Letting your child leave for college can be hard for not only them, but you as well. Check out these great resources for parents so you can help your child succeed in college.

STEM Premier
-Students can create a STEM profile to see how they rank among the top STEM talent in the nation. It will give them the ability to evaluate personal performance, earn recognition and access exclusive STEM scholarships.

National Association for College Admission Counseling
– This website will help you help your child succeed in college. All parents should give this a read.

Your child is learning a lot of useful information in their STEM classes, but what good are they if they don’t get to practice them? There are several STEM competitions that students can get involved with at their local elementary, middle, and high school.

STEM Toys
Get you rchild some STEM toys! Besy Buy has a great article on the kinds of toys that have the best educational impact while still being fun.

FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) is a world-wide program for students as young as elementary, to as old as high school. Elementary students will solve real-world problems with Legos (Jr. FLL), middle school students will build Lego robots to do a specific challenge (FLL), middle school students also have the option to build VEX robots (FTC), high school students get to build larger (six feet tall, 120 lbs) robots (FTC).

BEST Robotics
The BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) competition is similar to the FIRST FRC (high school) competition, where high school students build a large robot designed to do a specific time, working alongside professional engineers as mentors.

National Science Bowl
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl® is a nationwide academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in all areas of science. High school and middle school students are quizzed in a fast paced question-and-answer format similar to Jeopardy. Competing teams from diverse backgrounds are comprised of four students, one alternate, and a teacher who serves as an advisor and coach.

NASA Student Competitions
A list of NASA student competitions

National Ocean Science Bowl
The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB®) is one program that prepares the next generation of marine scientists, policy makers, teachers, explorers, researchers, technicians, environmental advocates, and informed citizens to accept this challenge.

Invention Challenge
The JPL Annual Invention Challenge is a friendly, yet challenging competition open to JPL employees and contractors, their family members, and students from local middle and high schools. Each year, a different engineering challenge is selected. The goal of the Invention Challenge is to show students that math, science, and engineering can be fun.

You might want your child to spend their summer working for a fast food restaurant making money for their college fund, but an internship will make them better off than having a few extra bucks in the bank. What you might not know, is that the experience your child can get through an internship goes a lot further than knowing how to make a hamburger. Encourage your student to apply for a summer internship.

Unfortunately there are too many internships out there to list on this page. Some great places to start are listed below, but just make sure your child knows that even though they might be in high school, employers still want them!

NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers high school students several different internships around the country.

List of Internships
This website provides a bunch of different internships specific to different states and universities (that your high school student can intern at).

Is your student struggling in one of their classes? Take a look at the resources below to motivate them, and help them with their homework, separated by the STEM disciplines. Without a parents support, a student will not live up to their full potential. Any of the STEM disciplines are not easy, so support your child the best you can.

Science

Discovery Education
From the Discovery Channel, here comes help with your sciences!

Homework Spot (middle school)
Help with science for middle school level!

Homework Spot (high school)
Help with science for high school level!

The Science Page
This may not be specific help, but you can learn a lot from this website. If you’re struggling anywhere, you should be able to find examples on this website

Technology

Discovery Education
From the Discovery Channel, here comes help with your technology classes!

Science Page (Science and Technology Resources)
Resources for various disciplines in technology

Engineering

Cramster (Mechanical Engineering)
Tons of resources, and a discussion board for Mechanical Engineering questions

Cramster (Civil Engineering)
Tons of resources, and a discussion board for Civil Engineering questions

Cramster (Electrical Engineering)
Tons of resources, and a discussion board for Electrical Engineering questions

Mathematics

Discovery Education
From the Discovery Channel, here comes help with your math!

WolfRamAlpha
This is seriously (in my opinion) one of the best online math solvers. Type in anything, and WolfRamAlpha will check with it’s thousands of databases to solve your problem

Web Math
Learn about virtually any subject from this website. Just pick your subject and learn!

Interest in Robotics
NASA/JPL education specialist Ota Lutz offers tips to parents and students.

Careers in Science/Engineering
Thinking About a Career in Science or Engineering? Many students and parents ask what kinds of classes and activities should be taken to become an engineer or scientist. Here are some ideas and topics to consider when thinking about career choices in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

State Space Grants
Contact information for National Space Grant Directors

Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers classes in pretty much anything that you can think of. It’s completely free and a great place to learn!

Udacity
Structured classes that have live webinars for you to take a class and ask questions during the class. Complete with homework and quizzes to make sure you are on the right track. Some colleges will even give you credit for these classes at a price that is pennies (some classes cost money) compared to what a university would charge.