Hi there! Great question. Well of course I’m not sure if we’re preparing him well for college (ha!) since he hasn’t started yet, but the things that come to mind: 1. Doing a sport (or club, or team of any kind) has been HUGE. It’s been really good for him to have to navigate some real-world experiences while still in a pretty safe environment. 2. Having to manage all his school work on his own. His schedule is actually very college-ish. He takes online classes that meet 1/week “live” and then the rest of the lectures and homework he does on his own time. This helps him have to manage his time and work on his own, which is exactly how it is in college. I’m still here to help him when he’s struggling, but this seems like it’s perfect preparation for a college schedule. 3. Getting a driver’s license and practicing some real-world responsibilities. Running errands, taking siblings places, keeping track of items and managing his time. At least for us, these things have been really helpful. Next year (Jr. year) he’ll start taking AP classes, so we’ll see how that goes! I see that as the next step toward helping him be college ready. I totally agree with you that college isn’t for everyone, but he WANTS to go, so we can happy to push him to do what we think he will be happy he did.