This is the time of year that college students traditionally come home for up to 6 weeks for the holidays.  While they were away at school, they were pretty much on their own and could do whatever they pleased.  Now that they are back home are they expected to conform back to their high school days or is their a middle road?  Here are some ‘coming home’ tips that will help parents and college students get along during the holidays.

Seven tips for parents:
* Make your expectations clear. If you’re planning a special dinner, then let your returning adult know when you’d like to do that so they can plan.
* Count on the possibility that the student will most likely want to visit friends while home also.
* Listen. They’ve been out in the world and have different perspective and need to talk about them.
* Don’t be too pushy or prying. Asking in a suspicious tone when the student comes home each night and what they’re doing all the time will usually have the reverse effect you want it to.
* Talk about rules. Explain why you would like them to behave a certain way.
* Trust your kids and give them space, but pay attention. If something doesn’t seem right, it may not be.
* Enjoy your children. This is where you still need to provide guidance, but can start to let go a little.

Six tips for young adults
* Try listening to what your parents or guardians have to say. If they’re hounding you about something, what are they really asking? Usually it’s to allay any anxiety or worry they may have.
* Be open about your life.  Lack of this kind of communication may be a large part of the friction. Make it easier on your parents by talking about your life at college and friends you have made so that your parents won’t feel they are prying it out of you.  Remember, your parents are interested in your life.
* Let your parents know where you’re going as a courtesy and when you’ll be home.
* Be up front about plans. If your dad has a special dinner he’s making for you, don’t wait until the pots are out to tell him you’re going out with friends.
* If you want to be treated as an adult, acting as one is the quickest way there. Try to avoid overly emotional responses to rules and arguments.
* Have fun. Enjoy your family and friends for who they are.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2007) — With end-of-semester finals looming, here’s an exam question: Will pulling an all-nighter actually help you score well?

To the dismay of college students everywhere, the correct answer is “no.”

Pamela Thacher, associate professor of psychology at St. Lawrence University (Canton, N.Y.), studied the sleeping patterns and transcripts of 111 students to see the correlation between sleep and their grade-point averages.

“You can’t do your best work when you’re sleep-deprived,” Thacher says of her findings, which were that two-thirds of the students reported that they had pulled at least one all-nighter during a semester and that those who did it regularly had lower GPAs. Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.

The study also examined whether most students who pulled all-nighters did so due to procrastination. According to Thacher, that wasn’t the case for most students. “The data indicate that procrastination is not associated with all-nighters, although both practices significantly correlated with lower GPAs,” she says.

A small proportion of those in the study indicated that they use all-nighters regularly and maintain high GPAs, but Thacher notes that the findings show that won’t be the case for most students.

Many students believe that it’s a “rite of passage” to stay up all night during college and that “it’s kind of fun,” Thacher says. But, she adds, “Pulling all-nighters compromises your sleep overall ” and makes it difficult to reach full academic potential. Short-term side effects of sleep deprivation include delayed reactions and tendencies to make mistakes.

In general, Thacher says, college students’ sleep is inadequate, irregular and of poor quality, and all result in worsened academic performance. Over-use and availability of caffeinated beverages, the presence on campuses of all-night study areas and poor time-management all contribute to students’ sleep deprivation, she adds.

Thacher presented the results of her study during the summer at the annual conference of the National Sleep Society, and it is scheduled for publication in the January issue of the journal Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

–Science Daily–

Buying gifts for a teenager can be tough as I am sure all you parents have figured out by now.  Here is a list of the top 10 sellers so that you can have some ideas (albeit not inexpensive ones) for  pulled together a list of top sellers to help you in your search for the perfect present this holiday season.

Better-qualified people are being attracted to the teaching profession, according to a report by the Educational Testing Service.

Future teachers who took the state teacher licensing tests from the years 2002 to 2005 scored higher on their SAT’s while in high school and also obtained better grades while in college than teachers who took the exams in the mid 1990’s.

The researcher who led the study, Drew Gitomer, stated ”We’re seeing a pretty big jump in qualifications.”

Conclusions by Gitomer and his colleagues were based on the comparisons of the academic profiles of 153,000 aspiring teachers from 20 states who took licensing exams from 2002 to 2005, with the profiles of about 140,000 teachers from the same states who took the licensing exams from 1994 to 1997.

The Princeton, N.J. testing service produces a series of teacher licensing exams that appraise academic competency in more than 100 subject areas.

This is good news for our kids!

College may seem an eon away to high school seniors who are focused on that next big test or big football game. But the time to think about choosing and paying for college is now. Some early-admissions and scholarship deadlines are right around the corner, if they haven’t passed already.

That’s not to say that students without a college pick are in big trouble. But college-bound seniors and their parents should act on the following advice from those in the know sooner rather than later.

Study Money

Parents have about nine months to teach their future freshmen how to budget. Karen Heimdahl, a financial counselor with Lutheran Social Services who counsels college students, suggests that parents let their children in on the family bill-paying and budgeting. “A lot of the problem is that parents don’t budget themselves,” she said.

As for handing a credit card to a teenager? Heimdahl says it depends on the maturity level of the teen and the level of parental commitment. Credit know-how doesn’t come with the card. It takes a responsible adult to teach the basics of interest rates and fees. But if teens aren’t taught before leaving the nest, when will they learn, and who will teach them?

Tour and tour some more

Guidance counselor Ellen Merlin of St. Paul Central High School suggests that college-bound kids tour plenty of schools. “If you’re on a family vacation, stop at a school,” Merlin said, even if there’s no way you’ll go there. Tours will help an individual pinpoint which attributes are most important in a school.

If you can’t afford to visit far-flung schools, grab a college guide or hit the Web. There are even DVDs of college tours from companies such as Collegiate Choice Walking Tours (www.collegiatechoice.com).

Consider your career

Although it might seem like putting the cart before the horse, it’s smart to consider your career plan when selecting a school, because some schools will be better equipped than others to prepare you for a certain job. Yes, with some colleges charging $40,000 a year, choosing a college isn’t just about awesome food in the cafeteria.

Minnesota businessman John Bendt, whose book “A Roadmap to Career Success” helps college-bound students think about careers, advises high-schoolers to also look at a college’s career planning resources, such as access to internships.

Career focus can also help students get out of college in four years. “If you’re indecisive and it takes more time, you’re obviously going to spend more,” he says.

Don’t count yourself out. Students from low-income families whose parents didn’t attend college may assume that higher education is for someone else, said Janet Tauer, president of Minnesota Trio, a group of programs working mostly with low-income, first generation students. “Put yourself out there,” she says. “Apply, talk to people, visit the schools.”

There’s also a lot of scholarship money available education from community organizations, local companies – even college academic departments. But Tauer tells students to be aware of scholarship scams. “Don’t pay for applications,” she says

Consider cost. If you’ve already told your valedictorian to pick a school, no matter the cost, then let’s hope you’ve thought about how to pay for it.

At this point, parents should learn all they can about how financial aid works at individual schools (need-based or merit-based) and get an idea of whether they will qualify for any federal aid. Also, prepare to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon as your 2007 tax documents are available.

Then, get out the calculator for a net-cost-of-college calculation. Start with the cost of attendance including tuition, room and board and incidentals. Subtract day-to-day household expenses that will disappear when your hockey star leaves.

Parents will get to a number they either can or can’t live with.

If they can’t, then it’s time to consider loans or financial adjustments such as taking out a home-equity loan, lowering retirement contributions or slashing household expenses.

It might also be time to have a tough talk with Junior, explaining the need to reduce college costs with two years of community college and/or a job.

Act now. Jump-start your school search.