College, Career and Scholarship Readiness Begin before Preschool

Some people believe preparing for college starts in high school. They feel the same about career and scholarship planning. But this isn’t the case. Getting ready for all three should begin while children are still in diapers. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, as the twig is bent, so grows the tree. What happens in early childhood has a direct impact upon post high school success.

Babies are fed on a schedule. Sleep takes up much of their days and nights. While they’re awake, parents coo, sing and read to them. All of these activities are vital to a child’s development. As they grow older, some adults forget kids are still under construction and need to eat, sleep and learn at regular intervals. Sitting a child in front of the TV or some other screen may give parents a break, but if it happens too often, these children will fall behind others who have had more enrichment and attention.

If you take the strategies of high school students who earn the most scholarship money and trace them back to early childhood, you’ll see the same attention to detail was being paid then. All such students report having had a complete and healthy breakfast daily. They had dinner together as a family at least five times each week. Their families talked, read and played music and games together. Schedules were created and routines established. In such an environment, children thrive.

All sixteen habits which result in graduates being awarded huge college scholarships have their roots in early childhood. Following “First Five” (there are several branches online) and “Zero to Three” (@ZEROTOTHREE), makes it easier for parents to keep abreast of what experts in early childhood education recommend. Three chapters of my upcoming book apply to Pre-K children, while six other activities are most often implemented in elementary school. The remaining strategies are intended for middle and high school students.

Remember, as Stephen Covey recommends, “Begin with the end in mind.” Begin thinking about college, career and scholarship readiness while children are still quite young and take appropriate action for the best results.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Simple Steps to Earn an A

Several years ago I decided to leave the country on business. After making this decision, I told my students I wanted to go out with a bang. I wanted them all to earn an A, and told them how to do so. That June, one class had 80% A’s, 15% B’s and 5% C’s. There were no D’s or F’s. Why did this happen in one class and not in the others? These students believed me and did as I suggested. The others didn’t.

Here is what I told them:

1.   Come to class every day well rested and fed.

-If there’s a field trip in another class, and you know you’ll be absent, ask for the work in advance. Do it before you go on the trip. If you had trouble with the work, after you get home from the field trip, call a friend from class and ask for help.

-Figure out what time you need to get up in the morning in order to arrive at school on time. Count back nine hours and go to bed at that time each night.

-Have a healthy breakfast each morning and a nutritious lunch at school, (bring your own food or buy something at school).

-If you’re sick, stay home and get well.

2.   Do every assignment.

-Write down every homework assignment. They’re usually on the board in front of the class. If your homework or class assignments are on the class website, bookmark it on your computer.

-Pay attention and complete every class and homework assignment.

-They don’t have to be perfect, but they need to be complete.

3.   If you’re confused or don’t understand something, ask a question.

-Smart people get ahead by asking questions when they don’t understand something. Raise your hand if there’s something you don’t get.

-Make sure you have the phone number of three students in each class.

-At least one of them should be better than you are in the subject.

-Call one of them if you missed class or need help on an assignment. (People are usually happy to help.)

Students who believed me did these things. Those who did them well received an A. Those who didn’t do them as well received a B, and those who messed up from time to time, but otherwise stuck to the plan, received a C. Everyone knew too much to get a D or F. Try this. What have you got to lose?

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

Photo Credit: Google Images

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Students, It’s Your Job to Find the Pony

Years ago, while attending a business conference, I heard about a psychological test of two small children. One had been placed in a room full of toys, the other in a room containing a pile of horse manure. After a few hours, they checked on the boys. The first had played with all the toys, broken a few and was bored. The second was up to his elbows in horse manure and grinning ear to ear. When asked why he was so happy, he replied, “With all this horse manure, there’s got to be a pony in here somewhere.”

Since this time, I’ve often found myself in locations or situations that were not to my liking. Each time, I tried to be like the second boy. I looked for the “pony” or benefit in each. Students should keep that in mind when sitting in a classroom or completing an assignment. Not every subject or task will be a thrill a minute. But, there will almost always be a hidden benefit. It’s the job of the student to find the benefit. It may be short term pain for long term gain.

Perhaps the assignment will train your brain to think differently. It may broaden your horizons or teach you a valuable skill. In any case, there is a reason the assignment was given, or the class is a requirement. The perspective of the student isn’t the same as that of the instructor or educational institution. They are farther down the path and have a more informed point of view. So instead of shrugging off the intended lesson, seek the pony. It’s got to be in there somewhere.

For more information, you’ll want my new book, Free College Awareness, coming soon from Griffin Publishing and Watering Seeds. Discover how to avoid needing college loans; available soon to families of Pre-K through High School students.

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Budget Time and Reduce Stress

Teachers are usually very organized. They have to be in order to do the job. At home, they may budget their finances, but frequently fail to budget their time. They allow their teaching workload to fill all waking hours. There is no work life balance. In order to keep this from happening to me, I learned a simple way to budget my time.

Each year, I purchased a lesson plan book from a teacher supply store. I then laid out a plan for the year. I didn’t go into detail, but did organize the work I needed to cover in the months allotted. I wrote in holidays and state or district mandated testing. I also recorded the dates I intended to give major unit tests throughout the year.

Each Thursday during the school year, I created my detailed lesson plans for the coming week. I did this for each subject I taught (being a foreign language teacher, there were often several). Once technology and the school district where I worked gave us a website to use as a tool, I also began listing homework assignments on my website on Thursday. 

This allowed students the flexibility to do homework according to their busy schedules. It also removed the excuse of “forgetting” to write it down. The amount and quality of homework being completed increased. This reduced stress for all of us.

Doing my planning on Thursdays, not only helped my students, but freed up time for me on the weekend. The only thing I took home Fridays was essays. I graded them Sunday, in the early evening. The rest of the weekend was mine. Budget time wisely to avoid burn out.

You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com

Photo Credit: Google Images

Current Comfort from Past Struggles

Showing Up is Half the Battle

The importance of school attendance has been in the news lately. There are all sorts of studies proving what teachers have known for decades. We can’t teach them if they aren’t in class. I taught German and French for most of my career. There was no way students would learn these languages without coming to class. While I never penalized students for poor attendance, I made it worthwhile for them to show up.

I rewarded classes with perfect attendance and good naturedly teased the one student who was absent or late and ruined perfection. Rewards were never large, but any positive attention gives a positive result.  

The smallest reward was stickers. Yes, high school students like stickers, just as much as elementary kids. I bought large bags of inexpensive German or French decals or stickers as rewards. These would work in other subjects, CLICK HERE (ad).  I also had buttons to give away on special occasions.

The greatest success I had in influencing behavior was when I played one class section off against another. They always knew the students in my other classes and were friends with most of them. They eagerly jumped into completion no matter the subject.

Once, about three months before the end of the school year, one of my classes had perfect attendance for three days in a row. Rather than stickers, I added five points to the grade they had earned on their homework assignment. This really got their attention.

I told them my other classes were jealous. I wanted to see just how long they could keep this going. Being absent or tardy would ruin the game. After a month of perfection, they were eager to know their prize. I told them if they kept it up until the end of the school year, they would be very pleased with their reward. I did not specify what it was, but they trusted me.

Two weeks before their final exam, one of the students in this class had to be in court on a traffic matter. No excuses. He left court at lunch, drove to class, arrived on time, and went back to court after the bell rang. He didn’t want to ruin the fun for his classmates.

The day of the final exam, when the students took out their paper and pens, I went to the board and wrote in German, “Tell me if you’re happy with your grade. If you are, you’re finished with the exam. If you’re not, in German, tell me what you think your grade should be and why.” They were delighted they had maintained perfect attendance for almost three months, and so was I.

Whatever gets recognized and rewarded gets done.

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Creativity and Imagination

How to Make Friends

3 Steps to Earn an A

Several years ago I decided to leave the country on business. After making this decision, I told my students that I wanted to go out with a bang. I wanted them all to earn an A, and told them how to achieve it. That June, one class had 80% A’s, 15% B’s and 5% C’s. There were no D’s or F’s. Why did this happen in one class and not the others? These students believed me, and did as I suggested. The others didn’t.

Here is what I told them:

1.   Come to class every day well rested and fed.

-If there’s a field trip in another class, and you know you’ll be absent, ask for the work in advance. Do it before you go on the trip. If you had trouble with the work, after you get home from the field trip, call a friend from class and ask for help.

-Figure out what time you need to get up in the morning in order to arrive at school on time. Count back nine hours and go to bed at that time each night.

-Have a healthy breakfast each morning and a nutritious lunch at school, (bring your own food or buy something at school).

-If you’re sick, stay home and get well.

2.   Do every assignment.

-Write down every homework assignment. They’re usually on the board in front of the class. If your homework or class assignments are on the class website, bookmark it on your computer.

-Pay attention and complete every class and homework assignment.

-They do not have to be done perfectly, but they need to be complete.

3.   If you are confused or don’t understand, ask a question.

-Smart people get this way by asking questions when they don’t understand something. Raise your hand if there’s something you don’t get.

-Make sure you have the phone number of three students in each class.

-Make sure at least one of them is a better student than you are.

-Call one of them if you missed class or need help on an assignment. (People are usually happy to help.)

Students who believed me did these things. Those who did them well received an A. Those who didn’t do them as well received a B, and those who messed up from time to time, but otherwise stuck to the plan, received a C. Everyone knew too much to get a D or F. Try this. What have you got to lose?

You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.

 

For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE . It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases, at no additional cost to you.

Image Credit: Morguefile

Do Good Work and Earn More Free Cash for College