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Flowers of Spring Fever

Finish Strong and Fight Spring Fever

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Teachers all over the country are experiencing a similar phenomenon in their classrooms – spring fever. Just about the time spring break rolls around kids begin to think about summer and stop thinking about school. Unfortunately, this is the time of year when standardized testing and final assessments take place, so it’s no time to mail it in. In this post we’ll discuss strategies for keeping your child focused to finish the school year strong.

At home you’re probably feeling this as well. It gets harder to get your children up in the morning and to get them to focus on doing their homework. Now imagine the frustrations that the teachers are facing when they have 20 or more kids all struggling to focus. By April, it has been a long school year and kids are tired of schoolwork, but in most systems there is still a lot of work to be done. It is a particularly frustrating time for schools because their biggest academic assessment each year for No Child Left Behind happens in the spring. Here are a few tips to help keep your child focused and finish strong:

  1. Keep your routines. We are all creatures of habit and sticking to a well-established routine is one key to a smooth-running household.
  2. Send your child to school. Things can come up in the spring and it can be tempting to let your child lay out of school here and there. The more you do this, the more your kids will want to stay out, and a vicious cycle ensues. Send them to school and you send a strong message to your children about keeping their obligations.
  3. Remember bedtime. With the days getting longer, the evening can sneak up on you pretty quickly and it might seem earlier than it really is. In concert with routines, keep an eye on the clock and make sure your kids get their normal night of sleep.
  4. Get your kids outside. Playing in the yard or with the neighborhood kids is a way to burn off that energy and buy you some peace and quiet in the afternoons. Use the warm weather and longer days to your advantage. Join them for some family fun and fitness.
  5. Openly plan your summer vacations and fun. If your children have something to look forward to upon completion of the school year, it could sustain them through the rest of the year and give them something to work towards.
  6. Be supportive of your teachers and school. Teachers are most effective when they have the full support and backing of parents, and this time of year is even more critical to have that cooperation. Have your child do their homework and study for upcoming tests. Keep the lines of communication open and be involved whenever you can as a parent.
  7. Use praise, rewards and incentives liberally. Children respond very favorably when appropriate levels of incentive are given for doing the right things. When you catch your child doing something good, or getting compliments from their teacher, or bringing home good grades, let them know you appreciate it.

Keeping up the intensity can have more than just psychological benefits. Perhaps a grade moves from a “B” to an “A” or, going the opposite direction, a class is failed by coasting at the end of the year. For high schoolers, this can be significant. In the case of my oldest son, his act of finishing strong his senior year moved him from #2 to #1 in class ranking and earned him an additional scholarship. With active, intentional parenting, you can help your child finish strong and fight spring fever.

Question – Is your case of spring fever rubbing off on your child?

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Twelve Service Opportunities for Your Child

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For your aspiring college student, nothing rounds out a stellar academic performance like a solid history of service. Scholarship committees, particularly those who award the endowed scholarships, like to know that their money is going to someone with a history of giving back. With summer coming, your student will have time on their hands to give back to the community so in this post we’ll look at some of the opportunities in your back yard or halfway around the world.

  1. Your child could participate in a Habitat for Humanity project. If you live in a mid to large-sized town, there should be several projects going on at any one time. You can find more information at http://www.habitat.org.
  2. Nursing homes are always eager to have young people to visit with the residents. Your son or daughter can read to the residents, visit and talk with them, or share a particular talent they may have. Find a home online in your local area and call the coordinator for more information.
  3. Community projects, like playground or park cleanup efforts, are a good one-time activity that lets your child participate on a Saturday. Look for these events to be posted on local signs, businesses, or in the community newspaper.
  4. Your teenager might participate as an assistant coach for a child’s sports team like baseball or basketball. This is a solid opportunity to develop leadership skills as well as teach some skills to up and coming kids. Check with the local youth recreation organization to find out more about this.
  5. To continue the theme of mentoring younger children, your teenager might be a tutor, ambassador, or student aid in the local elementary or middle school. As part of the development process for these younger kids, schools look for role models that have come through the system and can represent the system well.
  6. Maybe your child wants to pursue career interests. While finding a paying job might be a challenge, doing an unpaid internship or assistantship can be an excellent service opportunity. It also gives them a chance to see if their career interests in a particular field are worth pursuing. Universities and private businesses in the area are the best candidates for this opportunity.
  7. Churches across America put on Vacation Bible School during the summer. Typically a week-long event, they are always on the lookout for teens who can help out. Churches also typically participate in a food pantry or soup kitchen ministry to the local needy or homeless. Teens are always welcome to help distribute food at these venues.
  8. For animal lovers, your local zoo might be a possibility for a service opportunity. During the higher-traffic summer months they use volunteers for any number of tasks to help the full-time staff. Animal shelters are mostly non-profit and could use your child’s help. Find their website and contact them for more information.
  9. Summer camps are filled with activities that teens could help with if they are unable to secure a paid camp worker spot. Check with the camps in your area.
  10. Summer festivals are always in need of volunteers, and your child can benefit from free admission and other perks of helping the organization put on their event. As news of the event comes out, find their website for contact information.
  11. Fundraising activities like Light The Night and other events always need volunteers. As with other one-time events, consult with the website to learn more.
  12. Thinking more globally, there are mission opportunities around the globe that your church may participate in. These can be more costly because of the transportation and lodging involved, but they can be a wonderful teaching tool for your child to understand the challenges facing people in other countries. Raising money for such a trip is also a good character-building exercise. Check with your church and begin to plan early as immunizations, passports, and other requirements will have to be met.

Whatever activities your child participates in, they need to connect with a sponsor or supervisor who can validate their work if necessary. I also recommend finding something that your child can get excited about instead of just going through the motions. They might be called upon to relate their story to others, so hopefully their experiences will make an impression on them and they can take something of value from their service. The service credit earned might satisfy some scholarship requirement, but it is the memories and the experience that will impact your child and make a difference in their life.

Question – Is my child getting adequate exposure to the problems facing the world around them? Do they understand the importance of giving back? 

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Homework – A Necessary Evil

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Let’s all admit it – when your child comes home with a load of homework it can be draining. Between everything else we have to do after a hard day at work, there is little time left for this. Much debate has taken place over the value of homework, the right amount to be assigned, and the level of parental involvement required. However, one thing is for sure – homework that relates directly to the learning effort is necessary. We’ll explore why and ways to effectively manage the homework burden in your home.

I just met with a few of my son’s teachers yesterday. He is a great kid but simply is not motivated about school. One of the concerns is that he does not do classwork or homework if he does not enjoy the class. Consequently, his grades suffer. Our school system changed their grading criteria this year so that homework and classwork account for only 25% of their grade and assessments make up the other 75%. So, his thought is that all he has to do is excel on the tests and quizzes and he can pass. Mathematically, that is correct, but in reality it’s wrong.

The reality is that classwork and homework prepare you to do well on the assessments. Just like working out, training, and practicing conditions you to excel in your chosen sport, homework and classwork have the same effect. Whether it’s reading and studying for an exam, completing worksheets with practice questions, working out math problems or diagramming a sentence, these activities all constitute training for the associated test or quiz. Plus, teachers are already compressed for time and may not be able to cover the worksheet or reading in class, so they send it home. In that sense, I believe that homework is a necessity.

Homework gives you a chance to connect with your child. Instead of looking at it as a drudgery make it fun. Your child might hear your explanation of a problem and understand it better than they did in class. Or, they might get excited when you talk about the different possibilities for their project. Being involved in the completion of your child’s homework gives you a glimpse into their world and what your child is being taught.

What we’ve found is that the more intentional we are about homework the better our kids perform at home and in school. Some homework strategies that have worked for us, and that you might employ in your home are:

  • Create a place where homework is always done at home.
  • Work with them to identify a place in their notebook or binder to put completed homework.
  • Develop a routine for the afternoon (maybe snack, clothes change, homework then play or vice-versa) and stick with it.
  • Plan a time in the evening to help your child complete their homework, or if they’re the self-motivated type, review it with them and talk about their day.
  • Hold them accountable when things are missed and make them complete those tasks.
  • Praise, reward and compliment your child as they become more self-sufficient in this area.
  • If you have a complaint about the amount or appropriateness of the homework, consult your child’s teacher in private.

When your child knows what to expect, and what you expect from them, things tend to go a lot more smoothly. For some children, the homework burden will be greater on you than it is for others because all children are different. Support your child’s teachers and ensure that your children do their homework. In the long run, their grades will benefit and they will learn some life skills in addition to the knowledge they gain through the process.

Application Question – What one step can you take to tame the homework monster in your home?

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What Happened to Community Parenting?

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In my youth, parents were the eyes and ears for one another where their kids were concerned. Parents trusted one another to make sure that their kids stayed out of trouble. Sadly, that trend has changed and with that I believe our kids are getting into more trouble than ever before. This post explores the reasons for this phenomenon and how we can begin to swing the pendulum in the other direction.

I think the foremost reason for this change is the loss of community. We are all so busy and so consumed with the rigors of everyday life that we no longer know our neighbors, much less the parents of our kid’s classmates. Moms and Dads both work nowadays, and coupled with the migration to the suburbs the “bedroom community” is the new norm. People spend their evenings in their homes, rarely with enough time to get all of the daily chores complete before they collapse for the night.

The second trend that has caused this breakdown is the digital age. The ease through which we can chat, or send an email, tweet, or update a Facebook status has drawn us indoors. No longer do neighbors meet and talk face-to-face or over the phone. The backyard conversation between two moms is all but history. What has been sold as the way to make the world smaller has become the way the world has grown more isolated. Our neighbors are now strangers, and nobody trusts strangers.

The third reason that contributes to the loss of community parenting is litigation and lawsuits. A small percentage of our population is quick to point blame and pull the trigger at any hint that a lawsuit might lead to some financial reward. Even well-meaning individuals with good intentions are often targeted by these people. The old saying goes that no good deed goes unpunished. This has created an environment where people would rather not get involved than risk being sued, so they turn the other way instead of getting involved.

Finally, parents by and large believe that their kids can do no wrong. Or, at least they don’t want to admit their child’s wrongs to someone else. Any accusation by another parent is quickly met with defensiveness from the accused’s parent. So, parents turn a blind eye to what other kids are doing as long as their kids aren’t involved.

I don’t think it’s a lost cause even with today’s hectic schedules. Here is what I think we can do to restore the partnership with other parents and know what our children are up to:

  1. Go to school meetings. Get involved in as many school activities as you can as a parent.
  2. Talk to other parents who have kids involved in the same activities as your child.
  3. Pick up the telephone. Get the phone numbers of these parents that you connect with in steps 1 and 2 and don’t be afraid to establish and maintain an open line of communications with other parents.
  4. Trust but verify. If your child is going to someone’s house, call in advance to see if the parents will be home and if they are OK with it.
  5. Give permission. By now, if you’ve done steps 1-4, you have established trust and rapport with other parents. Extend to them the confidence that they can correct your child within your guidelines during your absence, and if that isn’t working to let you know.
  6. Remember your youth. As a child you know that you got away with a lot of things and you know how the child’s mind works. Children today are no different; always be on the lookout for any wayward behavior in your child and others.
  7. Follow your instincts. If you sense that something is wrong, go with it. Do not be afraid to talk with another parent. You might be protecting more than just your child by bringing something to their attention.

The African proverb says that it takes a village to raise a child. With all of the distractions and temptations that face our kids today, I fully agree. As busy parents, we simply cannot be everywhere or know everything that our children are up to so we need help from others. How else can we restore community parenting? In what ways is it working for you?

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What I Learned In Municipal Court

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We took a trip to municipal court yesterday because my son broke curfew. It was my first experience there, and I thought it might be helpful to capture my thought for parents and kids alike. While the courtroom can be entertaining, it is certainly not something that I want to go through again.

For starters, we were one of several dozen cases to be heard that afternoon because it was simply the day to admit guilt or claim innocence. Municipal court moves very quickly. In the twenty minutes that we were there, we heard two speeding tickets, driving with a suspended license and no seatbelt, and a domestic assault case in addition to our curfew violation. Personally, the environment is not one you want to find yourself in repeatedly. No matter how minor the offense, these are people who have broken the law.

I also learned that a ticket or violation can get expensive pretty quickly. Court costs were $189 for each defendant that came to the bench, in addition to the fine imposed for each violation. You could either pay the fine on the spot, choose to pay in 30 days, or choose probation if you could not meet the 30 day mark. If you chose 30 days and do not meet that deadline, you go to jail. Probation gives you more than 30 days to satisfy your debt, but it also comes with a monthly check-in with a probation officer and a $35 monthly fee, in addition to any fines and penalties imposed.

The judge in our case was fair but not very lenient. Most judges have heard all the stories that you can possibly dream up so they are not really tolerant of excuses. They can also be very creative in terms of sentencing. For my son, instead of the fine and court costs, he was sentenced to 30 hours of community service at the city fire department and, upon completion, the charges will be dismissed. Dismissal keeps it off of his record as he is a first-time offender. I can imagine that those hours will be hard labor work.

Parents, you need to know that for offenses committed by a minor, the parent can be on the hook. In the case of the curfew violation, the person cited was actually my son’s mother, not my son. Should he not satisfy the terms of his community service, his mother can be held in contempt of court.

In short, here are the takeaways. Teach these to your kids and make sure that they understand the importance of this.

  • Take your kid down to the courthouse and, if possible, let them see the jail. This drives home the understanding that it’s a very real place.
  • Obey the law. Breaking the law can be expensive and sometimes lead to tragic consequences. Depending on the charge, it can have permanent consequences on your life.
  • Respect those in positions of authority. By listening to the judge and not making excuses, my son avoided a hefty fine and court costs.
  • The courtroom is a serious place. The judge did not tolerate cell phones, noisy kids, or any other disruptions.
  • Think before you act. Peer pressure and other motivations to impress your friends or experience a temporary pleasure can lead to disaster. One sign of maturity is when a teenager can walk away from a situation.
  • Whether you agree with a law or not, or maybe aren’t even aware of the law, you are still bound to obey the law. Ignorance is never a valid excuse for breaking a law.
  • Parents are responsible for the actions of their children. As long as they are minors, you can also get in trouble with the court.

I learned a lot as I sat there yesterday, and I’m thankful that the judge showed some common sense in my son’s case. What other advice would you have for parents, or experiences that you would like to share?

 

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Making Magic Last a Lifetime

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Disney is all about the magical experience. Their tagline is “Where Dreams Come True” and they live up to that saying. In my last post I described our excellent customer experience at Disney World, and today I will share some examples of the magic, what makes their offering truly unique. I found myself being caught up in the full experience, whether riding a thrill ride, meeting with a character, or watching the fireworks at the end of the day. It was truly magical because Disney has a way of reaching the child inside all of us, and I was able to let go of my cares and simply enjoy our vacation.

The characters at Disney hold some sort of special magic. You could just tell that everyone was fully “in character” and were not just doing another shift in the costume. Hugs were plentiful, mannerisms and actions matched the characters from the cartoons and movies, and those without the masks just had that special gleam in their eyes. My daughter dressed up like Alice in Wonderland on our last day in the park, and when she visited with Alice she was given the royal treatment including a special ride on the Mad Tea Party with Alice herself. Kids and adults alike look to these characters that emulate qualities we would like to possess, so their ability to being that hero persona to the guests is unmistakable Disney magic.

The Disney staff showed real care and concern at just the right time. When my daughter lost her stuffed Eeyore that she purchased at Magic Kingdom, she was devastated. Of course it was on our last day and on the way out of the last park that we discovered this. Not wanting to go back into the depths of the park, we returned to the hotel to see if they had it at lost and found. They took our information to get back with us, but then we went into the gift shop to see if maybe we could find a replacement and then the magic began. They had a bigger Eeyore, but not the one my little Ashley had lost. With tears streaming down her face, the store attendant tore the tag off the big one and gave it to her as a gift from Mickey. This actually made her cry harder because she felt like this meant her Eeyore would never be found.

We asked them where else in Disney World we might find her Eeyore, and they pointed us to the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney. With our daughter in tow, my wife told the clerk there of our dilemma, and he stepped into action. He notified “Lost and Found” that Eeyore was missing and walked us through the store, and when we came to the plush toys he magically found Ashley’s Eeyore, no tag and all, and everything was right with the world.

So Disney earned a customer for life last week. How did they do it? By being exceptional, extraordinary, and remarkable. By treating us like the most important people in the world. By delivering much more than a hotel stay, a theme park trip, and a few meals. By realizing that it is much easier to hang on to a paying customer than it is to get a new one. By exceeding expectations and delivering experiences that we had not even thought of. By delighting a child and mending her little broken heart. That’s Disney magic. How can you bring magic to your workplace? What can you teach your children about this?

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Exceptional Customer Service – Disney Style

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We have all heard of brand loyalty, and most of us have experienced it as adults. I had the finest customer service experience last week that I’ve ever had in my entire life and wanted to share it with my readers. The information here is not so much about the company but about the lessons that we can teach our children related to brand loyalty and excellent customer service.

With the exception of maybe WalMart, Disney just might make more customer impressions per year than any other company on the planet. Between the theme parks, movies, television networks, and associated products promoting Disney, there are millions of opportunities to touch a potential new customer daily. Our experience was at the Walt Disney World and it was nothing short of phenomenal. Every ride attendant, restaurant worker, hotel receptionist, and character played their parts to perfection. Here is what I took away from our Disney experience, and I believe that we can apply these to our lives and teach our children to do the same.

First and foremost, they made our experience unique. Although we were among tens of thousands of people in the parks every day, we were treated like we were the only people there. Those people leaned down to talk to my daughter and made her feel special. They also brought the same level of service to me and my wife. Instead of just saying hello, they often joked with us and acted out in such a way that we knew they appreciated us being there. The employees, or cast members as they are called, all seem to genuinely enjoy their work.

Disney makes sure that everything is in tip-top shape and is super clean and efficient. We stayed at the Pop Century Resort, which is what Disney calls a “Value” hotel. It was maybe the cleanest hotel room we have ever stayed in, and the facilities throughout the property were the same. As you walked into the lobby, the store and the restaurant, you could tell you were in a different class of facility. The grounds and the pool areas were similarly maintained, and most importantly we were never treated like we were in a “Value” hotel. The rides and the parks were similarly maintained.

Even as Disney was undergoing some significant construction in various areas, these were not your typical dirty construction sites. The barriers that hid the construction from the crowds were painted with the color scheme that matched the surroundings. Signs with pictures of coming attractions created a buzz as guests stopped to see what they could look forward to during their next trip. The hint of the new castle in Fantasyland peeked above the trees to drive curiosity, and even the building facades on Main Street were wrapped as they will appear once construction is complete. Disney understands that appearances and impressions are everything and made sure that those remained intact, even as progress continued on new projects.

Next time I’ll share some about the true magic and wonder that Disney brings to life. In the meantime, talk to your kids about customer service. Delivering an extraordinary experience, being remarkable, exceeding expectations, creating a buzz and excitement about your offering and making each and every customer feel special is what success is all about. Whether their customer or yours is in the work place or at home, these principles are worth learning and repeating over and over.

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Decision Time – Selecting The Right College

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Now that you’ve gone through the scholarship letters and negotiated the best offer that you can from each college, the hardest part still lies ahead – choosing their school. This is perhaps the biggest decision that the student has faced during their young life. Ultimately the student and parents need to come to the best decision possible but there are a number of factors yet to be considered. In this post we’ll look at a process that you can use to make that decision.

Obviously your student needs to go to a school where their major field of study is offered. Hopefully the finalists in your list all offer the major that your student wants to study. You might also look at schools that offer a very similar major if everything else is competitive. For example, your child might want to major in chemical engineering, but there may be a couple of schools that are finalists who offer biomedical engineering or material engineering. Be sure to keep those schools in mind also.

Next, total out-of-pocket costs need to be considered. The work completed from the last two posts, maximizing your scholarship offers and normalizing the annual award amount, will be used in this step. Of the schools that offer the desired course of study, weigh the annual award amounts against each other. As a parent, this is also the point where you need to commit to the amount that you’re willing to pay towards college so that your child knows the full financial impact of their choice. Your son or daughter may really be leaning towards an out-of-state or private university; this might be the point of heartbreak where the cash outlay becomes painfully obvious and those schools are eliminated from consideration.

As a parent, you might have an amount in mind that you’re willing to contribute to college. This is where you have significant leverage over the selection process. Let’s say your child is choosing between two schools and the out-of-pocket amount is significantly more at one school. If your student selects the less expensive school, you may keep the excess amount of your contributions for a graduation or wedding gift or maybe a down payment on a home. Consider your use of this strategy judiciously; it can be a way to steer the decision in your favor. In fact, if you’re contributing at all to the cost of college, then I’d say that the parent is ultimately in charge of the decision process.

After the money consideration, if two schools are within $1000 per year of each other then this is where you would use the feel-good criteria as a tie breaker. These factors include the cultural, student-teacher ratio, facilities, extracurricular, sports, and other niceties that you’d like. These are important, but I fully believe that they should come at the end of the selection process. Course of study and cost need to be the primary factors, and if the gap is wider than $1000 per year, then you should decide on the less expensive school.

One thing you might encounter through this process is that there may not be a clear-cut winner. Two schools might rise to the top of the list, then it gets tough. At this final point, it might come down to a coin toss, but generally something else wins out like distance from home and other external factors not previously considered.

Be sure that you know the deadlines for scholarship acceptance for each of your finalist schools so that you don’t miss out on any opportunities. The important part is to use a systematic approach that attempts to remove emotion from the equation. Emotion can cost you a lot of money if not controlled. Congratulations on getting this far in the process, and good luck in making the best decision possible.

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Negotiation Time – Maximizing Your Scholarship Offers

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High school seniors across the country are receiving their scholarship offers right about now. In our last post we talked about making sense out of those offers by placing a per-year dollar amount on awards from each school. Once that process is complete, you and your senior might find that their preferred school has not made the best offer. In this post we will look at ways to maximize those offers through negotiation with each school.

You have probably found through your calculations that your child’s scholarship offers fall short of the full cost of attending college. Outside of athletic scholarships, a “full ride” where everything is paid is rare. If this is your situation, negotiating can close the out-of-pocket gap for your child’s college education. Or, if your child does have a full ride, then negotiating can actually put money in your child’s pocket. The way financial aid works, any funds remaining after all costs have been paid to the university is refunded to the student. So, whatever your child’s initial scholarship situation, it pays to negotiate.

I believe that there are four steps you can take in order to get the best deal possible from a school. I recommend taking these steps with each school under consideration because you might be surprised at each school’s willingness to bring your child in as a student. The four steps in the process are:

First, recognize that the first offer is just that – an offer. Schools, particularly public institutions, will tell you that they have little leeway but there is always room to negotiate. Ask for additional scholarship money. You might also ask for additional aid in the form of work study, grant money for particular programs, research assistantships, or other non-scholarship programs.

Second, play each school against one another. If there is a school that you really want to go to but you have a better offer from a similar school, use that information to negotiate with your ideal school. The worst they can do is say is no.

Third, ask for discounts. Private schools may be more willing to offer these than public schools, but it can’t hurt to ask. This may come in the form of a fee waiver, tuition or room discount, or other enticement. Your child might be considering an out-of-state school; perhaps the school will give your child the in-state tuition rate, which is generally half the cost. If you get this, be sure to lock it in for the full term of your undergraduate studies.

Fourth, for each of these strategies, be prepared to make your case as to why you are deserving of these considerations. It may take a couple of conversations with your school’s scholarship office, and it becomes easier for them to gain approval if you tell a compelling tale.

Once you’ve made your best deal, go back to the previous post on analyzing your scholarship offers and update your numbers. We will use the results from this process in the next post where we make the college decision.

Besides purchasing a home, college is generally the largest financial commitment that an individual will make during their lifetime. If your child is in the position where they have multiple scholarship offers to consider, this can remove that huge burden. Using these negotiation tactics wisely, you may be able to improve your offers significantly. The last thing you want to do is leave money on the table. Next time we’ll look at making the big decision and committing to the college of your choice.

What other tactics can you suggest? Where have you seen this work? Please share your thoughts and feedback on this topic.

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Award Time – Making Sense Out of Your Senior’s Scholarship Offers

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Your child has worked hard for years, and now the fruits of their labor are ready for harvest. March is the time when the scholarship offers begin to roll in for high school seniors across the nation. Mom and Dad are perhaps at their proudest and schools begin to woo your senior in earnest. It is a time of joy and celebration but it can also be a confusing time for those with multiple offers. How do you make sense of these offers? Let’s spend a few minutes talking about it.

Start by getting organized. The scholarship offers should all come in letter form, so collect all of those letters and sort them by school. Create a spreadsheet or a simple handwritten table with each school’s name at the top of each column. Then review each letter to determine the details of the award. Put the awards that are renewable each year at the top of the column and put the one-time awards next in the column. For all awards that are dependent on choosing a particular major or program, place those at the bottom of the column.

Some of the renewable awards might say “full tuition, books, and fees” instead of a specific amount. You can handle this by checking on the school website for the projected costs for each of these categories for the upcoming school year and using those values instead. Make sure that you understand if tuition includes in-state or out-of-state amounts and plug in the proper amount.

Next, we’ll annualize each school’s offer. What this means is that the recurring awards should be converted into the annual amount if not readily available. Divide the one-time awards by four to determine the annual amount for each of these scholarships. Finally, for the department-specific awards, convert those to an annual amount by determining if they are renewable or one-time and treating those like described previously. Sum up the annualized offers from each school and to find the total year-one award that the school is offering.

Your child might also receive scholarship offers from independent sources that can be used at any school. Those offers should also be converted to an annualized amount if not already in that form and added to each school’s total amount. This is because that amount needs to be factored in at all schools, although you will only use it at the one you attend. The alternative is to leave off these awards because they are the same wherever you go, but I like to include them so that you can determine the total out-of-pocket or surplus for each school.

On each school’s website you should be able to find the total first-year cost for an incoming freshman. Transfer that information to the table or spreadsheet below the total award amount for each school. Be sure that the expenses include everything that your child may spend, and be sure that you’re looking at the total yearly cost and not just the first semester. Also make sure that you pull the right number from the in-state or out-of-state student category as applicable to your child. Many schools now require first-year students to live on campus and have a meal plan so be sure that room and board are included if applicable. Make sure that you include an amount for books and supplies if not factored in to the school’s total cost.

Here’s where the fun begins. Subtract the total first year cost from the total annual award amount. If the amount is zero or positive, congratulations – your child can go to that school free for the first year, and any positive amount will be refunded to your child. If the amount is negative, that is the out-of-pocket cost that your child will incur during the first year.

There might be other money or opportunity from grants depending on your family’s situation, but this gives you a way to normalize all of the offers so that you understand the real financial impact. In the next post we’ll try to figure out what it all means and help you with the decision-making process.

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