They are not children anymore and you really wanted to remind everyone in the room of that fact.
At the end of the college scholarship competition weekend, a panel of faculty members and students fielded questions from the parents. One thing you really noticed was that a number of the parents of high school seniors continued to ask questions about their children. It nearly made you scream.
Back home, you work with children everyday as part of your job, and you simply could not understand why so many of these parents kept referring to these soon to be college students by such an age inappropriate word.
The Years of Parenting Go by Quickly
When was the last time you looked at your son or daughter without thinking of them when they were younger? Whether you are a parent getting ready to send your last high schooler off to college or you are just getting ready to transition from your oldest child being at home with you to getting ready to begin preschool education activities, it is difficult not to think back to when they were younger. The best parents, however, are only nostalgic about the younger years because the reality of parenting is if you want your son or daughter to be as successful as possible you have to help them expand to their next age level, not hold them back. From parent informational sessions about college to the very first meetings that we attend to hear about the available preschool education activities, mothers and fathers need to be ready to help their infants, children, teenagers, and young adults transition to the next step in life.
When you are a parent it can seem like you go from preschool games to college tours in a blink of an eye. One minute you are concerned about getting your child into the best preschool program and the next you are going on college campus tours with young adults who will soon be moving out of your home. It is important to remember though when you are searching for summer camp activities for your elementary children or when you are considering a long distance college for your high school graduate that you need to embrace the confidence that they have for themselves and not hold them back.
Letting Go Is One of the Most Challenging Things About Parenting
Ask any group of parents and they will likely tell you that letting their first young children go to preschool education activities alone was just as difficult as it is to send an older teenager off to college. Both transitions rely on trust. One of the best ways to trust that you are making the right decision, of course, when you send someone off to preschool for the first time is to select a location that is staffed with well trained and caring instructors. The latest research indicates that as many as 75% of young children in the U.S. participate in a preschool program. This means that three of every four children in this country rely on the care and wisdom of someone outside of their families for at least a portion of the day.
By selecting a school that offers quality preschool education activities, parents are taking the first step in making their children successful for the challenges they will face later in life. When you realize that 51% of three to five year olds who were enrolled in preschool programs in the year 2015 attended full-day programs you begin to understand the significance of this information. Many families involve two parents who work full time and, as a result, are looking for quality preschool options for their children. One of the challenges that the nation as a whole faces is paying enough for the quality educational opportunities that these preschools offer. Too often, parents are already certain that they are paying too much for these educational opportunities, while at the same time the preschool teacher themselves are often barely making little more than a minimum wage.
No matter where you are on the parenting continuum, it is likely that you have some apprehension about the next transition your son or daughter will need to make.
