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Book Recommendation: What Color is your Parachute? for Teens
  • Calendar Jun 20, 2018
  • User Jared Wells
  • Category In Uncategorized
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So many students go through middle and high school, putting everything they’ve got into success, without putting a lot of thought into “Why?” I was one of those students myself, not really ever thinking about what the purpose of my education was or how it was going to help me achieve my career goals (what career goals?) until senior year of college. And as I’m sure you can imagine, it was a frightening realization for me! “What Color is your Parachute for Teens” is a great way to get your kids thinking about how they are going to build the life and career they want for themselves, so they can make the most of their opportunities while they are in high school and university. Here are 3 ways your kids will benefit from reading and working through the book this summer:
  1. It invites readers to think about their skills in non-academic contexts. So much of a student’s life is wrapped up in academic performance. But success in academia does not necessarily mean success as a professional, nor does struggling in school necessarily. mean failure as an adult. Empathy is not necessarily a skill that will lead to a good grade in a math class, and so it might not be something the student has though a lot about, but empathy IS a skill, and that skill is exceedingly useful in many careers. One great example of an exercise that deals with this is writing stories about times where the student succeeded or felt very competent, and identifying the skills and knowledge that resulted in the success. Some of these skills will likely not be things taught in school, which is fine!
  2. Has an adult ever told your child “You need to start thinking about your future”? It isn’t a very specific directive is it? And students, who really don’t have any idea what surviving as a adult entails, are at a loss as to what that means. The book gives students great questions to start with, and very detailed activities that will help them answer questions like “What are my best skills?” “What jobs/fields use those skills?” “How can I learn more about those jobs/fields”.
  3. Having a clearer picture of how what they are doing NOW can have a direct impact on success and happiness in the future will provide motivation to succeed NOW. Most students have a vague idea that “If I get good grades, I’ll be able to go to a good college...something something...and then I’ll have a good job”. That doesn’t sound very inspiring. But ideas like using assignments in class as opportunities to research career fields, or mastering planning so that you’ve mastered time-management give additional meaning and impetus to work hard on these things!
What better way for a student to spend their summer than to start building the career that they want for themselves? I can’t recommend “What Color is your Parachute for Teens” more highly. Find it in paperback or Kindle. Vince
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