Do you have a student that has "no clue" what they want to do after graduation?
I do!
Do you have a student stressing out about not knowing what they will do after graduation?
I do!
Instead of letting my child continue to wonder and stress about what career they should be preparing for, I decided to design an elective that would allow them to explore different career paths. While opening their eyes to possibilities they have never considered, we will continue to pray that God will lead and guide our student into the field of study that He has planned for them.
Here's our plan for a 1 credit high school elective:
We will begin with the Career Exploration Curriculum from 7 Sisters Homeschool that will cover ten different topics including: a career questionnaire, career exploration in the Bible, successful resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills and more.
I'm updating my post to reflect a new resource I found after posting, Understanding God's Calling. As Christians, we feel that it is important for our children's career choices to be guided by their desire to do with God has called them to do. I'm excited to check out this curriculum!
2. Three short term classes in areas of interests
My student will be required to take different classes offered in our community that teach specific skills, like cake decorating. Pick classes that your child is interested in, allowing them to experience something for the first time or dig deeper into learning a set of skills.
3. Attend a career fair.
Another mom and I are in the planning stages of coordinating a career fair for other homeschoolers in our area. If you are in the same boat we are, consider hosting your own career fair. Ask your family, friends and co-workers to come and talk to your students about their careers and what that involves.
4. Shadow at least three people in career areas that interest the student.
Call around and ask various professionals if your student can shadow them for the day, a half day or even a couple of hours to get a feel for what they do on a daily basis.
This high school career fair handbook has a great list of questions for students to use while shadowing or interviewing professionals.
5. Interview at least one person per month in different careers.
Everyone loves talking about their job. Our student will be finding at least one person a month in a different career to interview about what they do, the educational requirements for their job, their daily routines, etc. We will be using a questionnaire similar to 40 Question to Ask in an Informational Interview.
6. Research at least 10 different career choices and write a report on each one.
As we narrow down areas of interest, our student will be researching various careers and writing a responsive paper about each one. Lifehacker has a Career Spotlight section containing in-depth interviews with various professionals from a wide variety of careers.
7. Tour places of business in your local community.
Each month, we will tour a different place of business in our community with the goal to find places our student would be interested in working.
8. Volunteer with at least three different non-profit organizations.
We are fortunate to have an active homeschool community with an abundant amount of opportunities to volunteer with non-profit organizations. Even though our student does volunteer work, they will be required to pick three new non-profits to volunteer with at least once.
Our state law states that 150 hours equals 1 high school elective credit. Our student will be recording their hours and will maintain a notebook with all their interviews, research and other relevant information to this course.
We are excited about this elective and how it will help our high school student explore some obvious and not-so-obvious career choices. It may not give them definite answers about their future, but it will be a great starting point.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11
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