We don’t very often engage in self-congratulation, but we’re taking a moment to wish ourselves a Happy Anniversary!  Seven years ago, on April 1, 2009, the College Parent Central website was launched with the hope that we could help parents make the transition to a new style of parenting as their sons and daughters became college students.

Seven years ago we believed, as we continue to believe now, that parents need information and guidance in order to best support their college student to succeed. We hoped to be able to provide some of the guidance that would help parents be able to navigate their new role. We’ve been more than pleased throughout the last seven years to hear from many parents who have found our information helpful.

Our purpose

Although the focus of some of our posts continues to change over the years as we continue to grow, the basic principles which drove us at the beginning continue to anchor us now.

• We believe that parents can be important partners in their child’s education from pre-school through college.
• We believe that most parents want to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that parents do have a place in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t know how to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t understand today’s college experience. (Those of us who attended college ourselves need to learn how the college experience has changed in the twenty-first century.)

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When you do something once, it is interesting.  When you do something twice, it suddenly becomes a tradition.  We’re now in the third year of sharing a look back at College Parent Central’s year.  Clearly a tradition. Reflection is always a good exercise.

It’s that time of year when we can’t quite decide whether to look backwards at the year that is just ending or to look ahead at the year about to begin.  We really need to do a little bit of both.  Looking back gives us some perspective to look ahead, and think about our goals and plans for the new year based on where we’ve come.

So before we look ahead, make plans, make resolutions we probably won’t keep, or set goals for 2016, we’d like to take a moment to look back at some of our articles for 2015.  These are the articles that, to us, speak most about the essence of the college parent role and/or speak to those ideas and issues that most affect the way we relate to our college sons and daughters.

This year we’ve decided to give some of our articles awards.  (If we don’t, who else will?)  See whether you agree with our choices.

We invite you to take a few minutes to review these articles, and to think about how you view your role as college parent.  How have you grown into the role over the past year?  Where might you and your college student go next year?

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Each year, as April rolls around, College Parent Central celebrates an anniversary.  We are always pleased, and sometimes a little amazed, that we’re still here a year later.  This year we celebrate our sixth anniversary.  When we first launched on April Fool’s Day in 2009, we weren’t sure what to expect.  We recognized that college parents needed information and support, and we hoped that we could help provide some of that guidance.  Six years later, parents continue to let us know that they appreciate the information that we provide.

Thank you to those who have supported us and shared our information with others!

Our journey and evolution

Over the years, we have seen some important things remain constant and other things evolve.  It’s been an interesting journey.

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It’s that time of year when we can’t quite decide whether to look backwards at the year that is just ending or to look ahead at the year about to begin.  We probably need to do a little bit of both.  Looking back gives us some perspective to look ahead, and think about our goals and plans for the new year based on where we’ve come.

So before we look ahead, make plans, make resolutions we probably won’t keep, or set goals for 2015, we’d like to take a moment to look back at some of our articles for 2014.  These are the articles that, to us, speak most about the essence of the college parent role and/or speak to those ideas and issues that most affect the way we relate to our college sons and daughters.

We invite you to take a few minutes to review these articles, and to think about how you view your role.  How have you grown into the role over the past year?  Where might you and your college student go next year?

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We’re wishing ourselves a happy anniversary here at College Parent Central.  We’ve reached a five year milestone!  Somehow it seemed appropriate to begin this venture on April Fool’s Day — April 1, 2009 — as we launched ourselves into the unknown.  We believed then that college parents need support and are an important factor in student success.  Five years later we are even more convinced of the importance of parent education and support.

We’ve spent five years sharing nearly 500 posts, writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues.  During this time, we are proud to have contributed to the important dialogue that helps parents better understand and work with their students.

Throughout the past five years we have learned even more than we have shared.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful.

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It’s that time of year when we can’t quite decide whether to look backwards at the year that is just ending or to look ahead at the year about to begin.  We probably need to do a little bit of both.  Looking back gives us some perspective to look ahead, and think about our goals and plans for the new year based on where we’ve come.

So before we look ahead, make plans, make resolutions we probably won’t keep, or set goals for 2014, we’d like to take a moment to look back at some of our favorite articles for 2013.  Some are College Parent Central posts, and others are a few of the articles we’ve shared in our monthly News and Views.  These are the articles that, to us, speak most about the essence of the college parent role and/or speak to those ideas and issues that most affect the way we relate to our college sons and daughters.

We invite you to take a few minutes to review these articles, and to think about how you view your role.  How have you grown into the role over the past year?  Where might you and your college student go next year?

Read more

College Parent Central has just turned four!  We began this website on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed an appropriate launch for something that thrust us into the unknown.  Four years (and 410 posts) later, we continue to believe even more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success, and we’re proud to contribute to the dialogue.

After four years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we have learned even more than we have shared.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful,

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College Parent Central has just turned three!  College Parent Central launched on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate for a venture whose future was unknown.  Three years later, we continue to believe more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success.

After three years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we are humbled by how much there is to know, but we feel even more strongly that we have a place in helping parents.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who find our information helpful.

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This is the second of two posts with thoughts about the New Year for you and your college student.  Our previous post offered some suggestions for you to share with your student.  This post offers something for parents.

This is the time of year for reflection, and it is often a hopeful time of year.  The start of a new calendar year is often a doubly new start of college students (and their parents) as they think about a new semester.   

Each year at this time we offer some thoughts and suggestions for New Year’s Resolutions for parents and their college or high school students.  Check out our posts from previous years for some resolutions that may be valuable this year.

New Year’s Resolutions for College Parents — and Their College Students

New Year’s Rsolutions for High School Parents — and Their College Bound Students

New Year’s Resolutions for You and Your High School or College Student

We’d like to offer a slightly different way of thinking about your resolutions this year.  We suggest just one resolution for parents this year — with eight different ways to carry it out. 

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College Parent Central has just turned two!  We began this website on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed appropriate for something that launched us into the unknown.  Two years later, we continue to believe even more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success.

After two years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we have learned much and continue to feel that we have a place in helping parents.  We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful,

Our purpose

We began College Parent Central two years ago with five basic principles.  Two years later, these basic beliefs still hold true for us.

• We believe that parents can be important partners in their child’s education from pre-school through college.
• We believe that most parents want to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that parents do have a place in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t know how to be involved in their child’s college experience.
• We believe that many parents don’t understand today’s college experience. (Those of us who attended college ourselves need to learn how the college experience has changed in the twenty-first century.)

Read more