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I wanna plow crop circles in my town and plant alien foot prints.
Everyone would be so scared, I'd lol well into the night, you'd hear my cackling from near and far.
What do you as parents plan on doing to make sure your children are ready for life after high school?
You know for college, moving out, getting established in a life of their own, etc etc.
It's a process that begins years before they are ready to graduate from high school.
By the time a child is 13 parents need to shift from "parenting" them toward "mentoring" them so they learn to think for themselves and be responsible for their choices.
Failure to do this results in an ill-prepared young person out in the real world when they turn 18.
Sadly, many parents don't "get" this until it's too late.
Just out of curiosity, what would those circles be?
The crazy, neurotic Manhattan mom circles that surround me. It's so intense. It starts when they want their kids tested so that they can get into the coveted gifted and talented programs. It gets worse as the years go by. It's hard to explain, but trust me, it's hard to sit back and breathe sometimes living where I do. I feel like if we slack off our child will fall behind...
Also, we have to compete for everything here. if you want the best public schools for your child you have to have them interviewed, tested, etc. Elementary school has been a breeze as we were zoned for a good school, but for middle and high school it's unbelievably intense. So, you start to get this mindset that you have to have the best education you can get and fight for. This in turn makes you want and expect the best colleges because, you had to fight so hard every step of the way. Yes, I sound dramatic here, but I speak the truth. Private school families have their own hoops to go through, but the real craziness here is getting into the Specialized high schools. I could write a book on this. Let's just say that what your child does in 7th grade will determine what kind of high school you can expect (or not). God help the B student or one with some absences and latenesses. Breathe...
forget college a trade is #1 priority. jr college or military, low cost and quick.
my favorite pick RN certificate and license only, no PhD thank u very much.
a trade dont leave home without it.
Got it. I read the NY Times. Sometimes I put it down and say, "really?" when they are talking about that life. I'd last a day. Tops.
(Hopefully someone else will join this thread to give feedback on what you are facing.)
We just went through the whole applying to middle school nuttiness. You have no idea. My sweet child's fate will be determined in May. Carazeeeeee... I had assumed we would have been out of the city by now.
We just went through the whole applying to middle school nuttiness. You have no idea. My sweet child's fate will be determined in May. Carazeeeeee... I had assumed we would have been out of the city by now.
I had a major shock just reading about the pre-school admissions process.
How do teens have the time for jobs these days? According to friends with older children, they said that there was no time, especially if the goal was to get into a top college. Besides studying, taking AP classes, making sure to have fabulous extracurriculars including leadership positions, extensive volunteer work, and hopefully a varsity sport or two, there is just no time. I had my firsl real job when I was a senior in high school and I managed to be very active and involved, but I never did the amount of school work that kids are doing these days. When I spoke with a friend with two older kids, he said, "School is their job". So, how do you prepare them for life when the focus seems to be exclusively preparing them to get into a top school???
My kids did all of it, and I'm glad they had the practice of time management down before leaving for school.
I think admission offices look favorably on holding down a job (and getting references from employers). They didn't have a lot of time for volunteer work, but their varsity teams all participated in some, at least enough to put down on their applications.
Whew, I just saw your other post on dealing with school competition. I'm grateful we were able to hold off on that until college.
I don't think you can practice life ... you just have to go out there and do it. We talk about budgeting money, doing chores, working on long-term projects, stuff like that, but what is there to practice or prepare? Living on one's own simply means paying one's own bills, and I know she knows how to use Bill Pay.
Most of the preparation young adults get is from their upbringing. It's not like teaching your kid how to drive.
What she said. I take a generally dim view of these "life skills" classes people are clamoring for in high schools. You can't teach this stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gimme it
I remember my mother teaching me how to do laundry a couple of weeks before I was about to go away to college. Nothing like waiting til the last minute
She taught you, didn't she?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948
forget college a trade is #1 priority. jr college or military, low cost and quick.
my favorite pick RN certificate and license only, no PhD thank u very much.
a trade dont leave home without it.
Yeah, keep 'em suppressed. It's the best way to get a lot of work out of 'em, and people on CD can criticize them. Good G*d, Huck, are you aware that 50% of RNs have (gasp!) a BSN!
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