Customer Reviews

Succeeding in High School: A Handbook for Teens and Parents plus A College Admissions Primer

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This handbook is written specifically for students and parents as they work through high school with plans on attending college. It provides clear and concise information on the transition from middle school to high school; how to choose your classes in relation to your goals; picking extracurricular activities to increase your edge; importance of study skills and grades; along with a timeline for college applications, admissions, and financial aid. The book completes itself by offering checklists for students and parents; points to consider; and outside resources for college admission tests, financial aid, and joining the military.

Adegboyega-Edum writes in a well organized fashion which makes it easy to understand. This is a great resource for students and parents that are unfamiliar with navigating the college admission process. It will also help students formulate goals for their future while they are still in high school. As a community college professor, I see students and parent's everyday still wondering why they didn't do things earlier. I will recommend this book to everyone with students in high school as many of their fears and questions will be answered in less than 140 pages.

Note: Author sent book for review purposes to Real Page Turners.

Deltareviewer
Reviewing for Real Page Turners

High School is where it really starts to matter. "Succeeding in High School: A Handbook for Teens and Parents plus a College Admissions Primer" is a guide for young adults who want to make the most out of their college educations and better prepare themselves for college and the rest of their lives. From making the most out of the first year to the importance of extracurriculars, there is no shortage of wisdom and advice within. "Succeeding in High School" is a solid and recommended read for any who want to use high school as a launch pad for life.

This book provides a wealth of information to assist both high school students and their parents to prepare for the four challenging years of high school as well as educational and career plans afterwards. The topics covered include skills that are relevant to both school and also in many cases to broader life. For example, the importance of laying a strong academic foundation in the 9th grade is time-bound but developing good organizational skills; handling stress and developing coping skills for handling emotional challenges and distractions are life-long skills. This book also covers topics such as discovering how to establish successful study habits; select high school courses to fit the student's interests and post-graduation plans; find appropriate extracurricular activities. The book also includes how to use a step-by step approach to the competitive American college admission process.

I found this book easy to read and while it is specifically written in relation to the American education system, much of the advice provided and suggestions made would be useful to students (and their parents) in other countries. While the book is aimed primarily at high school students, I think it would also be useful (at least for parents) of younger children.

Mr Adegboyega-Edun is an educator who clearly has drawn on his experience (of over 20 years) in preparing and presenting this book. Each chapter begins with a student quote, and ends with `Questions for Students', `Things to Do' and `For Parents'. This serves to both reinforce the points made as well as to make it clear that effective learning requires action by both students and their parents or carers.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I spent nearly a decade of my professional life working on either a high school or college campus. I was a high school teacher of government and history for three years and the rest of my tenure in education was spent as an academic advisor for several large universities. I have seen first-hand the difference that good information and thoughtful advice can mean to a student who is eager to succeed in the classroom. It always was disheartening to encounter students who would not reach their potential due not to lack of intelligence or interest, but because they could not figure out how to operate within the system that is found in any high school. In his new book, Succeeding in High School, author and educator Joseph Adegboyega-Edun helps both high school students and their parents prepare for the four difficult years of high school as well as the educational and career plans that may follow.

Adegboyega-Edun is an experienced counselor and college advisor who uses this new book to combine his obvious wealth of knowledge concerning education with his ability to capture important points in a way that is neither condescending nor simplistic even though the material is geared to a younger audience. Instead, Succeeding in High School is a wonderful primer that covers just about any topic that may be going through the minds of high school students or their parents. I imagine that these concerns will sound familiar to you. Should I pack on as many Advanced Placement courses as possible in order to impress college admissions counselors? When should I plan on taking the SAT? How do best organize a busy schedule that includes studying, sports, and family responsibilities? What do college admission counselors really look at when reviewing my application? Succeeding in High School tackles these questions and so many more.

One of the greatest strengths of Adegboyega-Edun's writing is his ability to make the material apply to every person who is reading the book. The chapters are written with clear language and divided into subtopics with appropriate headings, making it easy for readers to find the specific advice they may be seeking. Also, as an educator myself, I particularly appreciated how the author chose to end each chapter. In each instance, he includes "Questions for Students," "Things to Do," and "For Parents," which challenge the readers to apply the information to their own situations. Adegboyega-Edun also strengthens the content of his book by introducing each chapter with a quote from an actual high school student. Teenagers who read the book will recognize themselves in these students and hopefully will find greater focus in their reading as a result.

As someone who has worked extensively with students who are in the target demographic for this book, I strongly recommend Succeeding in High School for any young person who is about to enter high school. Being aware of how grades are calculated, the amount of homework to expect, and how each year should be used towards college preparation will be reassuring to students who are entering this new stage of their schooling. Also, parents who are wondering how to work with their kids to get the most out of their education should grab a copy of this book right away. Moms and dads certainly will appreciate the critical information needed to move through the college admissions process and likely will learn a few tips for making the home environment more conducive for learning. Even though I am no longer directly in an academic setting, I still have a passion for education and seeing young people make the most out of opportunities. For this reason, I am excited to find a book such as Succeeding in High School, a handbook that I believe holds information for any high school student who desires to have a great academic experience.

This is an excellent book, but I think it should be for pre teen and even younger students parents because waiting until high school to get serious about your education can often be to late for many. In the book the author discusses laying a strong academic foundation in ninth grade, developing good organizational skills, study habits, selecting courses that fit college bound plans, how to handle stress, extracurricular activities, knowing what the graduation requirements are, early graduation, some myths about homework, challenging yourself,diversify you college or university search. And much more.

As an example on page 7 the author talks to students and parents about how much time does the student spend outside of school doing school work? And how often do you as a parent monitor or take interest in what your child is doing in school?

Now as a homeschooling family, I also think looking at learning as a life long process and not one that begins in kindergarten and ends in high school when one graduates is something many children never learn. And children need to learn that they have the power to succeed if they develop a mindset that says they have the choice to succeed. And how much time is the child spending watching television, on the computer or texting? In our home its less than an hour a day, because there is more to life than television, computers for fun, or texting, which doesn't do much for spelling and writing skills.

One thing I would have liked to see discussed is how odd the traditional learning environment in school is. Nowhere else can I think of where a person is given 35-40 minutes to work on a project. Certainly not in the real world of work, where one often has to work many hours on one project until it is complete. Since a young adults mind isn't even completely developed until their early twenties, I think we need more discussion on finding an educational choice that fits the need on the student, and not a one size fits all approach.

So if you have children of ANY age in school, get the book.