How to Help Prepare Your Child for Life at College

It may only seem like five minutes since your kid took their first steps, uttered their first words, and started school. It turns out that all those well-worn parenting clichés were, in fact, true — all of them. Kids do grow up too fast, they really aren’t babies for very long, and parenting teenagers may actually be more stressful than parenting a toddler.

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Being a parent is full of exciting milestones, but one that may creep up on you all too soon is your child starting college. The starting college or university phase is a whole new ball game because this is the first milestone that they will reach independently. Starting college means embarking on a new chapter in their life that bridges the gap between childhood and adulthood. It sounds scary when you put it like that, doesn’t it! However, the critical thing to remember is that this is all nothing new. This is what all those years of nurturing have been building up towards. Properly preparing kids for college involves two distinct tasks; emotional preparation and practical preparation. 

Emotionally preparing your child for college is something that you have probably been doing for most of their lives. This preparation is all about developing their resilience and their ability to cope with challenges. Resilience and problem-solving skills are essential for successful independent living and come into their own when your child is faced with stressful situations, and things are not going to plan.

Practical preparations are probably something that you haven’t thought too much about until now. However, getting the practicalities right is essential to getting your child’s life at college off to the best possible start. Your child is probably feeling a mixture of emotions right now, from excitement for the next phase of their life to begin, along with some nervousness about living independently – although they probably won’t admit to it! Being properly prepared for college can help to alleviate some of these worries and reduce the fear of the unknown. Here are some of the practicalities to consider to help make the transition from life at home to life at college a little easier:

Practical Skills

If your child never has so much as boiled an egg before, then their food options to college are going to be pretty limited, even by student standards. Helping your kids to build up a repertoire of quicky and easy to prepare meals will ensure that they don’t starve during the first semester. Try to include recipe ideas that are inexpensive to make and require very few ingredients. Suggesting variations on the recipe is also a good idea to prevent mealtimes from becoming too dull. 

Your child probably already knows perfectly well how to operate a washing machine and dryer, but for the sake of reassuring yourself that they will have clean clothes to wear, now may be an excellent time to run through a crash course in how to do laundry. 

Stay Connected

Helping your child to keep communicating during their first weeks away from home is essential. They may not want to chat with you all the time, but knowing that they are able to, if they want to, is essential. To keep the lines of communication open, you will need to find your child the best phone deal so that they can call, text, browse and stream, and stay connected. Sim only plans such as SMARTY Student are the perfect option for kids going to college. Knowing that your child can get in touch whenever they need to will also give you peace of mind as a parent while they are away from home for the first time.

Make a Budget

Making a budget may not be a popular idea with the new student in your life, but it is essential. Not making a budget is something that they may regret when they have spent all of their money during fresher’s week, and have nothing left for the rest of the year. Budgets may not be exciting, but they do provide a reality check and should help to rein in any crazy shopping sprees during those first weeks of independence. 

Create a Care Package

Putting together a care package may feel like the opposite of fostering an independent attitude for your teenager. However, a care package is a great way to get them set up with the basics that they need for independent living and help to make the transition smoother. A care package doesn’t need to be extravagant and expensive to create. The best items to include in the package are the most practical mundane necessities that your child will need on an everyday basis. Things like shower gel, shampoo, and toothpaste are a great idea. Store cupboard food items such as pasta, tinned beans, pasta sauce, and crackers are also useful for those first few mealtimes when they will be cooking for themselves. As well as serving a practical purpose, a care package is also a thoughtful gesture that shows how much you care and provides a link with home.

Don’t Forget the Essentials

Depending on the accommodation that your teen will be staying in, they may require homeware items too. Things like a kettle, toaster, pots, and pans, may not be available in their shared accommodation, so it is essential to check to see if these will be needed. If you have items like these that you no longer need, this is the perfect chance to make use of them. If you don’t have spares lying around at home, you will find that many shops offer budget-friendly homeware that is designed to be used as student essentials. 

Check out this infographic for students with disabilities.

Infographic Provided By Trinity Christian College

When buying homewares such as mugs, plates, saucepans, etc. keep in mind that in shared accommodation, these items will get a lot of use, and may not be treated as delicately as they would be at home. Therefore, blowing the budget on top of the range expensive kitchen accessories may not be money well-spent in this situation