It’s always important to find ways of educating your child outside of the classroom. Why? Well, there are often some things that aren’t covered in the classroom and it’s also a case that when your child is one of many in a classroom, they might not always get that 1-2-1 attention you feel they deserve.
That’s why it’s useful to do what you can as a parent to provide them with as many opportunities for educational resources as possible.
Here are some top tips to educate your children at home in 2023.
When it comes to education, private schools are well-known for their rigorous academic standards and top-notch curriculum. However, while any private school’s theoretical aspects are essential, much more goes into creating a thriving educational environment. This blog post will cover some of the fundamental essentials needed to have a successful private school.
My daughter loves books. Her joy of reading began in grade school and she still loves reading and collecting books. Books never get old and there are so many to choose from. If your student is into digital versions of books, there are many programs available as well.
I’ve done the research for you and each link has multiple suggestions for you and your student. I hope these books are helpful and will be great additions to your library.
College stress happens to just about everyone – if you’re not stressed while in college, there’s probably something wrong! It’s just a combination of responsibilities and things that all add up to make you feel super tense and overwhelmed. Especially as you’re not used to living college life at all – it’s the first time you’ve ever been away from home, you have to be more independent when studying, and the course content is a lot harder than in high school.
With all of this considered, what can you do to manage college-induced stress? Here are three tactics that seem to work really well:
With any project or goal, you look to the experts to help you reach success and achieve the goal. These five experts know all there is to know about creating the perfect college list.
What’s Critical in a College Admission Checklist
According to Lynn O’Shaughnessy of The College Solution Blog, using a college admission checklist is critical when your child is applying to colleges and universities.
Allowing a teenager to apply to any colleges without a solid game plan can be a financial and academic disaster.
There are five college check-list items that you and your child should accomplish before sending out applications. If you’ve already submitted your applications, you can definitely still do some of these tasks:
Debbie Schwartz of Road2College.com offers parents advice from multiple college experts and points out with thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, finding the “perfect” school is a seemingly impossible task for any high school student and their parents.
Many college hopefuls have their eyes set on a particular dream school, while others may feel overwhelmed by endless options varying in size, location, reputation, and expense.
Applying to and gaining acceptance to colleges is daunting enough, let alone deciding where to attend in the fall.
So how exactly do you make the right decision?
Keep in mind that the true secret to college success is not necessarily attending the most selective or prestigious university.
It’s finding the right school for you where you can be your best self. And much like with dating or job-hunting, there is no one-size-fits-all college, but instead, a number of potential great picks for every individual student.
In this article, you can find the answers to these questions:
Katherine Price of Great College Advice, reminds parents and students that picking the final list can be a daunting task. One way to narrow things down a bit is to really look into the academic departments at the schools you are interested in. Since academics is one of the most important aspects of attending college, it is important that students feel connected to the curriculum and the major that they could potentially be studying.
When looking at college academics, consider these topics:
Jeannie Borin or College Connections, reminds us that in conducting the college search, it is important to make sure a college list is well balanced with “reach,” “50/50” and “likely” colleges that fit the student’s profile academically and socially. Thorough research is necessary to be sure that students are applying to the right colleges for them. The research will also come in handy when completing applications and when answering essay questions that ask why an applicant wants to attend that college.
Here are some helpful tips that should help in your college search:
I always recommend that parents and students take a close look at the college statistics.
You might be surprised to know that in addition to all the factors students use to choose a college, there is one they might overlook: statistics. While location, major, campus appeal, and others are certainly important statistics will help you and your student make a more informed college choice.
Why statistics? Statistics will help you determine some of the key factors involved in choosing a college. With statistics you increase the odds of your student being accepted, receiving more financial aid, and graduating on time. You can also determine the class sizes, the freshman retention rate and the odds of finding a job after graduation.
Numbers aren’t everything, but consider these eight important stats when you and your student are looking at schools:
We all have dreams in life, and these often start when we are young.
When you were at high school, you may have had visions for your future, of the places you wanted to get to, and of the person you wanted to be. Hopefully, your dreams were realized.
So, let’s think about your teen. What are their dreams? What do they want in the future? And what colleges are they considering to achieve their future ideals?
As the parent, you need to be in a supportive role – the person who encourages their dreams, and not the person who crushes them.
In your role, these are some of the things you need to focus on.
Don’t be dismissive of your teen’s choices
Remember that your teen’s dreams may not necessarily equate with your dreams for them. Too many kids end up in colleges and careers they didn’t want, and that is because their parents have pushed them in directions they didn’t want to go. So, don’t be that parent who forces them down a path they are resistant to. If you catch your teen looking at the preflight checklist for pilots on the pages of an aeronautical university website, or if you hear them talking to their friends about colleges for the performing arts, be supportive. Don’t tell your teen that such career choices are pipe dreams, unrealistic, and not for them. Show them you support their choices, and if the colleges they look at really aren’t beyond the realms of reality for them, encourage them to take the right courses at high school that will meet the requirements of the colleges in question.
Encourage them in their education
As we suggested above, help your teen make the right choices when it comes to high school courses, especially if getting grades in these courses will qualify them for admission into the colleges they like. And when they are taking these courses, encourage your teen to work hard. If they need to study for tests, and if they need to write essays, remind your teen of their college goals every time they slacken off. Help your teen with their courses when they are struggling too. Be there when they need your help to study for tests and exams. Be there when they need your advice on a paper they have written. And be there whenever an obstacle arises that could potentially cause them to fail their course. The more help you can give them at high school, the greater the chances of them getting the grades they need for college.
Make their dreams become a reality
You can do this in all kinds of ways, from helping them find the right colleges for them, to helping them fill out their college applications. Take a look at the advice we gave on our site about what you can do to coach your college-bound teen too, as there is much you can do to prepare them for the next stage of their academic life. You can teach them some of the skills they will need at college, for example, and you can help them prepare for the pre-college tests they might need to take during the application process. The more you can do to support your teen, the better, so while you shouldn’t be overbearing within your responsibilities, you should still steer, gently cajole, and encourage your teen to ensure their dreams can come true.
High school juniors may be wondering how the pandemic will affect their college plans. Your student may be asking:
How is this virus going to affect my future college application?
Are these abridged AP exams going to count?
I worked so hard this year, took a rigorous curriculum, but now how can this pass/fail grading highlight my improved grades?
My prestigious summer program was just canceled—what can I do for the next several months?
With all the seniors currently asking for gap years, will this mean there will be fewer spaces in future years?”
These are all valid concerns. Most of these questions don’t have black/white answers yet and as each day passes, colleges are making decisions that will most likely answer all of your questions. Your student can take comfort, however, knowing that every junior is facing the same challenges and concerns. They aren’t alone in their uncertainty.
We can’t know the future, but we can deal with what we know now. As time progresses, the options will change, but for now, here is some helpful information:
Standardized Testing
The June SAT and SAT Subject Tests have been cancelled. You can click here to see the up-to-date information. As it looks now, they are planning tests for August 29, September 26, October 3, November 7 and December 5. If schools don’t reopen in the fall, the College Board will provide a digital at-home version.
The ACT test that was scheduled for April 4 was cancelled. You can reschedule your test date here for June 13, July 18 or schedule a future test date.
To account for all the disruption, colleges will most likely decrease the weight that standardized test scores carry in the admissions process. That being said, if you are able to achieve a high score despite disruptions, you will have an advantage among other applicants.
For the 2020-21 application cycle, many colleges, including selective ones, may choose to move to test-optional admissions. This means that applicants are not required to submit any standardized test scores.
You can find a list of schools who are currently going test-optional here.
Academics
The majority of students are now engaged in online learning. Because of this and the decision by most schools to use pass/fail grading, grades from the second semester of junior year will not count for very much in the admissions process. If your student has an option to take a grade for the current semester, I would advise them to do so. If not, colleges looking to see growth in a student’s profile will focus on grades from the first semester of senior year instead. If your student is applying early, colleges won’t have first semester grades available.
Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities, especially ones offered through schools and the ones that require face to face interaction, have screeched to a halt. Colleges are aware of these challenges. However, students who find ways to remain engaged despite the pandemic will stand out.
Just because you can’t participate in the normal activities, be creative. Here’s a list of ways you can still volunteer locally:
Project LiveNotes – deliver a “musical telegram” to someone in need.
Even though you haven’t had the chance to visit this spring, you can still visit virtually. Connect through social media with current and past students and ask questions about their college experience. You can find them on the college websites, instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Considering all your options
Since the impact of the virus has certainly changed everyone’s outlook on the future and possibly affected your family financially, your student might want to consider some alternatives to the traditional path to college. Talk to your student about taking a gap year and working at an internship or job, going to community college for the first two years and transferring, attending classes online, or even looking at the military as an option.
Other things to consider
Colleges may choose to accept a higher percentage of next year’s applicants early in an effort to lock in more students. Or colleges may also be looking at their list of deferred students and hold spaces open for them in the upcoming class. Financial aid may also be affected because of less alumni contributions with less money to spread around. Colleges will also be feeling the financial impact of the virus and have less money to give as merit aid.
We all want the best for our children. As soon as we know they’re on their way, we start making purchases to meet all of their needs once they do arrive. We do our utmost to get them into the best schools so that they can have more choice when it comes to what they want to do in terms of career and their future. But there are other things you can do besides securing them a spot in a great school that produces great results. Here are a few things that you can encourage them to do to increase their skills, their abilities and their knowledge. Just make sure not to be pushy. If your child doesn’t enjoy something, don’t force them to do it. Instead, find something else enriching that they’re actually passionate about. This will create the happiest and most rounded child in the long run.
Encourage Them to Learn Another Language
As your student enters school and continues through high school, the best time to learn another language. Generally speaking, children do tend to pick up new languages more easily and quickly. Learning a language encourages an understanding of different ways that grammar can be used. It creates a wider vocabulary. But most importantly, it encourages an appreciation and respect for other cultures, as well as an ability to communicate with others who may not speak the same first language as your child. In the long term, fluency can help them to spread their wings, increasing their job opportunities when they eventually begin to look for work. Many Private Schools will have a wide choice of languages to offer, but smaller schools with more limited funding may have more limited options. Nowadays, learning languages, however, can be easy to do at home online. Language learning apps and software are constantly improving and your kid could genuinely pick up a second language through Rosetta Stone, DuoLingo or Babbel.
Introducing Them to Music
Learning an instrument is a truly impressive skill. It can also provide social opportunities for your child, as they may grow up and have fun joining orchestras, bands or other musical groups. Music comes hand in hand with a host of benefits mentally too! It significantly improves memory, as the mere act of learning how to play an instrument places a high-working memory load on you. They’ll need to remember how different notes sound, where to place their hands on the instrument to create those notes and what order to play the notes in. As well as this, playing an instrument intrinsically encourages improved hand-eye coordination. Your little ones will have to learn how to play without looking at their instrument – instead, reading from music sheets instead.
These are just a couple of different activities you can encourage your students to get involved with to maximize the scope of their education. They’ll greatly benefit from either. If they’re not interested in these options, there are plenty more out there. It might just be a matter of a little trial and error before you find the perfect option for them.
While there are no single shortcuts to academic success, there are fortunately a number of beneficial ways for students to actively increase the chances of it. Here are the best techniques to encourage your college-bound student to stay motivated and achieve.
Start Preparing Early
It’s widely known that successful students are often those who are forward thinkers. Before leaving for college and starting the first semester, encourage your student to research the syllabus of the course and learn what it entails, such as the deadlines and dates of any essays or exams they will have, as well as any academic books that they may require. Building forward thinking structures such as this can prepare them for the organisational skills that they will need at college.
Learn Effective Note-taking
Note taking is a valuable skill for college life and can make the difference between passing and failing an exam. Numerous studies surrounding students and note taking have proven that those who effectively take notes remember the material better than those who don’t. Students that write down everything that their professors say can prove to be inefficient. It’s best to encourage them to take time to actively listen and jot down the most significant points that can aid their study, and to review and organize their notes to ensure that they are coherent for when they need to refer back to them.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Extra Help
Most colleges offer an array of support services to make the student experience as helpful as possible. While it can be rewarding to feel academically challenged, it can sometimes cause unnecessary stress which can affect student’s overall work quality and performance. If applicable, encourage your college-bound student to attend workshops, one-to-one meetings with their professors, academic writing classes, or even online course training and exam preparation websites such as https://www.athomeprep.com.
Embrace New Opportunities
Keeping an eye out for academic opportunities such as societies and work experience through flyers or social media can greatly impact your student’s academic success. Getting involved can enable students to be recognized, network with others, and learn new invaluable skills that can be instrumental to their desired future careers. It can also be a great way to meet like-minded people and quickly make new friends!
Learn the Art of Balance
While putting effort in at college equates to success, it’s important to remind your college-bound student that their well being should remain a priority above all. Students who spend all their time studying may begin to neglect their sleep, nutritional habits, physical and mental health, as well as their social lives. This can result in the feeling of “burn-out” and can even induce feelings of anxiety. College life can easily be balanced through allowing well-deserved breaks from studying, and smart time management. For example, it can be useful to create daily reminders in digital calendars on their phones and laptops to outline their schedule and set goals, as well as know when to organize study days and rest days.
I was in Starbucks the other day and I saw a group of teenagers come in and order triple espressos before school. Now I love a good espresso every now and then, but I got the feeling this was nearly an everyday occurrence with these teens. Could this affect their GPA?
Does coffee affect your student’s ability to excel academically? What about their sleep habits or the drugs they take to stay awake?
A survey was conducted of over 1,000 current college students to determine how their sleep and energy habits affect their GPAs. Is the exhaustion that comes from an all-nighter truly the price students have to pay for good grades? Does that extra cup of coffee offer an advantage over the sleeping student? And what about prescription ADHD medications? Their findings may surprise you.
Here are some excerpts from an article and supporting graphics of the survey results by Best Mattress Brands:
Coffee
With millennials continuing to push coffee demand to record-breaking amounts, studies also continue to reveal the health benefits of the beloved beverage, so college students may see little harm in their caffeine consumption. Drinking coffee can provide an immediate rush of energy to make it to early classes or stay awake late enough to hit the books, but the craving for a boost may be more harmful than we realize. Not only is the extra caffeine in the body’s system preventing a good night’s rest –– also it can negatively impact a student’s GPA.
Our study found as students consume more daily cups of coffee, the lower their GPA becomes, on average. While coffee may provide energy and allow for extra study time, lack of sleep that may result from caffeine can take away from the body’s ability to form long-term memories.
Sleep
the less sleep a student gets, the lower his or her GPA, according to our survey results. While the scientific community still debates the exact purpose of sleep, previous studies have shown that quality sleep is vital for a healthy body and mind, especially when it comes to learning and memory. It shouldn’t be surprising then that students who sleep eight hours or more on school nights see an average GPA improvement of 5 percent over those who get five hours or fewer of sleep each night.
Skimping on sleep may masquerade as a legitimate trade for an increased GPA, but lack of sleep actually increases stress levels instead, while GPAs drop. The long-term benefits of crawling into bed sound much more rewarding than forgoing sleep to cram for another quiz.
Prescription drugs
Adderall and Ritalin have become known as “study drugs” that help students concentrate and stay awake. Although these drugs are used to treat individuals who struggle with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, their use has spread to students trying to better their grades. But do these drugs live up to the hype?
The study again found that sleep to be a better source of energy than stimulants. The 9 percent of current college students who had a prescription for Adderall or Ritalin slept less and earned a lower GPA on average. Understandably, these drugs often correlate with certain learning disadvantages, so a lower GPA may not be surprising.
