college

One of my goals in homeschooling is helping my daughters become independent adults. This is going to look different for each one of them as their personalities and interests vary. I have two kids who have decided their life-path at the age of 6 and one who has drifted from one interested to another. With the first two I encourage their dreams, but also try to help them see other options so they do not feel “stuck” in a certain decision as they grow up. With my other daughter I’m encouraging her to pursue specific interests with a little more focus. Neither approach is wrong, it merely reflects the varied personalities the Lord has given my daughters. Still, some guidance can be helpful when thinking about the future, especially as the girls approach high school and eventually college. I was excited to have my 11 and 13-year-olds try out CashCrunch Careers from CashCrunch Games. This online resource gave them an opportunity to see what careers might both interest them and be a good fit for their God-given personalities.

My own middle-school experience of a career test was not a good one. I, who had always loved learning and excelled at academics, was told the best suited job for me was a canning factory or folding cardboard boxes. I think the reason was because I tended to be more introverted, but what an incredible discouragement that was! Thankfully my parents were able to help me see that no test should define my future! It was meant to be a tool and in my case, not a very helpful one. Still, I held out high hopes for our experience with CashCrunch Games and I was not at all disappointed!

Beth – 11-years-old, 6th grade

Rose – 13-years-old, 8th grade

Beth (11) and Rose (13) each took the test. They are quite diverse in personalities and interests. Beth is more thoughtful, likes time alone to organize her thoughts, and loves nurturing. Rose is a take-charge kind of gal, always rising to a leadership role in whatever group she is in and enjoys creating. I set each down separately to go through the career test individually.

First of all I loved the format! Instead of hypothetical situation questions as I’ve often seen with these types of things you are given 2 words to choose from. You are prompted to choose which of the two most describes you. If you are unsure of the meaning of a word, simply hover over it and a synonymous word will pop up. This was simple and easy. It only took them 15-20 minutes to complete and neither asked for my opinion about the words, which surprised me. We were all excited to view the results!
The Career report is 3 pages of incredibly valuable information including work styles, motivators & de-motivators, attributes, and matching jobs based on this information. Wow! The report is extensive and lest you think it may not be accurate, the work-style pegged each of my daughter’s personalities spot-on! They each took turns giggling as we read the different descriptions. The work-styles section is almost like a personality profile and they couldn’t believe how well it described them both.

As their homeschooling teacher and mom I found motivators and demotivators section both insightful and useful beyond a career assessment. While I knew some of the information to be true, some of it gave me new insights into my kid and ways to best approach them and their learning.
We had fun looking at the various career options as well. We noted some careers as being the same and had a chance to discuss how both Rose, who is very leadership oriented, and Beth, who is more people oriented, would be good fits for the same job. They thought the fact that “funeral director” was listed was funny, but we talked about what an important job that is and why good people need to fill that spot.

After getting and printing their reports they took some time to explore a variety of careers on the website. I love how they are organized by subject and then many different options are given. Sometimes kids can only think of one job in the medical field, like doctors, but there are so many other wonderful ways to serve in this area! Forty-nine different careers are highlighted in the health services section alone! This is a great way to help give a broader range of career ideas.
At the end of the day I still reminded my daughters that their first priority was to seek the Lord as to their future plans, but this was a wonderful tool to use alongside of that to begin setting a course for what high school and beyond will look like. I highly, highly recommend this for anyone whether you are an adult seeking a career move or still in grade-school and looking towards the future.
Some other resources from this author are the free CashCrunch 101 games and Paul Vasey’s course on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, Personal Finance in Bite-Size Chunks. You will find both to be valuable and fun ways to teach your kids about managing their own finances in the future!
You will absolutely want to see more review from my Crewmates!

Hubby and I met in marching band in college!
(Yay Liberty University!)

Ahhh college…sometimes it feels like forever ago and sometimes it feels like just yesterday! My girls are so young right now I don’t even want to think about college…but it is inevitable! College Common Sense gives parents the tools they need to help them through the process of finding scholarships, touring colleges, and getting their students prepared early on with their Going to College and Paying for it Online Video and Workbook

Visiting the falls on the campus where
I went to college!
(Yay Toccoa Falls College!)

Although college is not something I am thinking about very often for my girls, my husband and I have talked about how important it will be for them to apply for as many scholarships as possible, take CLEP tests, and work in high school in order to help pay for college. We mention going to college and how great it was for my husband and I. We also have taken them to our own college campuses. While we would not be angry or upset if they chose a different path than college, we want them to know we believe in them and will help them along the way as much as possible.

College Common Sense encourages parents to have a continuous dialogue with their children about their goals, dreams, and hopes for the future. For $25 a year (Or a one-time payment of $50 for a CD copy) parents receive access to videos, a workbook, and a monthly curriculum with age-level friendly ideas from elementary to high school. While a large portion is obviously going to be on what to do in your junior and senior year, there are also ideas for elementary and middle school as well.

Many of the ideas we are already implementing. We talk to the girls frequently about different jobs they can do when they grow up, we take them on field trips to see different occupations, we happily answer questions and look up information online about various careers, and most importantly we talk about the importance of seeking God in all of their life decisions.

We are also careful to encourage whatever their ideas about the future may be, even if they seem a little odd. Rose went through a year-long-phase of being convinced God wanted her to be a policewoman so she could help people. Just two weeks ago she informed me she was now going to be an artist!

Another idea is for kids to begin a journal where they write down their ideas about the future. It’s called an All About Me Notebook and I really liked this idea. While Rose, who is seven, is the only of my girls ready to keep a journal like this herself, the idea of letting the kids express who they are and what they love each year as they grow up intrigues me. I remember all too well how my own interests changed constantly as I grew and matured. It would be a neat thing to show my children if I had kept my own notebook like this.

One of the things I found interesting as I began to review College Common Sense was that there are scholarships available for children as young as 6…are you kidding me? While we know the colleges our daughters choose will be their choice, we both attended Christian universities and would be very happy if they could do the same. In order for this to happen, however, scholarships will be an absolute must. The fact that the girls can apply to some scholarships this early on is a vital piece of information I was missing!

College Common Sense is a great way to make sure you’re on the right track whether college is coming up next year or in another 11 years like it is for us!

Make sure to check out the other reviews written by my crewmates!

Disclaimer

I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received.

Tag: college

CashCrunch Careers from CashCrunch Games: A TOS Crew Review

College Common Sense Review