Paris Educational Solutions

A couple of weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the annual HECA conference in Chicago. Over the three days, I attended several educational sessions, learning about health care career planning, the impact of shorter SAT and ACT scores on admissions outcomes, and how to make the most of an ordinary essay topic. I also enjoyed hearing from admissions officers from Northwestern University and The University of Chicago. I even moderated a panel discussion titled Ethical Edge: How IEC’s Can Pull Their Admissions Data. After the conference, I stayed in the Midwest to tour 4 college campuses in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.

It was such a fantastic week, and as a bonus, I saw many of my colleagues in real life!

and so many others!

As parents we spend a lot of time considering and planning ways that we can help our children succeed in life. Camps, lessons and elite athletics often come to the forefront of ways we want our kids to spend their time developing their interests and talents. Here are 4 simple life long habits that will help to improve future success for all students.

1. Read more 📚
Whenever I meet a new student I ask what is the last book they read by choice. More often than not I am met with a blank stare. But sometimes I am delighted to learn that the student is passionate about sci-fi or historical fiction. There are so many benefits to becoming a good casual reader. Reading improves attention span, creativity, critical thinking and test scores.If you want to help your student become a better reader, start by setting a good example.

2. Assign household chores 🧺 🧹
Doing chores teaches responsibility, teamwork and other life skills. It’s easy to feel like students are so busy that they do not have time for chores. But I would encourage parents to flip that narrative on its head. If your student does not have time to help out with basic household chores then perhaps the issue is that the student is over committed with too rigorous a course load or too many activities.

3. Allow for unstructured time 💭
Most of us remember the days of summer when we left home in the morning only to return when the street lights came on. The social skills, independence and confidence we gained from our adventures can’t be reproduced in a structured summer program. Allow your student some time to explore the world on their own. Of course, you want to control for safety. But remember we went out on our adventures without the benefit of cell phones, Life 365 or location sharing.

4. Eat dinner as a family 🍽️
Young people that eat dinner regularly with their family develop better eating habits and communication skills. They also have better grades and lower rates for anxiety or depression. If that isn’t enough reason for you to start scheduling regular family mealtime then think about how eating together will give you a chance to get insight into your teenagers daily life.