Parents & Family

January

Transition Issues
1. Readjust to leaving again
2. Getting back in the swing of campus life
3. Rethink level of campus involvement and commitments

Tips for Successful Parenting
Ask questions. Most students still want their parent(s) to express interest in what they’re doing; they still seek your blessing for what they want to do. Ask open-ended questions that allow them to tell you details while maintaining a healthy independence. Honest, open questions will do a lot to foster a relationship based in trust and support.

Posted by Matt Burchett at 10:51 AM | Permalink

December

Transition Issues
1. Concern about academic demands – finals & projects
2. Talk about expectations for holiday break
3. Anticipation of food, sleep and seeing friends

Tips for Successful Parenting
Expect change. Change is not only inevitable, it’s expected. Your student will experience new relationships, academic challenges and cultural events designed to broaden their worldview and contribute to their understanding of how they can be engaged in the world. Change is good; it is supposed to happen.

Posted by Matt Burchett at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Transition Issues
1. Excitement about Thanksgiving holiday
2. Talk about family traditions & rituals
3. Registration for spring semester

Tips for Successful Parenting
Phone calls about low grades, difficult relationships or ruining a favorite t-shirt in the wash may be tough for you to hear, but none of them are the end of the world – yours or theirs. Be patient when you get those “nothing is going right and I hate this place” calls. Your student needs a listening ear more than anything.

Posted by at 08:58 AM | Permalink

September

Transition Issues
1. New relationships
2. Testing new freedom
3. Money, Money, Money

Tips for Successful Parenting
Being homesick is often just as much of an issue of you missing them as it is for your student. The first few weeks of college are packed with events to help students become engaged in campus life. The challenges of meeting new people and learning the campus culture take time and energy. Even if they don’t tell you, they miss you. Let them enjoy these experiences without having to worry about you.

Posted by at 03:10 PM | Permalink

May

Transitional Issues
1. Final exams
2. Missing college friends over the summer
3. Packing up to move out

Tips for Successful Parenting of New Students
Hang in there! Finishing your first year in college is a big deal! It’s a great opportunity to celebrate your student’s accomplishment. Students with a year of college under their belt are not the same ones you moved to campus a short 10 months ago. Though they may still seem like a “kid”, they’re well on their way to adulthood.

Posted by at 12:38 PM | Permalink

April
Transition Issues
1. Finalize summer plans
2. Final projects

Tips for Successful Parenting
Summer is just around the corner, and it’s time to finalize plans for the break. Will they choose to be a camp counselor, take a summer internship, or come home to work &/or take classes at the local college? These are all decisions that you’re encouraged to be a part of, but are primarily the student’s to own.

Posted by at 09:28 AM | Permalink

March

Transition Issues
1. Distracted by spring weather
2. Pending end of the year projects
3. Student leadership options for Fall

Tips for Successful Parenting
Spring is here! Flowers are blooming and the weather is great – a real distraction after being cooped up over the winter months. There are Frisbees to be flown, naps to be taken on the lawn, and, oh yeah, tests and papers to prepare for. Understand students’ desire to feel some seasonal freedom while encouraging them to give class work the best they have.

Posted by at 10:33 AM | Permalink

February

Transition Issues
1. Plans for Spring Break
2. Plans for summer employment or summer school
3. Do I still want to major in this?

Tips for Successful Parenting
Spring Break is right around the corner. Most students have been thinking about any number of options they might have; going home, staying on-campus to make extra money, or heading to the beach with friends. This is a great opportunity to talk about their plans, as well as share your expectations about things like financing a trip or what they might do if they come home.

Posted by at 01:43 PM | Permalink