S/o: what are you doing to prepare your kids for college?

[gatorsmom]

I think it's a good question too. Like you, neither of my parents went to college. So I had to learn everything on my own along with the intermittent help of a quasi interested older sibling.

When your kids are young, you don't necessarily need to think about college. But as they get older, I think there is definitely a place for encouraging them to explore their interests in various ways and suggesting opportunities that may help them learn about their passions AND help them create a resume for colleges.

I focus on older DD because she is much closer to college. I don't want to push things on her, but I also don't want her to miss things that I think she might enjoy or would help her decide if a career path is for her or not.

Thank you. . Regarding the bolded, this is what is hard for me with DS2. He has some athletic abilities (he thinks quickly on his feet), but he says he doesn't like any sports. He won't go a camp without either his older brother or younger brother. He has so much potential but pushing him never works. His personality is really preventing him from experiencing some great opportunities. (Or maybe it's anxiety but the therapist will figure that out).

[stefani]

DS is 11 years old now and we haven't really done anything specifically for college admission. The school seems to plant the seed about college though, they have college week, career week, etc.

[Gena]

DS is going on 11 and in the 5th grade. He is significantly impaired by multiple issues, including autism, ADHD, visual impairment, and language processing difficulties. I honestly do not know if DS will go to college, but we do everything we can to keep that option open for him. We make sure the IEP team knows that we want college to be an option for him. We have fought For the past several years to keep him on track to earn a regular diploma. Currently, DH and I are doing classroom observations at the middle school to decide the best placement for next year. The first placement the special ed coordinator recommended would have taken him off the diploma track and we quickly rejected it. DS is not at grade level in all subjects, but we are pushing for his placement to be both accommodating of his needs and academically rigorous at a level appropriate to his abilities.

We we plan for DS to stay in the public school system until the age of 22, as allowed by IDEA. This should let him complete the graduation requirements, receive some vocational training, and work on skills needed for college. The next step will depend on his development, skills, and interests at that time. We, and his teachers, think he could do very well at the community college or maybe even one of the small, local 4 year schools in the area. He would need a lot of support, both through campus disability services and in the community at large. DS enjoys walking around the community college campus and we talk about the possibility of him going there one day.

Other than that, we just take it one step at a time and see where this journey leads us.

[TxCat]

Beyond cultivating a strong work ethic and giving them the opportunity to explore extracurricular activities they love (music, sports, drama) - absolutely nothing. I want my kids to be well rounded and hardworking. I am confident that they will be successful, and will have no problem getting into college.

I agree with this 100%.

[HannaAddict]

Well, going through the application to middle school process here has been more work, and I'm not kidding, than when I applied to college and law school many moons ago. He took a two or three hour entrance exam, wrote five or six essays, has been on required school visits from two - seven hours at a time (where he had to work with other kids, write essays on the fly, and be interviewed). At age ten. Crazy, yes, but how it is to get into an independent school in a city where I guess everyone had a baby his year and wants to go to private. Not to mention our parent essays and interviews. Aaack. Almost over.

This definitely has made him more cognizant of what is coming for college someday. We will make sure he has the tools he needs, gets an excellent high school education, sign him up for test prep if needed, is able to visit colleges, and maybe consult with a college placement person (more for hand holding than anything else). And all things I didn't know about or have access to even if I had known. We let our kids try different sports but haven't pushed them. We are not tiger parents, but more sloth parents. They have less structured activities than most of their friends. But first he has to get into middle school (6-12 programs). It has been a stressful and crazy fall and winter (have to attend all the open houses once or even twice before launching the app process). I'm not looking forward to the big college push at this point.

[Globetrotter]

In the earlier grades, we just exposed them to a variety of opportunities and they tried different things until they figured out their interests. They have quit a lot of things. DD once paid me $80 to quit dance as I had already paid for the recital outfit.. She absolutely refused to go back. It's maddening at times.

We are fairly laid back compared to most of our peers, and our kids don't like to be pushed ( who does?). For example, ds's school had a competition in a subject that he enjoys. At first he didn't want to do it and got mad when I suggested it, so I laid low and he agreed at the last minute and won, so then he agreed to go to the next level and join a team. He complained about waking up early on a weekend for a competition, but then he got into it and now he wants to do it again. Dh asked him if he wanted to do an Olympiad (no, then yes, then no) and he finally did it, but dh left it up to him and now he's excited about it because he thinks he knew a lot of the answers We started him on an advanced math program that our friend recommended. Dh does math with him for fun, but the minute it became a structured activity he lost interest in that program so dh went back to just talking about it casually. At first he complained about tennis, which he now loves. We go through this every year lol Sometimes it clicks but we walk on eggshells around him.

DD is in high school and sticks to the tried and true. She won't join a single club, but she does well in the things she has chosen and is committed to those, and she is very focused and disciplined irt academics. She sets high goals for herself, so we actually have to tell her to relax! The other day we forced her to come with us for lunch to get a break from studying.

[khalloc]

Nothing. I make sure my kids do their schoolwork, thats about it. And they are involved in a few recreational sports over the year (soccer, baseball, basketball). Thats about it. I think its crazy to think about college this early, beyond just making you child take school seriously and do their homework. I'm not worried about them getting into college. Is it really that competitive now? I figured if you have kids with As and Bs on their report card, and they are somewhat active in activities, that they will get into a few places. I am not striving for an Ivy League education. I'd be happy if they went to the state University where my DH and I and his family went.

[TwinFoxes]

I just remembered this story, about the principal who canceled the annual Kindergarten show so they could keep studying to become "college and career ready." He needs to read this thread!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...-ready-really/

[Simon]

I'm really glad you asked this and would love to talk about it. My oldest is only in 3rd grade but I spend *a lot* of time thinking about this and learning about the college prep/application process. We will need a lot of merit aid for college and my oldest has some anxiety issues though he is very bright. We will need to choose a college for him more carefully than my happy-go-lucky son who really can bloom where he is planted. I will come back and say a more later about what we're doing.

[blisstwins]

Aside from saving for college, we are not focused on college specifically. Unfortunately, where we live admissions to public schools is competitive and exam based from kindergarten forward. So we are also thinking about what the most immediate admissions step is and right now we are doing practice tests for the state exams that are used for middle schools. Actually, that is a lie. We are practicing grammar because it is on the exam they have to take and their school does not do enough of it.

As far as other things go we are academically oriented in general. Since my children were little they took supplementary classes at a local university and attend a summer camp there for a few weeks. The take classes like chess and "zombie science" (beginner epidemiology). I suggested we take a break this semester because I am tired and they flipped out, so these are fun classes that expose kids to interesting topics absent from the classroom these days (because of the emphasis on testing).

So far they seem to have strong work habits and great curiousity--cultivating those traits have been what we have really focused on.