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Parent Tips
Welcome to HMS
Parent
Tips
Parent Tips
Going away to boarding school for the first time can present challenges for new students, but counselors say sometimes the transition is even more traumatic for the students' parents.
Here are some helpful parenting hints from a book called Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to the College Experience, by Madge Treeger, a psychological counselor at Washington University in St. Louis, and Karen Coburn, Washington University's associate dean of students. (Though it is oriented toward the college students, it still has applications at the high school level as well.)
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Listen carefully when your son or daughter calls home. Be ready to offer a listening ear, advice and suggestions, but not decisions. Don't be alarmed with very frequent or infrequent calls home. Some students experience sharp pangs of homesickness and need the reassurance of frequent contact, while others go cold turkey, trying to establish the independence they need.
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Most students are still financially dependent on parents to some degree. Sit down and discuss the family situation with your son or daughter. Let your student know how much money will be available to him or her and how much of the expenses he/she will be expected to carry.
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Send letters regularly - A letter in the mailbox can make anyone's day.
- Don't be overly concerned with career choices. Let your student have the opportunity to explore new possibilities.
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Recognize that kids change when they go away. They're in a completely new environment and are dealing with a barrage of new ideas.
- When the school year ends and your son or daughter returns for summer vacation, plan to sit down and work out reasonable parameters for living at home. Parents need to respect the independence their kids have worked hard to achieve, and students need to remember there are courtesies to be observed.
- Chocolate chip cookies are ALWAYS welcome...and baking can be very therapeutic!
Howe Military School
5755 North State Road 9
P.O. Box 240
Howe, Indiana 46746-0240
(260)562-2131