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Reading List for Parents of College Students

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Parenting your child during the college years can be challenging and stressful. Below are listed just a few of the many resources available to you as you make the most of the college experience for your student. Check them out!

  1. You're On Your Own (But I'm Here if You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years by Marjorie Savage (Fireside, 2003). This resource offers realistic and practical advice for parents of college-age kids and helps readers identify the boundaries between necessary involvement and respect for their child's independence. It includes strategies and tips that will help parents to create a loving, supportive partnership with their kids.

  1. Don't Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to the College Years by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller (Doonesbury, 2000). Full of humorous case examples and realistic dialogues, this comprehensive guide helps parents understand the fundamental issues their children face at college - including initial adjustment, choice of a major, money, drugs and sexuality - so they can mentor and influence their adult child.

  1. Bringing Home the Laundry: Effective Parenting for College and Beyond by Janis Brody (Taylor Trade, 2001). This book combines a psychologist's advice with the stories and insights of parents and their college-aged kids. It reassures you that your child's departure for college does not sever family ties, but can mark the beginning of a deeply satisfying, exciting new phase in your parent-child relationship.


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