KnowHow2Go

The above link is for high school students wanting to prepare for college and it is for high school students of all ages. It gets them in the mode of thinking about college. There is a lot of good information and it is presented in a format that is attractive to kids.  Take a look!
KnowHow2Go.org is the web site or click on the link above…

My Advice for Parents of College Students is to think creatively about what your student will need for their life on campus.  We think about school supplies, sheets and towels but what are the small things that will make a big difference?

Monogrammed towels and robe will keep theirs separate from others… Having an inexpensive printer in their room will save late night runs to Kinkos to print out a research paper.

I have read the blogs, talked to second year students and researched the internet and I have come up with a comprehensive list of College Essentials. For easy shopping visit my products page on collegeworks101.com

Review my list and add to it, if you have suggestions!

1.      Wide Clear Tape

2.      Batteries – All sizes

3.      Flip Flops for the shower

4.      One set of flat ware – spoon, fork and knife

5.      Flashlight

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Procrastination affects 90% of all college students with 25% of college

students being chronic procrastinators. These are the students that drop out.

A student can only go for so long before they have burned all their bridges,

and no excuse will work.

College diplomas are not given to the student that did not complete the

requirements. It is an easy formula. The student does the work.

Passes the courses and then gets the diploma.

So, what is procrastination and how can you as a parent help your college student?

Procrastination, pure and simple, is the avoidance of doing a task. Of course, this is

accompanied by feelings of guilt, inadequacy and self doubt. Procrastination will interfere

with personal and academic success.

Procrastination is letting a low priority task… get in the way of a high priority task….

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AskAboutCollege.com connects your student to Current College Students, so they can Ask Questions and get Real Answers about the colleges you’re interested in!

Your College Freshman might want to check this out or your High School Senior can start gathering information on future college choices. It is never too soon or to late to talk to someone that has recently been through the college experience. Same for parents. This is a family affair.

A good read for parents is No Sucker Left Behind

A college education is the second largest investment you will probably make next to your home. There are many hidden costs of sending a student to college. This catches parents off guard and unprepared. This book gives you a heads up and some tips on how to handle the high cost of a college degree. This is not to scare off parents but I am all about gathering information. With information, you can tackle the financial expectations successfully.

Dan Serra, a retirement planning specialist for Rainsberger Wealth Advisors, has five simple financial strategies for your college student that I thought was worth passing on…

He suggests fiscal responsibility by putting together a plan to manage financial affairs during the college experience.

Some tips he shares: Using Amazon.com or Craigslist for buying used text books (there are many sites online for used text books); Getting around campus on a bicycle -it is more prudent to have a car when you graduate to get a job than as a student; Protect yourself by having medical insurance; Save for emergencies such as student trips, your computer is stolen etc…; And No Credit Cards - a better option is a debit card.

My next posting is more advice of preparing for the hidden costs of college.

Is it okay, if I just keep sending you information and tools that I find on the internet that will help both you and your college student? Many of these tools are great for high school students developing good habits for college, too.

Homemaker Barbi - http://www.homemakerbarbi.com

Not all of the tools available on the internet work for everyone. It is a good idea though to look at everything and then decide what works best for you. Share these tools with your student. Maybe they will use them, maybe they won’t. It is up to them. They have to decide what works for them… This is important, the student decides this. As parents, we can just offer a variety of tools for their tool box!

I ran across this great resource, an article from US News and World Report.  Click here.

Sue Shellenbarger has a great article on kids that wander off to college with a lack of life skills.  Read it…

Did you know that the mother bear will protect, provide milk and teach her cubs everything she knows for 2 years…? But…she will not provide them food. When she catches her salmon, she eats it. She does not share it with her cubs.

So what can we learn from the Momma Bear? We can teach and protect but we also need to step back and let our cubs, our college students, catch their own fish. This is how they learn. College students build their self confidence by doing. Sometimes they goof up, but this is how they learn. We provide the fishing lessons, they provide the fish.