Laying the Framework
Helping your child set goals
Helping children succeed
Careers

Your child's career choices will be very different from yours as technology continues to change the workplace. According to recent Bureau of Labor statistics:

• A significant percentage of 21st century careers do not exist today.
  
  
• Most workers will change careers an average of seven times before retirement.
  
  
• The skills needed to get and keep a job will continually change.
  
  
• 21st century workers will need to attend classes long after high school and college to succeed in the workplace.

Utica Community Schools' elementary curriculum emphasizes career awareness and provides opportunities for students to independently explore careers. You can also help your elementary age child begin planning for the future now by:

• exposing him or her to a variety of experiences and occupations;
  
  
• attending career fairs and enrichment programs;
  
  
• taking your child to work with you;
  
  
• discussing the occupations best suited to his or her interests and abilities;
  
  
• talking about friends' and relatives' jobs; and
  
  
• researching careers at the library or on the Internet.

Laying the Framework (top of page)
As you talk with your child about the skills and knowledge necessary for specific occupations, you can also create a positive attitude toward work in general by emphasizing:

• Work is the way things get done.
  
  
• Sooner or later everyone goes to work.
  
  
• People need to work together.
  
  
• Work can be fun.
  
  
• Work can relate to personal interests and abilities.
  
  
• All work is important.
  
  
• All workers are important and deserve respect.
  
  
• There are many jobs/careers to choose from.
  
  
• People depend on the work of others.
  
  
• Work will continue to change.

– WOW, Wild Over Work, Minnesota Extension Service, 1997

Support your child's academic career by attending school conferences, career nights and other activities. Talk with your child about the importance of math, science, social studies and language skills in preparing for junior and senior high school – and beyond. Applaud your child's efforts, praise accomplishments, promote curiosity and personal responsibility, demonstrate good study and organizational habits and offer encouragement.

Casually discuss how your child's interests can become long–term career goals without pressuring or overwhelming your child about the future. As you go about your day – riding in the car, watching television, eating – look for opportunities to suggest your young artist could become a graphic designer or your computer game champion might consider a career in software design or another computer–related field and so on.

Helping Your Child Set Goals (top of page)
Learning to set goals and make good decisions is important to a child's development. Encouraging your child to participate in such family decisions as meal planning and selecting a vacation destination teaches your child to not only express preferences, but to consider others' opinions and such issues as cost and logistics in making good decisions. You can also help your child develop decision–making skills by:

• teaching him or her to resolve problems and work in a team to create a plan;
  
  
• sharing decision–making responsibilities and reinforcing how good judgment leads to positive results; and
  
  
• placing a high value on the kinds of good work habits – such as being punctual, doing a task well and on time and cooperating with others – that lead to academic and career success.

Helping Children Succeed (top of page)
You can help your child build a positive foundation for success in school, at work and throughout life by helping to define what success means to him or her (a definition that is sure to change from grade to grade) and finding ways to make those dreams come true. By encouraging your child's interests and abilities, the desire to set goals and work hard to achieve them will naturally follow. Be open and positive about your child's choices while discussing the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Careers (top of page)
You and your child can find career thought–starters by visiting your elementary school media center, or any library, and typing "career" into the computerized card catalogue to find a variety of reference materials. Or log on to one of these Internet sites:

• http://www.parentsoup.com/community/ schoolage.html – At this site, click on Kids Resume Maker to help your child create a resume that reflects school achievements, extra–curricular activities, special interests and skills
  
  
• http://www.mapping-your-future.org/planning – You and your child can use this site to research occupations and compare skills and interests with specific job fields. Information about financial aid to support career goals is also included.
  
  
• http://www.achievement.org – Search this site by occupation or interests to find facts and ideas and profiles of individuals whose career achievements are noteworthy.

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