College for Teens: How to Help Your Child Plan for College
While I don’t think that college is necessarily required for everyone, helping your teen plan their career can be daunting. For many of them college will be required. Helping Your child plan for college is helping them plan for their career and life. Many parents don’t know how to help their teen plan for college. In this post I share some of the things we have learned a long the way.
When to start planning for college
Kids should be kids and have plenty of opportunities to develop naturally. One of the best books I read in my parenting journey is, “Better Late Than Early,” by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. In this book the authors recommend a later start for school, around the age of 7. This allows for an “integrated maturity level” to make success easier.
This book influenced me a lot and I don’t recommend prestigious preschools or even worrying much about college in elementary school. What I do recommend is begin noticing your children’s natural interests. This may or may not be a career for them, but it can be a guide to a potential major or course of study. In my family these are some of the interests I have noticed early
- Caring for animals especially nursing sick animals and kitten fostering
- Hunting, fishing, wilderness survival
- Baking
- Art
- Gymnastics
- Singing
- Comedy and telling jokes
- Telling stories and creative writing
As you can see, when we pay attention to our children and their interests it is easier to see potential courses of study.
Around 7th grade would be time to start looking at the courses your child is taking and preparing for getting their prerequisites done.
A word of caution
Some interests are not meant to be careers. In fact when you put making money into the equation it can take the joy out an experience. For example, I adore knitting. In high school I would bring knitting to my classes and knit while sitting in lecture. Soon I began getting requests for sweaters and other knitted items. But when I factored in the time and cost of yarn it wouldn’t have made sense from a economic sense, so instead I make them as gifts and knit items I love.
Make sure you give the space for interests that are just interests.
What about Trade Schools?
Trade schools are great. There is definitely a need for skilled workers. In our county there is a company that makes cabinets. There is such a shortage of carpenters that they company will train students to become carpenters for 2 years before they even begin their position. Many trades offer very good wages to start. However two things to consider–
- Many trades are VERY physically demanding. With the average age of retirement increasing factor this into your decisions. Will you be able to keep up with the physical demands as you age?
- There may not be the same possibility to move up in companies and therefore wages. While the starting wages are great, what are the average after 5 years in the field, or 20.
Conversely don’t fall into the middle management trap. Management is tricky and by design. There are limited number of management positions. Competition is sharp. And when a company is downsized normally middle management is the first to go. Don’t plan your career based on getting a management position.
Starting with a career and moving backward
One of my children knew exactly what he wanted to be–A DNR Conservation officer. So in his case we were able to move backwards from career to school. We asked–
- Was there any schooling required for this position?
- If not was there any training that could make him more desirable for this position?
- What schools offer these programs?
- Are there any extra certifications that would look good when he applied for work.
He decided that having a pilot’s license and drone pilot license would look good so he is pursuing those outside of school.
Starting with an interest and moving forward
Another child has a strong interest in Geography. They are not certain what direction they would like to take this interest as there are several including meteorology, urban planning, cartography and more. So while their career is less clear this interest is very clear.
It is also a field that is not offered at every college. So in this case the number of schools we are considering is more limited, we are therefore looking more closely at comparing costs before we decide.
A 3rd child is very interested in animation. The number of schools that offer animation degrees that are not a dedicated art school is even smaller.
Helps to reduce cost
We always tell our children, “we know that you will make mistakes, but we prefer you not make the same mistakes we did.”
In my case I went to a private 4-year college for English. I did get a hefty scholarship and made sure to graduate in 4 years so my final bill was not as bad as it could have been. But I am still paying on my student loans as I prepare my own children for college. Granted I got married right out of college and became a stay-at-home mom shortly after that.
For this reason though it was very important for us to find ways to help our children reduce their college debt.
As homeschool parents we are poised to help our children by customizing their high school education to prepare them for college by utilizing Post Secondary Education Option (PSEO) and Credits by Exam.
With PSEO or Dual Enrollment a student can begin taking college courses while in high school at a local college. So far to date 2 of my children have completed over 45 credits of college courses while still in school for free! Beware that some colleges will not except or will limit PSEO credits.
Credits by Exam allow students to study a subject such as World Religions at a higher level (AP if you will) and then pay to take and exam about the subject. If they pass they will receive college credit.
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is an application parents and students fill out using their tax information. This is reported to your schools and financial aid is often based off of this.
Don’t forget about state schools. State Schools work phenomenally with these other money savings options and provide awesome education. That animation degree I was talking about? Yep that is offered at a state school.
So I hope you see that will just a little focus and intention you can really help set your teen up for college success.
