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Career guidance for children and adolescents: how to help decide where to go
Not an easy task. Adults themselves often do not know what they would really like to do until retirement. And it is even more difficult to instruct a child on the right path.
Who to be? This is a very difficult question for children. After all, they still know very little about the world and about themselves. Also, parents often do a disservice: they are guided by their own, not children’s interests, insist on what is supposedly prestigious, but not to the child’s liking. In general, they embody their own ambitions in children. The experts of the Foxford online school gave their advice to the readers of healthy-food-near-me.com – they told how to help the child make a choice and not harm.
Preschoolers and elementary school students: do not expect results from your child
Children from 4 to 7 years old can enjoy the same thing for weeks: sculpt, dance, build towers or babysit dolls. This does not mean that you need to send your child to an art or dance studio, a Lego circle or a parenting school. A child who, since the age of three, has been persistently interested in something and shows obvious abilities, is rather an exception to the rule. Usually, children try everything they can reach, and for periods of time enthusiastically do one thing. Do not be afraid to ruin the talent, be afraid to drown out the inner voice of the child by being too busy.
Sanitary rules and regulations for kindergartens, for a reason, prescribe preschoolers to play completely freely for 3-4 hours a day. Parents often strive to keep their child occupied with “more useful” activities: English lessons, rhythm, Zaitsev’s cubes – all this should be in moderation. In free play, the child develops imagination, self-control, attention and memory in the most healthy and natural way. What is knowledge of English without the courage to speak, or the ability to read without imagination?
The first two, or even all four years of elementary school are spent for a child to learn how to learn – to prepare for the transition to the secondary level. At the same time, the student begins or continues to play sports, music, creativity in circles and sections, makes his first friends.
It so happens that a boy decides to quit karate in order to go to football with a new friend. Or a girl wants to leave choreography for clay modeling. Rarely a parent would agree to this – still, so many years have been invested in classes, belts, medals and diplomas are behind them. Do I need to persuade the child to stay in order to develop character. or give him freedom of choice?
For parents of toddlers and parents of junior high school students, there is only one piece of advice: Maintain interest, not choice. Let the child see that it is not karate or football that is important to you, but his health, agility and skill. Let your daughter know that you admire her grace and want her to remain energetic and flexible, but let her make a choice. Sculpting will not replace physical activity, but gymnastics, yoga, capoeira or figure skating will.
If the child has a new interest – drawing, chess, robotics or sewing – support with a word, buy materials and a subscription to the studio, praise for success, but do not expect results. The more the child tries, the better he will understand himself. Only those who know how to listen to themselves and have received enough impressions are able to choose their own path.
The child will try and seek his interest in high school. Adolescence is a time of experimentation, so be patient and be ready to support your child’s hobbies.
Teenagers and high school students: only serious practice
It seems that joking about lawyers and economists will not last long. The rectors of the capital’s universities note that in 2017, many graduates chose engineering specialties and information technology. And rightly so, because these areas underlie half of the professions of the future.
In choosing a specialty, a high school student faces three key problems:
– I have heard about different professions, but I have a good idea of only those that I saw in life and cinema;
– does not know what personal and physical qualities are needed in a particular job;
– incorrectly evaluates their abilities and interests.
For your child to make an informed choice for the future, meeting interesting people and excursions to the Christmas tree toy factory is not enough. It is necessary for the student to try on the profession for himself and receive feedback from a specialist. Educational and entertainment cities of professions are suitable for children under 14 years old, and high school students need serious practice. There are three ways to do this.
1. Vocational guidance camp
High school and high school students are introduced to the professions in vacation education camps. For example, in a robotics camp, schoolchildren master engineering and programming like real masters – they make useful robots. Some are fired up by robotics, while others understand that a tempting profession is not suitable for them. But all the participants in the shift will learn how robots help humans in medicine, production, education, and better understand the world of the future.
Another promising area is information technology. Don’t worry if your student doesn’t let go of the gadget. Perhaps in the next 2-3 years he will master one of the Internet professions. In IT-oriented camps, the guys work under the guidance of programmers, project managers, designers and SMM specialists. The world has changed, and a smartphone is a stupid toy in some hands, and a working tool in others.
The main advantage of the educational camp is the opportunity to get acquainted with several different specialties within one direction and understand how this or that job suits a teenager. Well, and conversations with experts, of course.
2. Classes with a tutor
Sometimes a child chooses a profession in accordance with his favorite subject and is disappointed. After all, school mathematics is one thing, but university courses and problems solved by an engineer, marketer or programmer are completely different.
It also happens the other way around: the child has chosen a profession, but doubts that he will pass the entrance exam in a difficult subject. To understand whether a student will pull in advanced physics and how many points will pass the Russian language, contact a tutor. One or two years before the exam, an experienced teacher will help you deal with difficulties, instill confidence in yourself and prepare you for the exam most effectively. If it is difficult to find a suitable tutor in your city, study online via skype. This is often cheaper than face-to-face training.
3. Vacation internship
Graduates in Europe and the US allow themselves a year off after school to work and see the world. In Russia, this is not accepted, especially since guys can be drafted into the army. But according to the laws of the Russian Federation, a teenager over 14 years old has the right to work with parental consent – an excellent chance to take a closer look at some profession during the holidays.
Talk to your child before putting your child into practice at a friend’s bakery. Perhaps your enterprising schoolboy is already making money on cryptocurrency, coding bots for Telegram, or spinning up his own YouTube channel.