Be Involved in Your Child's Future
 

You are your child’s first teacher. You taught basics such as walking, talking and looking both ways before crossing a street. Your job isn’t over, though. He or she needs to learn how to cross over from being a student to being a productive adult. You can help your child find a bright future – Here’s how:

  
  • Help with schoolwork and promote academic success. Encourage children to take challenging courses and get good grades, starting in middle school, to prepare for their education and training after high school.
  • Praise traits such as honesty, empathy, creativity and enthusiasm.
  • Discuss with your child how what is learned in class relates to the world of work. Listen to what they say and support their decisionmaking process.
  • Start to save money for your child’s higher education. Begin by exploring the programs and opportunities offered by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission as described in this magazine.
  • Discuss education and training options after high school with your child. Make sure to consider apprenticeship, selfemployment, military service, and other options that provide ample career opportunities.
  • Learn where to find quality information about education and careers and then show your child how to use those resources. Start with the Illinois Career Resource Network at www.ILWorkInfo.com/icrn.
  • Help your child to consider a variety of career choices. Assure them that it is okay not to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives right now. There is time to figure it out and plan.
  • Share your own experiences, including how you made your own career decisions and conducted job searches.
  • Encourage exploration of talents, strengths, weaknesses, interests, passions and skills. Try to stay open to a variety of career possibilities for your child.
  • Investigate nontraditional careers (for example, male Registered Nurses or female Automotive Technicians).
  • Demonstrate skills such as financial management, responsible citizenship, and how to balance leisure and household tasks.
  • Talk often about goals and how to reach them despite setbacks, with examples of how you and members of your family have dealt with problems.
  • If your child has a disability, work with the school counselor to ensure that he or she has a realistic individualized education transition plan in place.
  • Find “teachable moments” to compare news, famous people, and TV shows or music to the realities of employment. For example, the long working hours and extensive knowledge base required to be a forensic technician on CSI
  • Offer opportunities to try different activities, such as volunteering, sports, arts, building things, and competing in science fairs.
  • Attend school events and talk with teachers and guidance counselors.
  • Be active in your child’s school as a volunteer, classroom helper or PTA member.
  • Be willing to speak to a class, participate in a Career Day, or have students job shadow you.
  • Take your child to your workplace to observe what you do for a living. Schedule opportunities for your child to meet with people in other occupations.
  • Review schools, colleges and financial aid that may fit your family’s plans.
  • Be a role model for lifelong learning by pursuing your own dreams and goals.

 

 
 
All contents copyright 2006 Ledger Publishing, Inc., publishers of The Business Ledger , Oak Brook, Illinois