Is your child entering college soon? How do you feel? If you will ask me, I’m half-excited and half-anxious.
I’m anxious because I fear about my daughter’s safety and of course, I fear about the cost. Although we were saving for a long time for my children’s tuition fees, you still wouldn’t know the total cost of it until they are there. Although my kids are enrolled in a public Science high school, there were costs involved when they make projects or when they go to school trips and so much more, not to mention the school service they take to get to their school.
When it comes to safety and security, this is excluding the pandemic, I’m assuming, praying and positively thinking that by the time my eldest enters college, all of these Covid19 pandemic is all over (fingers crossed). Security is very important for us that’s why I avoid reading tabloid news full of news about crimes involving students. If we have had the way, I would have enrolled my girls to a self-defense class but the pandemic hit us that’s why all these preparation plans were put to a halt.
But we have to make do and still prepare for my eldest daughter’s college days happening soon and so here I am sharing my tips on how we help her prepare:
- Help your child choose the college course EARLY
We’ve started talking to our kids more seriously about college long before, and that was before they even entered high school. College courses these days require that you choose the correct high school STRAND or else you will need to take a bridging program and we wanted to avoid that delay. Since they passed the entrance exam in a Science High School which offers only STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and ABM (Accountancy, Business and Management), the kids planned to take a STEM related course.
2. Help them choose the college course they want to pursue according to their skills and passion
As parents, I think it’s inevitable for us to choose a course for our kids that are focused in salary, and even the kids sets their eyes on those, dreaming of the things they want to buy etcetera. Who doesn’t dream of having a high-paying job, right? But as parents who have tried working in a corporate set-up and then shifted to a work-at-home job, we are matured enough that it’s not always about the money. Choosing a successful career depends on so many things and that includes the right working attitude, skills and opportunities. But still, all of these start with one thing – the correct and sufficient educational background.
3. Talk to your kids about what they want and the realities of life
Set a time when you should talk to your kids about your finances and how you plan on helping them through college. On our case, we usually talk about these things whenever we can or when it’s appropriate like while we are eating dinner or on the road if we have an opportunity. When the kids are aware of how you work hard for them, more or less they will feel the importance of their college life and choices will be.
4. Help your kids to do well in high school
This applies more importantly these days since some colleges will be basing their acceptance on your child’s grades in highschool, apart from entrance examination results. But on the other hand, I can attest to it that I did well in college because of what I’ve learned in my HS alma mater. You wouldn’t realize it until you are in college but the things that you learn when you were younger, we call them “stock knowledge”, you will benefit from them as you go along your college subjects.
5. Help your kids to study and review and better yet enroll them into review schools.
Helping kids to review doesn’t always mean submerging into lots of review books or answering sheets. What I do is I try to involve them into reading or watching or maybe going to places where they can learn facts or triva where they seem to be weak at. For example, watching trivia programs like Discovery Channel (which they like) or maybe going to museums, or going to historical parks.
I also recommend getting them into review schools especially if the entrance exam seasons is near. Some of the review schools we tried were Experts Guides and Brain Train. Deciding to go into review schools should always be agreed by the parent and the kids or else, your money will go to waste.
Always make your kids feel that their future is important to you as parents not because of what they will make and give you in return in the future. We prepare them for college because it’s their first doorstep into the real world and their success in college will give them a head start in the career that they dream to have.
Everyone of us has been given our own purpose and by helping our kids find their path through college, we also help them find theirs.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
