In both of my businesses, I look for the student’s strengths and I find ways to make them shine.  In the years that I’ve been working with young people, I’ve discovered some amazing talent.  Some of these kids had impressive intellectual abilities, some had musical talent, and some had both. How do you know if you have a talented kid?

1)  Being on the honor roll, getting all A’s and B’s, or being labeled “academically gifted” does not mean a student is brilliant. It just means they learned how to play the game and agreed to play it. A brilliant student is the 7 year-old who is reading the encyclopedia for fun or the 13 year-old who is developing app’s in his spare time.

2)  Taking piano lessons and playing a simple tune at a recital (while stopping to look at the music the entire time) does not indicate amazing natural talent.  A 9 year-old who hands over the music before sitting on the bench and then does an impressive variation of the tune is extremely talented.  Extra bonus points if she can also write and arrange her own tunes.

3)  A young artist who can replicate a basic drawing that his art teacher put on the board is not necessarily super-talented. A kid who draws from unusual angles, uses different techniques, adds depth, shading, and/or changes the composition displays creativity and potential.

4)  A kindergartener who quickly catches onto counting games doesn’t constitute advanced math aptitude. A kindergartener who can really do math all the way up to Algebra 1 (but no one thought to test him that far) doesn’t need to be in kindergarten.

5)  A second grader who can write a sentence or 2 on each page of her story is not atypical. If one writes a 10-chapter story, complete with perfect grammar and spelling, a prologue, an epilogue, and knows the proper use of semi-colons, you may have a budding writer (who probably needs to be skipped a few grades or homeschooled).

All of the above examples of talent were actual students. All were mislabeled and recommended for medications and special education services. Their teachers did not know what these kids were doing outside of school, nor did they test them beyond the curriculum.  None of these students were identified as being exceptionally brilliant or talented.

This is what happens when we only focus on children’s perceived weaknesses or what we find different or even “abnormal”.  Abnormal compared to whom? And what’s wrong with being different? Take a look at some of our most notable visionaries, entrepreneurs, and talented individuals. Do you think they got where they are by coloring inside the lines? Food for thought…

Dori Staehle is the owner of Next Stage Educational Consulting and Next Stage Entertainment. She has worked with hundreds of students and has screened and booked over 1,000 young bands and solo artists. Dori is available for consultations, tutoring, and guest speaking.

1)  Orientation: Make sure you’ve signed up and paid for Summer Orientation at your college. It would be a good idea to share this info with your parental units so they are prepared as well.

2) Things to bring to Orientation: Comfortable clothes and shoes, sunscreen and shades for outdoor activities, dress clothes for any special events, toiletries, and any other items not provided by the college.

3) What parents need to bring to Orientation: The same as above, plus extra money, in case there are meals or activities that need to be paid for separately.  Make sure you know if the college expects the parents to stay overnight and if they provide accommodations.  If not, find a hotel nearby and ask for the college discount.

4) Contact your future roommate:  Find out what he or she is bringing for the dorm room so that you don’t double up on microwaves and fridges.  Offer to bring additional items like throw rugs, curtains, etc.

5) Dorm room items: You’ll need extra-long sheets, an extra-long twin comforter, towels, and washcloths.  Storage containers are also a good idea to put under your bed or in your closet. Storage ottomans are also trendy but useful.  Target, Walmart, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond usually have great sales.

6) Supplies: Start stocking up on laundry and cleaning supplies and toiletries.  These are much more expensive on campus.  Speaking of laundry, don’t forget coins and a laundry basket or tote. Ditto for bathroom items. Leave your stuff around and it’ll get stolen or tossed out.  Buy some notebooks, folders, etc. so you’re prepared for class.

7) Textbooks:  Once you get your schedule, you should have textbook information. Look for used textbooks, rentals, or e-books whenever possible.  You generally do not have to buy everything on the professors’ lists. Some are supplemental materials. Wait until you get to class to see if you really need these.

ID: Get your ID at Orientation, so that you’re ready to go when you arrive on campus. Your ID often serves as your meal card and dorm key, so don’t lose it!

9) Insurance card:  If your family has an insurance card for you, make sure you keep it in your wallet for emergencies.  Visits to the campus infirmary are generally free but if you have to go to urgent care, the ER, or a specialist, you’ll need your card.  If your family has medical insurance, you shouldn’t have to purchase the campus insurance.  Keep your family in the loop in case of illness or injury. Check the box on the doctor’s forms that allows your parents to be informed about your condition or any prescribed medications.

10) Medical concerns:  If you have any chronic medical conditions, make sure you inform your roommate, just in case.  If you need special accommodations or have any dietary concerns, you need to have that all squared away before you start classes.

11) Parking sticker:  If you’re bringing a car, make sure you get a parking sticker for the appropriate lot.  If you park in the wrong lot, you may get towed or fined. Never park in the faculty/staff or handicap spaces.

12)  Enjoy the rest of your summer!  Take a vacation with your family, go on trips with your friends, and enjoy your final days of freedom (but don’t get into trouble!).

13)  Let your parents help you move in and say goodbye.   Your relationship will change from this point forward.  At least one of them will probably cry. Cut them some slack. Keep in touch but don’t go home every weekend.  Just make sure you check in once in a while. 

After sending out a ton of resumes, and interviewing for positions that I knew little about, I managed to land a job before graduation.  This was many years ago when the economy was actually good and most college seniors had jobs to go to.

However, like many college grads, I had no idea what working in a “real job” was all about. I waitressed my way through college and I remember one of my bosses saying, “You college kids have no common sense.”  What he meant was we didn’t have any business savvy.

They don’t teach you things like corporate politics and the company culture, how to prioritize and manage your time effectively (when everything is important), how to get along with your boss and co-workers, and how some companies say they value employees’ opinions when they really don’t.

So, I hate to break this to you but most of what you learned in college will have nothing to do with “the real world”.   Most, if not all, of what you will need you will learn on the job or you will teach yourself.  Even if you had an internship, you may have gained valuable skills but keep in mind that all companies do things differently.

I’ve had many jobs over the years and I’ve often tried to do things the way I thought they should be done only to be told, “We do things differently here.”  And the learning curve would begin all over again.  I’ve seen plenty of nepotism, stupid business decisions, and workers treated unfairly.

I’ve also seen freshly-minted college grads who didn’t know the basics of professionalism or what constitutes “appropriate office attire”.  Here’s a hint: Unless you’re working in a very loose and creative environment, you might want to skip the beach or club vibe.

For these reasons, I feel that colleges should require a course during senior year which would cover these topics, business etiquette, and the different corporate cultures.  They also need to explain that an undergraduate degree doesn’t usually equate to a plush corner office with your own secretary. That was actually my assumption.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that all of our desks were in a row in a big, dingy room. I had to get my own coffee, make my own copies, and yes, even run the occasional errand. The “international department” of this large bank on Wall St. didn’t involve any travel – just lots of boring, tedious number-crunching.  I learned what I needed to know and networked my way out of there after a year.

For all the young people who want to know how they can also be a consultant or entrepreneur:

1)      You have to have some major skills and experience before you can consult anyone.

2)      An entrepreneurial venture requires contacts, capital – and business savvy.

Your first job is just a way to get your foot in the door, make some money to start paying off those student loans (and hopefully move out of the house!), and start learning what “the real world” is all about.  You may stay after a year or you may not.  Just remember to treat this as a learning experience and count your blessings. The fact that you even have a job offer speaks volumes.

Stay in that first job but make sure you network, go to events, stay current in your field, go above and beyond the call of duty, and remain honest and trustworthy – even if members of your company are not. When you’re ready to leave, don’t burn your bridges.  Remember to thank those who believed in you and helped you. And stay in touch with your parents and siblings. They might want to know how you’re doing.  

Dori Staehle is a guest speaker, writer, educational consultant, booking agent, concert promoter, musician, and entrepreneur. She likes wearing many hats and being her own boss.

Fed up with a public education system that tries to be “one size fits all”, students all over the world have figured out what homeschoolers have known for decades: You don’t need to be in school to learn.  In fact, you don’t even need a teacher. This form of self-directed learning has been around for decades and is called “unschooling”.

The Unschooling Mindset 

With unschooling, the delivery of education is completely flipped: Instead of a teacher or school system telling a student what, when, how, and where to learn, the student chooses.

Students who were previously in a school setting usually go through a process known as “de-schooling”.  Time is needed to decompress and to learn how to really learn and think for themselves. If all you do in school is memorize random facts and spit them out on a test, you’re not learning – and you’re not thinking.

Once students figure out what interests them, studies often begin with a question. This is the basis of scientific inquiry.  Discoveries are made by asking “Why?” and “What if…?” questions, not by an outdated textbook or some random facts (which may or may not be accurate). Students also learn how to take risks, make mistakes, and to determine what needs to be fixed – key elements of entrepreneurship.  Many unschooling parents in fact, work from home, or are entrepreneurs.

Putting Theory into Practice 

We originally began homeschooling by designing studies based on our kids’ interests. This is also called the “unit-study” approach or “theme-based learning”.  I added challenging, creative, and hands-on activities. All subjects were woven into the theme. They were 6 and 9 at the time and were already self-taught in many areas, much to my surprise, which fueled their request to leave school.

Within 3 months, I noticed that they learned and retained more on the days when I gave them free reign and our “free-range education” model took off.  My role switched from teacher to facilitator. We also learned with other unschoolers of all ages and spent a great deal of time in the beautiful outdoors of Boulder, Colorado.

This was a very loose form of a learning co-op, or community-based learning. Adults and kids traded their areas of expertise with others.  These kids were so advanced and accomplished, I was amazed. Many of the teens were also working via internships or working for themselves as consultants, computer programmers, web designers, etc.  This is a “real world education”. Students learn and retain more when their education is relevant and meaningful.  Learning did not stop during the summer months, since unschooling became a lifestyle, not just an educational choice.

Opting Out

School can hamper a child’s abilities, creativity, and spirit. This often results in increased levels of anger and frustration (see Death of Creativity: The By-Product of a Standardized Education, Parts 1 and 2).  This constant testing and push for perfection to get in to a good college and make lots of money is causing students to suffer from test anxiety, eating disorders, depression, and has even led to suicide, as the documentary Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture explains.

The opt-out of standardized testing movement is one form of revolt. However, in order for students (and teachers!) to survive and thrive, I often suggest that they do something far more radical – opt out of school and design their own form of education.  Students can join the homeschooling movement, which is now 2 million strong and growing.  If this is not feasible, I’d recommend a Montessori, Waldorf, or Sudbury Valley School.  You can also join or form a learning co-op or a learning community (Teachers: Think private school and non-profit ).

Education for the 21^st Century

Thanks to the internet, motivated students can learn just about anything they want, anywhere they want.  They can collaborate online with others in “real time”, they can take courses or tutorials, they can do research, and they can communicate with mentors.  M.I.T, the Khan Academy, and many others offer free courses, and Stanford offers the Exceptional Program for Gifted Youth.

In addition, many colleges have online courses for high school students or offer “dual-enrollment programs” where homeschooled students can attend class either online or in person.  Students can transfer those credits to a 4-year school, if they so desire. Yes, homeschoolers and unschoolers have transcripts, attend college, and receive scholarships.

However, once you’re used to designing your own learning and teaching yourself valuable skills, many unschoolers skip college (and student debt) and just work for themselves or for a young and progressive company. With technological advances moving at the speed of light, it’s no coincidence that many of today’s startups are being run by young entrepreneurs in their 20’s and 30’s.  Given the fact that a large number of college grads aren’t finding employment after graduation, entrepreneurship seems like the best option.

In the future, school as we know it could become completely obsolete. Education could be completely downloadable and portable and may be as close as your laptop, i-Pad, cell phone, Kindle, Nook, or special glasses.  Students, parents, teachers, and members of the community could share their expertise through learning co-ops or online. Open-source education: Why not? 

Additional Resources 

The Learning Revolution: Are You Ready?  Blog post by student Line Dalile, http://bit.ly/HZZVTb 

4 Ideas to Transform Learning, The Innovative Educator, http://bit.ly/r5niwI 

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, by Alex and Brett Harris (Christian angle but good ideas for all: http://bit.ly/yiuJ63) 

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, by Grace Llewellyn, http://amzn.to/Lcwe

School is Dead, Learn in Freedom! Karl Bunday, http://learninfreedom.org/ 

Life Learning Magazine, http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/index.htm

This is especially true with extremely bright, creative, talented right-brained types and has been the case throughout history.  Now, there are some great schools out there and some great teachers.  The problem is that there simply aren’t enough of them which results in the following: Students who act out, tune out, or drop out (If you missed Part 1 of this blog, you can read it here.

“What’s the Point?!”

Our world has changed significantly since I entered school, many decades ago.  However, the public education model has not.  Teachers and textbooks are still the primary disseminators of information and it is assumed that students know virtually nothing about the topics being taught.

Thanks to high-stakes testing programs, the “drill and kill” technique is in full swing: Memorize the information, spit it out on a test, and get a good grade or score. As a student, I learned to play this game well. Unfortunately, I retained absolutely nothing.

My original motivation to enter teaching was to bring more creativity and relevance to classroom instruction and to teach students the way I wished I had been taught. I began as an adjunct professor in the business department of a local university.  Whenever I diverted from the textbook to bring real-world experience, creativity, and humor into the mix, I was asked “Is this going to be on the test?”

I later began teaching and tutoring younger students various subjects in a similar fashion. This worked quite well for some time. However, once we moved to the “test them until they drop” state of North Carolina, parents began to ask me to switch my creative, hands-on lessons to focus strictly on homework assignments and to prep their children for the constant battery of tests.  In order to survive the left-brained world of school, I needed to teach my right-brained students how to play the game.

However, what do you do when students refuse to play? Our daughter once asked the question: “What’s the point of going to school?” She didn’t agree with my response that students go to school to learn new things and get an education.  “If I haven’t learned anything new since I entered school, there really is no point in going. Once you’ve figured out how to run the maze and get the cheese, there is no reason to do it over and over again”, she declared. Once I researched her next question, I realized how astute her observations were.  I also changed my mind about school – and teaching.

“Who invented school anyway?!”

One fact that will never be mentioned in any teacher training program is that the founding fathers of education, Horace Mann and John Dewey, espoused Socialist ideologies which had nothing to do with individualism, but everything to do with control.  The public school model is a replication of the Prussian army. It was also heavily influenced by behavioral scientist B.F. Skinner’s animal experiments, which involved running mazes, and responding to certain stimuli or rewards. Skinner also had Socialist ties.  We still make students run through mazes, except it’s now called school.

Public schools were established during the Industrial Revolution to warehouse the children of the factory workers and to train them for the same assembly lines.   Public schools also trained students to be the ultimate consumers and to be forever dependent on the system.  The government is still deciding how and what children should learn. What’s the point of creating students who can take tests but who can’t think for themselves? Maybe that is the point. Public school was, and still is, an experiment in social engineering.

S.O.S. – Save Our Students!

States like North Carolina are heavily investing in their testing programs. Millions of dollars have been spent on the different versions of the tests and their administration, as well as the teacher bonuses that are tied to the tests.  If students don’t do well the first time, they can take the test again and again until they pass it.  Tests that didn’t provide the desired result were tossed out, citing “test error”.  Elementary school teachers stopped teaching science and social studies in order to focus solely on math and language arts.

The testing frenzy soon hit fever pitch. Students who weren’t good test-takers were labeled as “ADHD” or “LD” (learning disabled), which pulled them out of the testing pool in order to increase the scores of the class – and teacher bonuses.  Some schools’ Parent-Teacher Organizations offered financial rewards to students as well. The school district also hired a national tutoring company to come in and tutor students, which improved the scores but at great cost to taxpayers.  However, it was the students who truly suffered.

Gradually, I noticed a decline in creativity and critical thinking abilities. If subjects weren’t taught exactly the same way as in school, my tutoring students couldn’t get it. They also couldn’t write anything creative or compelling and it is no wonder: They were being taught a very specific formula for writing. Unfortunately, this is not the way writers write!  I was horrified to learn that some of the best writers were receiving low scores on the writing exam because they didn’t follow the formula.  In addition, if students deviated from the expected response, they received a zero.

I also noted a dramatic increase in apathy, frustration, anger, and depression among students, especially those who are exceptionally bright, creative, and talented.  Suddenly, everyone had the mysterious condition known as “ADHD” and recommendations for medication were at an all-time high. No one was questioning the potentially dangerous side effects or if these medications were really needed.  Some parents, like me, were told that the only answer to their child’s boredom was the magic little pill known as Ritalin (You can read our story here.).

This is why our kids left school at ages 6 and 9, and why I developed the theory known as The Gifted/ADHD Connection .  For many young students, school was the cause of their ADHD symptoms.  Older students took another approach: They dropped out.  In fact, according to an organization called Big Picture Schools, 1 student drops out of school in the U.S. every 12 seconds. As of this writing, that equates to more than $1.5 million students!  Clearly, our educational system is not improving and testing our students to death is not the answer.

An Unlikely Solution

Now, despite the negative statistics I reported about teachers in Part 1, the truth is that there are many who truly do care and are as frustrated with the system and the negative impact of high-stakes testing programs and  school district policies.  My advice to them is the same as to some of my students:  Leave and create something completely different – or join others who are already doing this.

I have spoken at many educational conferences and have been surprised at the number of former teachers, principals, and professors who have chosen homeschooling or “unschooling” for their own kids.  Unschooling is student-led learning which offers maximum flexibility and independence and has created some of the brightest students I’ve ever met.  Students can choose what, where, when, and how they learn which causes their abilities and talents to soar, along with critical and creative thinking.

Once I’ve described how our kids learned on their own in the community, other teachers have asked how they can re-create this learning environment for groups of students whose parents can’t homeschool them. The present number of homeschooled students is estimated to be around 2 million.  In addition, other learning communities are growing both in physical locations and online.

The fact is that many kids can teach themselves just about anything they really want.  Since they’re learning in ways that work best for them, they learn and retain much more than with the “drill and kill” approach. Moreover, they can spend as much time as they want on a topic and work with experts in the community, creating an impressive depth and breadth of knowledge.  Many unschoolers have become entrepreneurs and others have received scholarships to college.  If you research some of our most creative and innovative minds, you may be surprised to discover that they never finished school or they learned at home.

It’s the 21^st century and it’s time we realized that learning can happen anytime and anywhere. If you really want to create “outside of the box” thinkers, you have to let them out of the box of school.

Resources

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, http://bit.ly/z8FJKi

The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation into the Prison of Modern Society, by John Taylor Gatto, http://bit.ly/xoH9kx

And the Skylark Sings with Me: Adventures in Homeschooling and Community-Based Learning by David H. Albert, http://bit.ly/yCgjYo

The Benefits of Unschooling, Peter Gray, published in Freedom to Learn and Psychology Today: http://bit.ly/xEmhI3  

The Unschooling Handbook: How to Use the Whole World As Your Child’s Classroom, Mary Griffith, http://amzn.to/HptN8F

Death with Honor: Suicide Among Gifted Adolescents by Jim Delisle, http://bit.ly/FPgA9f

Creativity and Depression: Is There a Link? writing staff, thirdage.com, http://bit.ly/wMrJmt

Gifted Kids at Risk: Who’s Listening? Patricia A. Shuler, http://bit.ly/zYBysT

Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals, James Webb, SENG Network, http://www.sengifted.org/archives/articles/existential-depression-in-gifted-individual

How Children Fail by John Holt, http://amzn.to/HDlh5

Helping Your Highly Gifted Child by Stephanie Tolan, http://bit.ly/A1Gtqh

Nurturing Gifted, Talented, and Creative Students by Dori Staehle, http://bit.ly/vpLoaT

Will the Real Students Please Stand Up? student/author/lobbyist  Nikhil Goyal, NBC News Education Nation: http://bit.ly/zseaJ6

Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, by Alex and Brett Harris , http://bit.ly/yiuJ63

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education, by Grace Llewellyn , http://amzn.to/Lcwe

Igniting the Spark: Helping Teens Find Their Passions, Dori Staehle, http://bit.ly/yi4qr5

I once attended a workshop on creativity taught by a psychologist who admitted he wasn’t creative but he knew creative people.  And this is the problem with most schools today.  Despite the myriad of educational techniques and fads, most teachers really have no idea what gifted, creative, and talented students need because they never were one.

One of my professors in a graduate program for gifted education once asked, “Do you have to be gifted and creative to teach gifted and creative students?”  I was the only one in the class who laughed and said that yes, it would definitely help. I was also the only one in the program who wasn’t a public school teacher.  I come from a long line of artists and musicians. Many hated school so much, they dropped out.  Why is it so hard for teachers to accept that public school isn’t working for a large number of students?

As a tutor, consultant, and advocate for creative, talented, and gifted students (with giftedness meaning the combination of high IQ, creativity, and asynchronous development), I’ve worked with and interviewed scores of extremely bored and frustrated kids both at home, and at their schools. I’ve visited many public, private, parochial, and charter schools and observed classes.  I’ve found that when it comes to challenging and creative instruction, most teachers are often way off the mark. How can this be?

1) Many teachers who are teaching our “best and brightest” were not very good students themselves. In fact, according to Martin Gross, author of Conspiracy of Ignorance, the majority of education majors do not come from the top 10% of their class but from the bottom third. He further states that they also tend to have the lowest SAT scores of any college major.  Want to know the easiest major at any college?  According to author Lynn O’Shaughnessy, it’s education.

Now, if you’ve attended any of my workshops, you’d know that I don’t think that GPA and SAT scores are indications of intelligence. I also know that some of your brightest and most creative students don’t get good grades because they just don’t feel like cooperating.  I’d cut teachers some slack here, except for the fact that very few highly gifted and creative students enter teaching, in favor of more lucrative or creative careers.  Also, if you hated school, chances are you won’t want to pursue a teaching career. Those who want to teach so they can change the system usually quit – or get fired. Yes, I was one of the many rebels who got put on the “hit list” for speaking out.  To quote Subdivisions, a tune by Canadian rock band Rush, you have to “conform or be cast out”.  This applies to both teachers – and students. They don’t want anyone upsetting the apple cart and pointing out the obvious.

2) The majority of teachers are left-brained, as is the system. The way students are taught is very sequential, step-by-step, with emphasis on rote-learning, memorization, and using the exact methods as the teacher, despite the fact that there are many different ways to approach most any topic or subject.  Those of us who are creative, right-brained types think in pictures, we are not sequential, and we often skip ahead once we see the whole picture. We thrive on challenge, innovation, and novelty. We don’t need Ritalin – we just need to be allowed to learn in ways that work best for us.  That is why I designed completely different teaching techniques and granted our kids, then ages 6 and 9, the request to be homeschooled. The system was designed by left-brainers  for left-brainers - great fodder for all you conspiracy theorists out there but wait it gets better…

3) High-stakes testing programs have robbed both students and teachers of any creativity or original thought. It is not a coincidence that bright and creative students begin to have school problems in 3rd grade – that is when these testing programs generally begin.  A recent study by educational psychologist Kyung Hee Kim revealed that subtest scores on a creativity tests have been steadily declining. The most dramatic drop was in the area of “elaboration”. The declines began in 1990 and progressively worsened. In addition, Dr. Linda Silverman, of The Gifted Development Center in Denver, CO once stated that students who are not appropriately challenged lose 1 IQ point every year they’re in school (http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/).  However, that was before the high-stakes testing programs were in full swing. I’d argue that the drop in IQ is even greater.

4) School wasn’t designed with the individual in mind. It doesn’t seem to matter which government program we adopt, from Clinton’s “Goals 2000″ to Obama’s “Race to the Top”, it’s the exact same premise. Only the name has changed. It still doesn’t address what is really needed: Teaching kids not in the way we think they should be taught but in the ways they need to learn.  As my then 9-year old daughter so aptly stated, education is not about learning but about control.  Independence, originality, and creativity are not included in the standard public education model.  It is not a coincidence that critical and creative thinking skills have also declined since the testing programs began.  As the system becomes even more standardized, so do the students. You might as well slap a bar code on their wrists and scan them as they enter the school doors.  It appears that George Orwell was right: Big Brother is alive and well – in more ways than you could have possibly imagined…

(Stay tuned for Part 2…)

Bibliography

The Decline of Creativity: 5 Questions for Educational Psychologist Kyung Hee Kim, Encyclopedia Britannica Blog,  http://bit.ly/bfazWA

How Schools Kill Creativity by Sir Ken Robinson, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, http://bit.ly/z8FJKi

The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation into the Prison of Modern Society, by John Taylor Gatto, http://bit.ly/xoH9kx

The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of Public Schools by Martin L. Gross, http://bit.ly/FONOqE

Here’s the Nation’s Easiest Major by Lynn O’Shaughnessy, http://bit.ly/uhglxB

Hearing the Music by Dori Staehle, Digest of Gifted Research http://bit.ly/x2GiCr 

At this point in time, colleges have already accepted a large number of super-qualified students. These students most likely applied in the early fall and have GPA’s and test scores that exceed the college’s benchmarks.  They may also have something in their application or essay that makes them very attractive to the college.

If you received a deferral letter, this generally means that either:

- Your GPA and/or test scores were below the college’s requirements. Many colleges will re-review your file for acceptance after you’ve re-taken the SAT or ACT and posted higher scores, or if your GPA increases. Make sure you send the new information asap!

- Your file is missing something important. It could be your transcript, your test scores, your essay, letters of recommendation, proof of citizenship, or you didn’t sign your application. The deferral letter or email should state what’s missing. Follow up with the info or let them know you’re no longer interested.

- The college likes you but either they’re not totally sold or they’ve already filled the required number of seats with students that they feel are better qualified. This doesn’t mean you’re totally out of the running. Unlike a rejection letter, this means they may re-consider your application. However, now would be a good time to consider your Plan B.

If your letter states that you were provisionally accepted, this generally means that:

Your GPA or test scores fall slightly below the college’s acceptance criteria but they’re willing to take a chance on you. However, a provisional acceptance usually comes with strings attached like taking preliminary classes in math or English, limiting your course load to 12 credits, requiring that you visit the school’s tutoring center, and re-reviewing your progress after the first semester.

Keep in mind that provisionally accepted students may have difficulty succeeding in this particular college’s academic environment. You also won’t qualify for academic scholarships. In my experience in admissions,  provisionally accepted students tend to drop out at a much higher rate than fully accepted students due to these obstacles.

A better route to take for provisionally accepted students would be to try community college for a year or two. There is no shame in this decision. It can save you a ton of money and it helps you acclimate better to college-level work. If you do well, there is always the possibility to transfer into a four-year college (and possibly qualify for a scholarship).  Or, you might decide to pursue a trade or certificate program instead. Either way, it’s a win/win.

1)  Keep your grades up and hand in assignments and projects! Don’t assume that, since you’ve already applied to colleges or been accepted, no one will care what your grades look like this semester. Colleges can actually deny or rescind acceptance (and scholarships) if your GPA drops below their expected norms.

2) If you haven’t done so already, finish those college applications and essays and send them in! Yes, many college deadlines have passed but some schools have “rolling admissions” which means there is no deadline.  The sooner you apply, the better, however.  There is still more planning to do from this point and you don’t want to miss out on any remaining scholarship $.  If the school requires SAT or ACT scores, make sure you send them (and the school has received them!).

3) Fill out and double-check your FAFSA forms! Again, if you haven’t filed for financial aid (aka FAFSA: www.fafsa.gov), now is the time! Even if you think your family won’t qualify, submit it anyway. You never know what state or federal money you may qualify for.  This is need-based aid; it is not an academic scholarship and it’s not automatic. Your family needs to have their tax forms ready. Read every section carefully, make sure all information entered is correct, indicate which colleges you want to send your FAFSA form to, and hit send.

If you wait until June to file, there won’t be much (if any) money left.  If you haven’t heard back from the college and it’s been a month or more, contact the financial aid department to make sure they have received your FAFSA form and to see if there are any problems. Keep in mind that state and federal aid generally pertains only to U.S. citizens.

4) Start scrambling to find more $! If you need extra money and you want to avoid or reduce loans, there may still be some outside scholarships left. Ask your guidance counselor, do an online search, or hire an educational consultant to help you .  Here’s another idea: Get a job! If you get a part-time job paying $150/week and you have 5 months until school starts, that’s $3,000 that can be used toward tuition or books and expenses. If you already have a job, you’re ahead of the game.  You can also get a part-time job once you’re in college.

5) Send in your deposit to let the college know you plan to attend!  Colleges are now planning course schedules for the fall, making sure they have enough professors, and planning Orientation weekends. Don’t sit on the fence too long.  That’s how students get stuck with the 8am classes that no one wants and the last remaining dorm rooms. You won’t have much choice in June or July – you’ll get whatever is left.

6) Check your email account! There may be important information from Admissions or the college’s Financial Aid department. Yes, I know you spend most of your time on Facebook but not all colleges communicate that way. Keep your parents or guardians in the loop and give them advance notice of deadlines and events.

7) Have a Plan B! If you didn’t get into the college of your choice or you can’t afford it, don’t give up! Have a safety school (or 2 or 3!) as your fallback position or consider a more affordable option like your local community college.  This option not only saves you tons of money but it can help you with the college transition.

Not everyone’s Plan B involves college. Keep in mind that college is not for everyone and not every job requires a college degree. Consider your career choices and determine if you really need to spend the time and money that a 4-year degree requires.  Other options could include work, travel, missions, internships, apprenticeships, enrolling in a certificate program or trade school, taking a “gap year”, or becoming an entrepreneur (if you have some major skills, you know your market, and you’ve received some solid financial backing and business advice).

Whatever your plans are, don’t wait until August to implement them.  If you feel overwhelmed, make sure you talk to your parents, your guidance counselor, and others who can help you.  If you have a plan and everything in place, you can start thinking about your prom, graduation, and celebrating the next phase of your life.

1) Give your teen some space: Don’t feel hurt or insulted if they’d rather spend more time with their friends than with you. They also may be feeling stressed out with all the demands of high school, college admissions, proms, etc. You may want to pull them closer but usually, they just want you to back off.

2) Let your teen step up to the plate:  Don’t try to micromanage and do everything for them. Students need to know basic life skills like doing laundry, etc. As for college, do the financial aid forms but let them handle everything else. Colleges hate “helicopter parents”. The students should be the ones checking in with admissions, student housing, their prospective roommates, etc. Once your student is at college, never call a professor to complain about an assignment or grade. Let your student handle it.

3) Allow them to fail once in awhile:  Students need to take responsibility for their actions and to learn from their mistakes. They won’t have you with them at college, so you can’t mop up after them.  This applies to handing in assignments late (or not at all), overdrawn checking accounts, missed curfews, etc. Homeschooling parents take note: This is the time to give your teen more responsibility concerning their education, their assignments, and their activities.

4) Get used to your new role: By senior year, your son or daughter is becoming an adult. He or she is moving into a new and exciting phase of life.  Don’t spoil that by focusing on the negative, making your teen anxious, or harping all the time (especially during a college visit!).  Don’t cry and reminisce in front of your child. You’ll have plenty of time for that when they’re gone!  Start planning and embracing your next phase.

5) Speaking of college visits…Encourage your student to speak up and ask questions. This may be his or her “new home” for the next 4 years, so you really want to make sure it’s a good fit.  Resist the temptation to monopolize conversations by doing all the talking. It would be a good idea for everyone (especially the student) to do some research on the college before visiting.

6) Make a “calling agreement”:  Once at college… Limit your calls and texts.  They won’t always be able to answer and some students just won’t want to. That’s ok.  Instruct your teen to call or text you.  Our son very rarely contacted us, which was tough to get used to at first. Our daughter was also a freshman at the same college and she contacted us often. If you agree to Skype, let your child take the initiative so he or she can choose a convenient time.

7) Establish boundaries regarding visits:  A good rule of thumb for both you and your kids is “no surprise visits”.  Don’t just pop by the campus. By the same token, don’t allow your kids to just show up at home.  Both represent privacy issues (I also liked some advance notice so I had enough groceries in the house!). Also, in order to quickly acclimate to college life, resident students should really stay on campus for at least a month before heading home.  Of course, if you live far away, this isn’t an issue but it is for those who live nearby. If your student says that he is bored, encourage him to get out of his dorm room and take advantage of clubs, activities, sporting events, etc. so that they meet new friends. The sooner they do this, the less they will miss home. Sending care packages, emails, or e-greetings are nice ways to let them know you haven’t forgotten about them.

Letting go is tough but it can be done. Start spending time apart now so it’s not so hard to say goodbye. On move-in day, realize it’s not the parents’ job to set up the dorm room. Just help move everything in, make it a quick goodbye, head to the car…and break out the tissues

Resources for Parents:

Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the College Years, by Karen Coburn and Madge Treeger:   http://amzn.to/xN1qoY

You’re on Your Own (But I’m Here if You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years, by Majorie Savage:  http://amzn.to/wJFQcZ

What I Wish for You, by Patti Digh:  http://amzn.to/x6KVvn

What these colleges have discovered is that homeschoolers represent a very attractive talent pool: These students tend to be exceptionally bright, motivated, and mature. Far from being sheltered and shy (the typical stereotypes), homeschoolers’ applications reflect students who have traveled, taken risks, and studied some pretty intense topics. In addition, they tend to have impressive reading lists and letters of recommendation. Most have volunteered, participated in sports, the arts, and activities too numerous to mention. They are more than likely to have been dual-enrolled in both their homeschool and a community college and have numerous advanced placement (AP) and/or honors classes. Consequently, their GPA’s and SAT or ACT scores tend to be well above average (Note to naysayers: If a student has stellar SAT or ACT scores and a community college GPA of 3.0-4.0, this proves that the parents did not fudge the student’s transcript!).

Ivy-league colleges are not the only schools seeking homeschoolers.  Public and private universities are jumping on the bandwagon, realizing what many Christian colleges have known all along: Homeschoolers not only enhance classroom discussions, they tend to get involved in campus life and student leadership, and they hold their own academically as well.  Homeschooled musicians also tend to be some of the best, since they have much more time to devote to lessons, practice, and performances. Homeschoolers tend to have a strong sense of self, since they’ve had more time to develop it and aren’t influenced by negative peer pressure.

How do I know this? I am a former admissions counselor who recruited both homeschooled and public school students. I was also a homeschooling parent for 12 years and have done loads of research, guest speaking, and consulting. Both of our kids were accepted to all the schools they applied to and were offered scholarships.

Still not sold? Consider the following facts from Dr. Brian Ray, with the National Home Education Research Institute (www.nheri.org):

1) Homeschoolers typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests (The public school average is the 50^th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.).

2) Homeschooled students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.

3) Whether or not homeschool parents possessed a teaching certificate is not related to their children’s academic achievement.

4) Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.

5) Home-educated students typically score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.

Dr. Ray’s research base on adults who were home educated is growing; thus far it indicates that they:

- participate in local community service more frequently than does the general population,

- vote and attend public meetings more frequently than the general population, and

- go to and succeed at college at an equal or higher rate than the general population.

Hopefully, I have shattered some myths about homeschoolers. They’re not tied to the kitchen table all day by their parents and yes, they do come in contact with the outside world. In fact, they’re in the “real world” much more than other students. Their reasons for homeschooling are as varied as homeschoolers themselves. So before you make any assumptions about these students, take some time to discover what they’re really like and why colleges are snatching them up.

*Note: According to Dr. Ray, there are more than 2 million homeschoolers in the U.S. and the numbers grow between 2 and 8% each year. Here in NC, the Department of Non-Public Education reported nearly 84,000 homeschoolers in 2011. Of that amount, it was estimated that 36,500 were in the age range of 13-17.

Resources for homeschoolers:

Homeschoolers’ College Admissions Handbook: Preparing Your 12- to 18-Year Old for a Smooth Transition, Cafi Cohen,http://amzn.to/x74XNE

And What About College: How Homeschooling Leads to Admissions to the Best Colleges and Universities, Cafi Cohen,http://amzn.to/xJBPjr

A Sense of Self: Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girls, Susannah Sheffer, http://amzn.to/ymi212 

Colleges That Change Lives, Loren Pope, http://www.ctcl.org/ (Interesting colleges. Great for “unschoolers”. No SAT or ACT requirement.)

Sampling of programs for “academically talented and gifted” homeschoolers:

Pennsylvania Homeschoolers’ Online Advanced Placement (AP) classes: http://pahomeschoolers.com/ (Note: Students must score a 3 or better on the AP exam for college credit.)

Stanford’s Educational Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). Online classes for K-College: www.epgystanford.org.

For elementary-middle school students: Duke’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) for grades 4, 5, and 7:http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/539. Identifies academically talented students. Also offers on-site and online programs and other perks.

The Lukeion Project. Live, online classical courses, archeological study tours, and more: www.lukeion.org