Posts Tagged ‘vocational training’

My goodness, you are a talented little  kid!

Do you realize that many of the things you do so well every day are related to skills that you can use when you grow up and get a job?

Building up your career and life skills whenever you can is very smart.

Think about how to connect your talents, skills and interests to a possible job. Find out what training or education you need to be the best you can be at it.  Learn how to connect dots!

This is a fun and valuable exercise for opening your eyes to all the wonderful jobs there are in the world and preparing to enter it.

I’ll get you started. Add to my list.  Have fun!

• Making your bed:   Innkeeper, Housekeeper, Home Decor Photography Stylist

• Getting dressed:  Clothing Designer, Textile Manufacturer, Fashion Show Coordinator

• Making Breakfast:  Nutritionist, Chemist, Organic Farmer, Chef, Foodserver, Veterinarian (to make sure we get milk from happy cows!)

• Babysitting:  Pediatrician, Children’s Playground Equipment Manufacturer, Children’s Book Author, Nanny

• Soccer Practice: Coach, Stadium Designer, Sportswear Distributor, Field Maintenance Supervisor, Physical Therapist

Are you connecting the dots now? Good for you. You’re getting careerwise!

CareerWise™ products are based on the premise that opening kids’ eyes to all the fascinating  jobs there are in the world is the first step to motivating them to stay in school so they can grow up and get a job someday. Visit www.GetCareerWise.com for our award-winning workbook –with Free Teaching Guide-  and  www.GetCareerWise.com/blog4  for more articles.  (Reprints are ok, but please acknowledge us.)  We will be launching a wonderful new product on Sept 1, so stay tuned.

I’ll give you a hint.

Did you like ‘Avatar’ or ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’? Weren’t they cool in 3-D?

 Then look into stereoscopy as a career option. What a hot technology to master!

Where and how it is used is pretty interesting. And the best part is, there are zillions of ways it can evolve to enhance how we view things in all sorts of industries and mediums. It’s a field waiting to explode with opportunity!

If the future of stereoscopy excites the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, I think other creative spirits should take a multi-dimensional look at it too!

It would be very careerwise.

CareerWise™ products are based on the premise that opening kids’ eyes to all the fascinating  jobs there are in the world is the first step to motivating them to stay in school so they can grow up and get a job someday. Visit www.GetCareerWise.com for our award-winning workbook –with Free Teaching Guide-  and  www.GetCareerWise.com/blog4  for more articles.  (Reprints are ok, but please acknowledge us.)  We will be launching a wonderful new product later this month, so stay tuned!

First off, what is a career cluster? In the world of career exploration, they are good to know. So find out what they are by visiting the U.S. Departments of Education or the U.S.  Department of  Labor web sites to find out.

Next, read through the 16 clusters carefully.  Did you ever think about jobs being categorized like that?  It’s interesting, isn’t it?

Do any career clusters interest you more than others?

Are you curious about what jobs are possible in each cluster?

Are you feeling like a detective on the trail of some very interesting information that could affect your educational and career choices?

Yes?  Then congratulations!  You are becoming careerwise!

To find out about our creative, highly relevant and award-winning workbook filled with career exploration activities, information and exercises, visit www.GetCareerWise.com. It comes with a free teaching guide. And stay tuned: we have a fabulous new product launching this month that you are going to love!

There have been some wonderful stories going around  lately about just how hip and active today’s grandparents are.

Youthful, energetic and ready to try new things, they also frequently have more time to spend with their grandkids than working parents do.

Also,  many grandparents today are very tech savvy. They know their way around Facebook, Skype, texting, tweets, emails, YouTube and all the other ways kids like to stay in touch.

So even if grandparents and their grandkids are scattered geographically, they can build strong bonds. Communications can be fun and very, very valuable. Especially if grandparents want to help their kids develop important life and career skills.

One story in the Wall Street Journal recently relayed how grandparents on an extended cruise in Europe sent their granddaughter two emails per day. One was a personal message and one was to share with her classmates in geography class. The classroom email contained either information about the latest port of call, a geography quiz, photographs, or something else instructional and interesting. The teacher put up a map and the class had a great time tracking the cruise and learning about new parts of the world. Isn’t that a great idea?

Grandparents can add a career awareness component to their communications as well. The more often kids are shown a connection between their school subjects and real world opportunities, the more motivation they will have to study hard and graduate with marketable skills.

Cruising grandparents could also share information about who helped them plan their cruise and the transportation, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment and other professionals they’ve met along the way. You get the idea.

Here are some other ways grandparents can become career mentors:

1. Share photos you take of people working at jobs you think are interesting, exciting, important, or uncommon.

 

2. Share news articles, profiles and interviews with interesting professionals and share why you found them of interest.

 

3. Offer to visit your grandchild’s school during or outside of career week activities to offer help, advice and mentoring about your areas of expertise. Or to give hard-working kids a pat on the back and individual encouragement.

 

4. Take your grandchild ‘behind the scenes’ at a business around town. See a fish market in the early morning, watch lifeguards set up their towers and emergency vehicles, visit a farm or ranch where local produce grows; visit the local zoo, aquarium or opera house for a backstage tour.

 

5. If you live far apart and aren’t tech savvy, send postcards from your community. In addition to ‘wish you were here,’ add a note about the civic leaders, architects, city planners, educators, entertainers or business people in the area who make it such a fun, safe or interesting place to live.

 

6. When your grandkids come to visit, sprinkle your conversations with fun and motivating observations about the work-a-day world. Help counteract negativity about the employment stats that are making headlines. You know things will change dramatically by the time your youngsters are ready to enter the employment world. And there are still millions of people out there working at jobs they love!

 

7. If your grandchild has a particular love – soccer, ice cream, movies, dogs, etc – make a point of talking about all the professionals connected to that product, service or business. Make it fun and interesting. Do research together. Make it like a treasure hunt.

 

8. Biographies and autobiographies are a wonderful way to introduce kids to people with interesting careers and/or career paths. If you have favorites, share them. If you volunteer now, tell them why you find it rewarding and how your career path led you to want to keep contributing.

 

9. Find creative ways to link what is going on in your life with career choices: ‘ The nurse in my doctor’s office told me she specialized in Geriatric Nursing and just loves it’. Or “We sat with the captain of the cruise ship. He’s had a fascinating life.’ or “I have a new golf club that makes a big difference in my swing. I wonder who designed it?”

 

10. Career-related gifts have long-term value and can be shared in the classroom.  Pick one that promotes important dialogues.  Listen carefully to your grandkid’s dream about their future. Use what you hear to motivate them in school so they understand what it will take to make their dreams come true.

Remember, nurturing and mentoring kids so they develop important career and life skills can be done by all of us. It is very rewardng to help them become careerwise!

For creative career exploration resources, including a fascinating poster with 1001 Job Titles visit www.GetCareerWise.com. Or download ’ Sophie & Her Fairy Godmentor, a tale of career exploration & self-discovery’ on your Kindle. It provides a great perpective on thinking big about the future!

What an honor to have our book in San Diego’s #1 children’s bookstore!

The Yellow Book Road has been voted the #1 bookstore in San Diego for the past three years.  It is one-of-a-kind in San Diego County, the largest bookstore specializing in children’s books. 

It is owned and operated by Ann and David Diener, who founded it in 1986. It serves a large school community in addition to the general public. The staff is well trained to help teachers in selecting books as well as teacher resource materials.  As their motto says, this is:

“A bookstore created by parents & teachers for parents & teachers.”

a charming store & great staff

Formerly located in La Mesa, Yellow Book Road is now located in the picturesque and centrally located NTC Promenade @ Liberty Station in Point Loma, minutes from downtown and the airport.

 It is easy to find and has plenty of free parking (with San Diego Bay views!)

This was my first visit to Liberty Station and I was surprised and impressed with all it has to offer on a beautifully maintained, sprawling campus. There was so much going on–from dog shows to bocce ball tournaments to a show at The San Diego Watercolor Society to activities at the San Diego Dance Theatre and Sail Ho Golf Course.  There are also unique gift boutiques, a grocery store, hardware store, family-friendly restaurants and lots of biking and walking paths. It’s really worth a visit if you live in San Diego or come for a vacation.  It has something for everyone in the family.

The highpoint of my day was walking into the charming Yellow Book Road Children’s Bookstore to see our CareerWise Grow Up. Get a Job. Career Exploration Workbook displayed with other teaching and parenting resources. What an honor and thrill for a small local business like ours!

The staff was friendly, welcoming and encouraging – and busy helping customers pick out just the right books.

Thank you, Ann and David. You are #1 in our book too!