How to Prepare Your Homeschooled Child for Life After College

Having a child leave home to go away for college is always hard, but it’s even harder when you’ve been the backbone of their educational career all of their life. It seems like one minute you’re teaching them everything and the next minute you’re searching for college care package ideas. The next tough transition you’ll have to deal with as a family is life after college and how to prepare them for all that will come their way. With these helpful tips below, you can help prepare your teen for life after college.

Preparing Your Homeschooled Child for Life after College

Be a Pillar of Support During the Job Search

The most intimidating part of finishing college is finding out what the next steps towards independence are after graduation. Job hunting is not easy and will require lots of family support, especially during times like today due to the pandemic.

Help your child out where you can in terms of connections. Jobs are easier to get when there is a mutual connection between the applicant and the hiring company so networking can be super beneficial. These connections can become mentors over time and help with other aspects of the job search or help your child make a name for themself in their aspiring industry.

Encourage them to apply to as many jobs as possible that fit their wants and needs, especially when it comes to compensation, location, and benefits. There are plenty of career fair options and job listing sites to help them find the perfect job.

Often, fresh graduates will work a part-time job while continuing to search for their career or volunteer their time in order to keep their resume filled with ways of contributing to society. As long as they’re putting the work in, eventually they will find the career that’s right for them.

Help Secure the Perfect Place to Live

Finding a place within budget, close to work, and right for them financially might be a struggle at first. Go over the pros and cons of leasing an apartment and how monthly rent payments will work.

If they enjoyed having roommates in college, they might want to look for others to live with to help make rent more affordable. Living with other people is also a great way to stay social and have a close knit support group when they’re far away from home.

Check out apartment building reviews before making a decision and see if they’re in a safe location. Ensure there is parking or that the location is pet friendly if necessary and start applying to different apartment complexes you’re interested in.

The cost of rent for apartments has been increasing since the start of the pandemic, so make sure that your child is aware of that. They might want to wait it out a few months and see if there will be another fluctuation in price before commiting to the lease.

If you both decide that they’re ready for life in their own place, start making plans to move. Hire a moving company to help you move all their belongings or rent a U-haul and take care of it yourselves.

Encourage Financial Literacy

One of the hardest parts of being on your own is becoming knowledgeable on what it takes to be financially independent and successful. It can be overwhelming to explain to your kid everything they need to know, so let’s start with the basics. This likely isn’t something they’re going to be taught in college, so it’s important for you to help them learn this along the way.

If you have a good handle on finances, you can teach them yourself. Start with topics like how to make a budget and how to create an emergency fund. Once they understand the financial circumstances needed for them to live their life independently, they’ll feel more at ease having a place to keep track of everything they need to pay like rent or student loans.

Inspire them to read some books on financial wellness. These will help them learn how to build credit, and the pros and cons of certain credit cards for starters.

Learning the nitty gritty of finances and how to set them up for success right out of college will have a positive impact on their future.

Teach Them to Plan for Their Future

Speak with them to discover what their vision of their future looks like. Planning for the future can be intimidating whether it’s career planning or financial planning. With the right guidance from you, they will have a better opportunity to have the right resources in place from the start.

Over their adult life they’ll be forced to make many decisions and commitments that will have quite an impact. Whether it’s making sure they are saving up enough money for retirement out of each paycheck, leasing versus owning a vehicle or when to get married. There’s a lot of decisions, big and small, they will have to make that require some outside perspectives.

When the time is right and they’re ready to settle down in one place there’s a few things they should be thinking about, like buying their first home. Before deciding that owning a home is right for them, they should check their credit score to see if it’s aligned with what is needed to purchase a home in your area.

If young adults aren’t prepared for what can happen when their credit score is too low, they may find themselves running into trouble when trying to buy any big ticket items like a car, home, or even a boat in the future. Luckily, there are ways to build up a credit score that you can teach them about as well.

Make sure you are providing your child with all the resources needed to succeed when figuring out which housing option is right for them. For any young adult, making the jump from college to life after can seem like a challenge at first. Just remember that it is going to be a learning experience for you as well.

With patience and support, your young adult will begin to make their own path in this world and make you proud with how much they will grow. As you help your young adult begin their next stage of life, remember these helpful tips and allow them to start adult life on the right foot.

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Sara

Author/Speaker/Consultant at Heart and Soul Homeschooling

Sara is a homeschool mom to 3 creative girls. She holds a degree in Social Work specializing in early childhood development, which led to her interest in individualized educational options like homeschooling. She believes that learning should be a lifelong adventure, not just a checklist to get through. She is a writer, avid reader, introvert (INFJ), and dreamer of dreams.