In our house the countdown starts on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The day our kids go back to college/school after Turkey Day is when we start thinking about having them home for the extended holiday break. We circle their respective dates of return on the calendar and allow our spirits to be lifted by the promise of three weeks of family dinners, game nights by the fire, trips to the movies, and when the weather cooperates maybe even a day or two on the ski slopes at nearby Sugarloaf. Continue reading “Home for the Holidays”
Category: College Parent FAQs
Phoning Home: Reflections on Sunday Night Calls from College
When our boys are away at school we are practitioners of the Sunday night phone call ritual. In the age of cell phones, I’m not entirely sure how or why this age-old tradition has taken hold for us, but it has.
Most weeks John, our college senior, calls somewhere between 7 and 9 p.m. He updates us on the week that was. His mother passes along the news from extended family, fishes for random bits of information about his social life, and covers the transactional business (e.g. banking, online shopping, doctors’ appointments that need scheduling, etc.). I ask about the weekend, we talk sports (usually the Red Sox as well as some other seasonal happening – how his fantasy football team fared, March Madness, etc.), and make travel arrangements for when he comes home on breaks. Continue reading “Phoning Home: Reflections on Sunday Night Calls from College”
Survive and Thrive: Navigating the End-of-Semester Crunch
December is officially here. Snow is falling in central Maine. It will be dark by 4:15 – just one of the many benefits of living within spitting distance of the arctic circle. The last of the Thanksgiving leftovers are either gone or inedible. And the fall academic term is drawing to a close at colleges across the United States.
With end-of-term assignments coming due and exams fast approaching, campus coffee consumption and late night pizza sales are on the rise, sleep and laser printer cartridges are in short supply, and literally millions of students are taking part in the centuries old tradition of putting off their school work by cleaning their dorm rooms for the first time since parents’ weekend. Continue reading “Survive and Thrive: Navigating the End-of-Semester Crunch”
The Inside Scoop on College Admissions Interviews
There was a time when the college interview was as much a staple of the application process as taking SATs and writing essays. As colleges work to attract bigger, more national and international applicant pools, though, interviewing prospective students has become increasingly costly and logistically challenging. Still, many colleges value direct, personal interaction with prospective students and include interviews as part of the process. As a result, colleges employ a wide range of different approaches to interviews for prospective students. Continue reading “The Inside Scoop on College Admissions Interviews”
The College Parent Trap – Rantings and Advice About Parenting College Students
Okay this is for my fellow parents of college students. Can we talk about mixed messages for a minute? From the moment our children sprang forth into the world we have been told in every way imaginable to be attentive to and engaged in their education and development.
Read to them. Get the right mobile to hang over the crib. Read to them. Get toys and games that help them to learn. Read to them. Get to know their teachers. Be a classroom volunteer (read to them and other people’s kids). Coach youth sports. Chaperone field trips. Follow what they are learning and partner with their teachers. Encourage them to read. Be involved with their school community. Continue reading “The College Parent Trap – Rantings and Advice About Parenting College Students”