Help Your Child Identify Interests Explore Careers and Develop Plans for the Future

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Help Your Child Identify InterestsExplore
Careersand Develop Plans for the Future
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Why Should You be Involved in your Childs
Education and Career Planning?
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Why Parent Involvement?

• Research shows that you have the greatest
  influence on your childs career choices
• As a parent, you have the best knowledge of your
  childs interests and abilities
• You have more interest than anyone else in your
  childs well-being and success
• Your childs future is too important to be left
  to luck or chance

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When Parents are Involved. . .

• Children have
• Higher grades and test scores
• Higher graduation rates
• Better attendance at school and get more homework
  done
• Fewer placements in special education
• And
• Are more likely to enroll in postsecondary
  education
• Show more positive attitudes and behavior

Source The Family is Crucial to Student
Achievement, National Committee for Citizens in
Education, 1994
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Elementary Career Awareness

• In Elementary School Your Child Needs to
• Identify personal interests, abilities,
  strengths, and weaknesses
• Describe how work at home and/or school relates
  to jobs in the community
• Describe how work is important and attainable to
  all people
• Demonstrate a positive attitude
• Describe how personal beliefs and values affect
  decision making

Source American School Counselor Association
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Middle School Career Exploration

• In Middle School Your Child Needs to
• Demonstrate effective skills in working with
  others
• Show an appreciation for the similarities and
  differences among people
• Describe individual skills and aptitudes required
  to fulfill roles
• Identify strategies for managing personal
  finances
• Describe skills needed in a variety of
  occupations
• Demonstrate skills needed to obtain and keep a job

Source American School Counselor Association
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High School Career Exploration

• In High School Your Child Needs to
• Understand how individual personality, abilities
  and interests relate to career goals
• Demonstrate skills that can apply to a variety of
  occupations and changing work requirements
• Understand how high school education relates to
  college majors, further training and/or entry
  into the job market
• Be able to use a wide variety of career
  information resources

Source American School Counselor Association
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Discuss Your Childs Interests

• Ask Your Child
• What are your favorite school subjects?
• What extracurricular activities do you enjoy
  most?
• What are your favorite hobbies?
• What do you like to do with your friends?

• What special skills do you think you possess?
• What have you done that you are most proud of?
• What do you like to do with your free time?
• What interests you the most?

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Nurture Your Childs Interests

• If your child has an interest in animals, he or
  she might like to
• Elementary School
• Feed and care for a family pet
• Middle School
• Join a 4-H Club
• Walk or care for a neighbors dog
• High School
• Volunteer at a local veterinary clinic, animal
  shelter or zoo

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Nurture Your Childs Interests

• If your child has an interest in art, he or she
  might like to
• Elementary School
• Make birthday or holiday cards for relatives and
  friends
• Middle School
• Create graphics for the school newsletter
• Design invitations for a special event
• High School
• Design a personal or school website

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Nurture Your Childs Interests

• If your child likes to help people, he or she
  might like to
• Elementary School
• Join a Girl Scout or Boy Scout club
• Middle School
• Teach a younger child to read
• Volunteer to read to nursing home residents
• High School
• Be a summer or vacation camp counselor
• Assist at a day care center

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Nurture Your Childs Interests

• If your child likes to build or repair things, he
  or she might like to
• Elementary School
• Use Lego's or Lincoln Logs to build things
• Middle School
• Build a radio or computer from a kit
• Take apart an old appliance and put it back
  together
• High School
• Design and build a robot or a piece of furniture
• Help repair or remodel things in your home

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Nurture Your Childs Interests

• If your child likes sports, he or she might like
  to
• Elementary School
• Play on a sports team
• Middle School
• Assist a coach
• Take a fitness class
• High School
• Umpire or referee community games
• Coach a youth sports team

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What if My Childs Interests Change?

• If your child has been exploring interests, and
  he or she decides that interests have changed
  hurray!
• It is just as important for your child to know
  what he or she does not want to do as it is to
  know what he or she does want to do
• Exploration is the key to helping make informed
  decisions

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Help Your Child Explore Careers

• To help your child with career exploration
• Encourage your child to make independent
  decisions
• Involve yourself in your childs future planning
• Encourage exploration of all kinds of post-high
  school education opportunities
• Give your child economic responsibilities
• Encourage job awareness
• Be flexible as the decision-making process evolves

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Career Exploration Resources

• Americas Career InfoNet at http//www.acinet.org/
  acinet
• Occupational Outlook Handbook at
  http//www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm
• Your local library has career information books
  and publications, as well as Internet access to
  explore careers online

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Help Your Child Plan for the Future
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What Parents Need to Know

• About Education
• and the
• Labor Market

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Parents Need to Know
Unemployment rates for non-institutional
civilians ages 25 older
Source Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2003
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Parents Need to Know

• Of the 22.2 million jobs to be generated between
  2000 and 2010...

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Parents Need to Know

• ...17.5 million will require some postsecondary
  education.

Source Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001
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Parents Need to Know

• 8 of the 10 fastest growing occupations between
  2000 and 2010 will require some form of
  postsecondary education

Source Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001
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Parents Need to Know

• 48 of the 50 best paying jobs will require a
  college degree

Source Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002
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About College

• Although over 97 of students (and their parents)
  aspire to college
• 63 enroll in college the fall following their
  graduation from high school
• More than a third leave within two years without
  earning a degree
• Only about half earn a bachelors degree by the
  time they are 29 years old

Source The Condition of Education, 2002
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About College

• Community or technical college can lead to
  well-paying jobs, and may be all a child needs to
  reach his or her career goal
• Community college can also be the path to a
  4-year degree
• Many students start out at a community college to
  save costs or get a handle on college-level work

Source Higher LearningHigher Earnings, Center
on Education Policy, Sept. 2001
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College Preparation

• Freshmen who enter college without a career goal
  or an academic major in mind have higher college
  dropout rates
• More than 22 of college freshmen need to take
  remedial courses these do not count as credit
  toward a degree
• Your child should take challenging courses in
  high school to prepare for college-level
  coursework

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College Preparation

• 83 of students who take Algebra I and Geometry
  in high school go on to college
• Students who dont take Algebra and Geometry in
  high school are much less likely to go to college
  only 36 do
• Taking challenging courses in high school not
  only helps children get into college, but also
  increases the chances they will complete college

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Help Create Post-High School Plans

• Discover the training that is required for your
  child to meet his or her career goals
• Find colleges or career schools that provide
  training specific to your childs goals
• Think about the schools atmosphere, does your
  child do better in small classes or large groups?
  Will he or she do better at a school in a large
  city or a small town?

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With your help, your childcan create a solid
planthat will guide him or her to successful
post-high school training and rewarding career.