<p>Any web sites or forums where to get info from similiar parents who lare preparing their kids to get their way to top colleges?>></p>
<p>You don't "prepare your kid to get their way to top colleges" at age 12. Or, for that matter, at age 16 or 17. </p>
<p>Parenting isn't about training a dog to jump through hoops, it's about helping your child prepare for LIFE, and that includes, in my opinion, giving them these gifts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Help them learn to deal with adversity and disappointment because in the end, every aspect of life can not be controlled. They should do their best, yes, but often things do not work out as we hope for, and kids need to know that we believe they are strong enough to pick up the pieces and continue on.</p></li>
<li><p>Provide lots of opportunities for them to discover their interests, for the sake of that alone, NOT because it "might look good" on college applications someday five or six years from now. Colleges don't want drones who have been "prepped" for college; they want young people who pursue their passions because they are just that: passions.</p></li>
<li><p>Support your child's emotional and social development - teach them how to interact with others, how to deal with their emotions, how to find their place in the world. Understand that growing up is a rocky path, full of stops and starts and zigzags in new directions, but that as parents our role is to guide as they discover their own way, not to push them uphill.</p></li>
<li><p>Help them get the best high school education possible, again, just because it is a FOUNDATION for life, not because it will "get them into a top college." </p></li>
<li><p>Help them learn to make good decisions, by giving them space to make a few wrong decisions and learn from their mistakes. By the same token, this also includes believing that, when the time comes for THEM to pick out colleges (which will be at least five years from now), THEY will be ready to do so, even if the final college list is not quite what you expect today.</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, and most important, help them to understand that you will not measure their success (or failure) by where they ultimately go to college or do for a career - nor should they. What matters is that they are good people, who care about others, and are confident enough in their own abilities to steer their own paths in life.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Give your kid all of the above and <em>maybe</em> he'll end up at a top college, maybe not. But he'll be ready to take on life, and that, ultimately is what good parenting is really about, not just focusing on preparing them for a "top college." </p>
<p>One final thought: where your child ultimately goes to college is NOT a measure of how good a job you've done as a parent or how much better you are than the mother next door. It is simply an educational choice, not a prize, and that goes for "top colleges" as well.</p>