As
a home schooling parent, you are constantly searching for additional
resources to help them become as well-prepared as possible. You have
been providing a good foundation by emphasizing good values and sound
principles to live by, as well as providing academic training. Career
guidance incorporates these, in addition to helping your teen to
explore their interests and skills. As their career coach you will
help them make decisions that will show the true value of the home
schooling experience.
Most
teens have little idea of what they want to do with their lives when
they finish high school. Those who have decided have often made their
choices based on how much money they think they can make in a
particular job. And, they often have only a sketchy idea of what the
job actually involves or what education and training is required.
This is probably the main reason why so many college students change
their majors at least once before they graduate. That gets expensive!
You
can provide the help your teen needs with
free assistance from The Family Corner's Mentor
Service. It can help you to guide your son or daughter as they
develop their career plans, even if they don't know what kind of work
they want to do when they grow up. What most people don't realize
about career planning is that it involves a lot more than deciding
what career they want. It involves examining interests, capabilities,
talents, values, and aspirations. It requires some basic life
decisions, such as what your work ethic will be. When you get down to
it, career planning involves deciding what kind of person you are
going to be as much as it does what kind of work you want to do.
This
is probably one of the reasons you decided on home schooling, in the
first place. You have already been working to help your teen in these
areas, because you know that what kind of person you are is more
important than what your job is or how much money you make. (Also
see "Career or Job?")
You
can help your teen to assess their interests (see
assessment links,) examine the skills they will need to
develop, and determine the various possibilities they may want to
pursue. You can also introduce them to other potential interests that
neither you nor they may have even thought of. A career
counselor/coach can help you with these tasks and can also help with
many other areas you may not have considered.
Then,
together, you can develop plans for each of the alternatives you and
your teen have come up with, including how jobs they have as students
fit into the plans.
Becoming
your teen's career coach can have many benefits for you and your
family, as well as for the young adult you are helping to start an
independent, successful life. Plus, you'll be able to use what you
learn for your own career development, as well.
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