ready for in the years leading up to any on-campus adventures they might be planning.
As a parent, it’s important to do your best to prepare your young adult for the adventures and challenges that await. With that in mind, here are a few ideas for ways that you can prep your high schooler for college as you count down the years and months before their first day of class.
Prepare Them to Make Decisions
As your child, your teenager has probably spent most of their life being told what to do — especially when it comes to big decisions. Even good parents who teach their kids to be independent still need them to live within reasonable boundaries and expectations if they want their household to function.
As they get older, though, your kids need to start making decisions on their own. College is one of their first opportunities to have major input on their future.
As that shift from following to making their own decisions takes place, it’s important for parents to be proactive about stepping out of the way as the “decision-maker.” Instead, shift into the position of a counselor.
When it comes to college prep, a parent can do this by bringing up important subjects early on. Ask what degree your teenager is interested in pursuing. What classes do they want to attend? Can they take any advanced placement courses, college prep work, or CLEP tests to help with that process?
As they prepare to pick a college, don’t decide for them. Instead, equip them with the right tools to make a wise decision.
For instance, High Point University has created a useful college tour checklist that they can use to prepare for college visits. The checklist is also great for parents to use throughout the college search process. From what questions to ask to how to know when it’s a right fit, this resource can equip your high schooler to make a good decision for their future. You can also show them a college tuition calculator to help them gauge the cost of each option, which leads us to our next suggestion.
Teach Money Management
A financial crisis has been brewing around universities for years now. For most students, the college experience consists of “spending money to make money.” This promise of investing in a degree in order to earn even more money in the future is true for some. However, if a young adult heads off to college without a clear plan in place, they can often end up saddled with significant debt by the time they get their degree.
As a parent, you can help to avoid this outcome by teaching your child proper money management skills before they leave home. This starts with basics like how to maintain a budget.
Budgeting may seem challenging for a student. After all, it’s difficult to manage income and expenses when you don’t have much of an income and your expenses consist of significant student loans. However, ignorance isn’t an answer.
Encourage your teenager to face the reality of their financial condition head-on, not in a pessimistic way, but in a realistic one. Help them ask tough questions. How can they keep their expenses down? What’s the difference between a want and a need? Can they pick up a side gig to help them earn more or will that impact their studies?
Along with basics like budgeting, you can also help your child search for scholarships, grants, tax incentives, and other academic discounts. This can reduce the financial pressure of college and help your kid stay focused on their degree while they’re on campus.
Teach Sound Ethics and Moral Standards
It’s no secret that college is a place where kids push the boundaries. As they find themselves away from home for an extended period for the first time, they learn to take control of their own lives.
This process consists of a lot of decisions, many of which can be influenced by undesirable factors, like peer pressure or a fear of rejection. That’s why, as you prepare your child for college, you want to instill a purposeful sense of ethics in them.
If you’re thinking, “I’ve been doing that since they were born,” think again. All parents teach their children about ethics when they’re young, whether it’s on purpose or inadvertently through their own behavior — or both. This is an important part of early development, but at a young age, this is merely instructing your child to reflect your own beliefs.
What we’re talking about here is making sure that your teenager doesn’t just know what your ethics and morals are. They also need to sort out their own standards, too. As a parent, it once again falls to you to come alongside your young adult and encourage them to think about the question of ethics.
What do they believe is right and wrong? Why? Challenging your teenager to think about these things in the safety of your home will help them make wiser choices once they’re out of the covering of your own roof.
College is a huge part of any person’s life. As your teenager approaches those formative years of their young adulthood, make sure you’re doing your best to help them.
Build up their decision-making confidence. Help them develop their own healthy code of ethics. Teach them sound money management. That way, once they’re off on their own, they can start the independent maturity process on the best foundation possible.
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