Reply to Preparing your kid for adulthood when they're not "college material"

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[quote=Anonymous]
The situation we face is that my son is probably sort of on the border line of being college material. He is in 9th grade so the coming years will tell if he will go to college. It is hard - don't know whether to encourage him to think in terms of college or not.

Assuming you are the OP, I think that you are right to keep a wide view and not be totally fixated on a 4-year college as the only possible option for your son.  The first and most important hurdle is that he transitions well to  high school, keeps a positive view of himself as a learner, finds some peers he enjoys being with in and out of school and participates in a couple of activities in school or out of school which can "reduce the school stressors" if he has a lot.

I would also suggest if you can give him varied exposure to different career paths in high school through summer volunteer work, possible summer job when older, possible non-credit course as in computers in summer or or even exploring at a local vocational school if there are options as in-school elective classes.  Another idea would be to support him if he wants to try to set up a "teen business" such as house/pet sitting, child care (boys), yard work etc.

In his case by sophomore year, if school seems to be a real grind for him, then it might be wise to get some outside evaluation of his interests, skills and abilities and to see how the final two years of high school might at least in part be shaped towards that data, too.  Also as suggested exploring the options available at the local community college is a very wise step for many teens today, especially those who do not know what they want to be doing or those with disabilities.  It is a good  platform to transition to college on and then build on an many have automatic transfer agreements now with top state schools.  Also, getting the Associate Degree in hand is often a very positive first step for a struggling learner.

Good luck.[/quote]

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