By Laura Raines

Whether you’re investigating an independent school for your child or helping your teenager explore college options, one of your biggest challenges is likely figuring out how to pay for it.

With tuition steadily rising at colleges and independent K-12 schools across the country, more families need help paying for education. Fortunately, there are plenty of financial aid options, including scholarships and grants, that can help pay for your child’s college or K-12 education.

How to Stay Involved in Your Child’s Education

By H.M. Cauley

For many parents, the weeknight doesn’t end until the homework is over. Then it’s on to making sure everything is ready to go in the morning, from backpacks to sneakers. But being the involved parent of a school-aged child means more than just drilling vocabulary words and getting your kids to class on time. It requires a commitment to partnering with teachers and the school to make sure that everyone is on the same page. when they discuss their expectations for the year and solicit volunteers to help out in the classroom.”

After-School Programs That Give Your Child an Edge

By H.M. Cauley

For thousands of students across the metro Atlanta area, the school day doesn’t end with the final bell. In fact, that’s when the fun begins. Sports, drama club, the French conversation group—all of these and more get going once the traditional school day is over.

How They Prepare Students For College And Beyond

By Ruksana Hussain

When parents begin considering how to prepare their children for college, one of the first topics to arise is usually whether a public or independent school will provide a better foundation. A recent College Board Group Profile Report showed that metro Atlanta independent schools boasted average SAT scores nearly 200 points higher than those of the highest-achieving local public schools, although there’s no conclusive data that independent school students have a leg up when it comes to college acceptance. And the metro Atlanta area is home to many great public schools, including charter and magnet schools, which do an excellent job of preparing students for college.

Selecting The Right Fit For Children With Learning Disabilities

By Mary Welch

How do you find the school that best meets your child’s needs when you don’t know what options are available, and may not know the exact nature of your child’s difficulties?

Fortunately, the Atlanta area is rich in schools dedicated to helping such children. Many of these schools focus on children with specific disabilities such as autism, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while some more traditional schools offer help for children with learning issues in addition to their general curriculum.

Finding Help Outside The Classroom

By Daniel Beauregard

Every child learns differently. As a result, some students need more help than others, and may even require assistance outside of the classroom. Whether your child has trouble grasping a particular subject or just needs a hand organizing his or her study habits, help is available. From one-on-one tutors to learning centers, the Atlanta area offers resources that can help identify your child’s particular challenges and customize their instruction to fit his or her needs.

Teaching Children to Become Good Citizens

by Daniel Beauregard

For many parents, a good education means much more than academics. While reading, math and science are all important, such values as kindness, respect and empathy for others are just as important, if not more so. Fortunately, most Atlanta-area public and independent schools incorporate some form of “character education” in their curricula, guiding children to become caring, involved members of society.

Online Programs Enhance Classroom Learning

BY DANIEL BEAUREGARD

In today’s technology-driven world, the definition of what a school is, or can be, is quickly changing. School systems and independent schools are offering new options in addition to the traditional brick-and-mortar school setting. These programs provide an education no less demanding than conventional classrooms for students who travel a great deal, are homeschooled, or are simply looking to supplement or speed up their current coursework.

Why They’re Important and How to Prepare

BY MURIEL VEGA

Whether your child attends a public or independent school, he or she will be required to take some form of standardized test.

A standardized test is one that is administered and graded in a consistent manner, usually given to students across an entire school or school system or even nationally, as opposed to one created by a teacher for a specific class.

Helping Your Child Learn More Effectively

by Susan Flowers

There are many elements that contribute to a student’s educational success, including finding the right school, building a strong relationship with your child’s teachers and even encouraging a child’s participation in extracurricular activities. But one of the most important components of a thriving educational career is the establishment of good study habits.

Educational achievement hinges on parental involvement that evolves to fit the child’s needs, from the first day of first grade to high school graduation and beyond.

Communication with your child is critical, both when establishing a study routine and afterward, to ensure that things go smoothly. That means not only telling a child to do his or her homework but learning their existing study habits in order to help improve them.

“Knowing how your child learns is the key to providing support,” says Joye Callaway, director of the Academic Resource Center at the Lovett School.