Reply to If you are a low-resource family - what tips do you have for maximizing success in HS?

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[quote=Anonymous]Hi.  If your child is disciplined and responsible, you can definitely help your child achieve without expensive supports.

Good homework habits and self-identifying trouble spots are two areas a proactive child can control.  Also being the type of student teachers like to have in class.  On another thread about college, a parent recommended saying hello when entering a class and thanks when you leave.  That caught my eye as extra respectful and therefore a distinguishing suggestion.

With respect to high school math and SAT math, it's very important to stay on top of it.  I do pay for franchised math tutoring but that's partially because I got tired of monitoring my kids to self-study using free or inexpensive resources.  Khan Academy is known to be good.  I have paid for ixl.com (IXL) which covers up to pre-calculus and some kinds of English (reading comprehension, grammar, etc.).  It does diagnostics and recommends practice areas but you can jump around in it to practice areas of greatest need.  A parent can review and monitor work on this portal through the parent account features.

Another thing I would recommend is to ask for help affording expensive, fun extras.  Our school has some ways to help kids with things like Disney band trips, Washington DC class trips, senior all-night party, etc.  We have an ordinary school district (not affluent) but people here are very inclusion oriented.

Start early with understanding your financial picture for college.  Know where the local, low competition, financial need considered scholarships come from.   Ask your child to consider getting good financial aid to be a part-time job.  If planned ahead, many scholarship application essays are reusable.  For example, I'm a reader for a PTA scholarship committee.  We give out about 10 $500 scholarships and only get about 30 applicants.  It probably can't take more than 3 hours to apply, even if you don't have a matching 250 word short essay.

Another free thing you can do is listen harder to your child's likes and dislikes than most parents do.  Help your child select and continue with ECs that really matter to them, work with the school career counselor to find the most appropriate summer job opportunities, etc.  A lot of people let their kids bumble through freshman and sophomore years. Know for yourself what your student's options are and suggest things.

Do anything you can to encourage your child to read at an advanced level.  Libraries, subscriptions, author talks, poetry readings.[/quote]

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