Is your child college ready? While academic success in school is a good indicator regarding your child’s college readiness, there are many life learning skills you can teach your child to help them get ready for the responsibilities and challenges of college life.
Independence
Do you have to prod your child to get them to do their school work? Once they go to college, they won’t have anyone to stand over their shoulder and make sure that the ‘i’s are dotted and the ‘t’s are crossed. You’ll need to start teaching them to work independently at home so they can work independently when they aren’t home.
One of the main goals in schoolwork should be independent working. You can set up a whiteboard where your child can write their assignments and due dates for projects. You can also reward them for jobs done well and on time without your having to nag or help them.
Maintenance
Can your child do his own laundry? How about cooking a meal? These and other life skills are important to their success in college. Teaching them young means that when they go to college, they won’t have to take the time to learn these basic tasks instead of studying. These skills will also serve them throughout their lives as these are tasks that need doing whether they are in college or not. The fact is that it is harder to learn these skills while also trying to improve academically.
A chart by age can be a handy reminder for you of what your child is capable of, and at what age they can do certain tasks. This will serve them not only when they go to college, but all their lives.
Time Management
If you have not taught your child time management skills, they may well lose their way in college. Children need to be able to devote time to tasks they may not want to do before they go off to do more fun things. If they do not have this ability, they could well run into trouble in college. Even the most intelligent kids need to be dedicated to doing what must be done before what they would like to do in order to succeed. Having these skills will serve your child not only in college, but in whatever career they end up in.
How can you teach this? Here are several ways from Today’s Parent:
- Create a study area so your child can focus
- Help them use a calendar to keep due dates in mind, and help them put blocks of time on the calendar for work-time
- Talk to them about the benefits of focusing on their work, and let them fail if they lose that focus and get in trouble as a result
- Make sure your kids get exercise, healthy snacks, and plenty of appropriate rest
Study Skills
If your child can’t study efficiently, they are going to be set up for failure when they go to college. Make sure you help your child learn to study so when they go to college they will be ready to tackle that Partial Differential Equations class to the best of their abilities.
Check out the Education Corner to discover your child’s learning style, improve note-taking skills, use effective listening techniques, and more. Having these skills when they go to college can really have a positive effect on your child’s college experience.
All of these skills are important to the success of your child both in and out of college. If you’re worried about your child’s preparation for college beyond the academics, contact us. We will be glad to talk to you about what your child needs to know in order to succeed in college and beyond.