SUCCESS AT HOME

How can I help my child?

Here are some things YOU can do to support your child in building the six resiliency skills. Follow the same Success Highways steps at home that are used in class.

DISCUSS
Communication between you and your child is important—whether talking, texting, emailing, or even leaving notes on the kitchen counter—you can help start the conversation. Success Highways presents some new vocabulary to students and asks them to create their own definitions. Start with open questions such as:

• What class are you most confident in?
• What does courage mean to you?
• What causes pressure and stress in your life?
• How can you balance all your assignments at school?
• How do you feel when you are internally motivated?
• When do you ask for support from teachers?

SHARE
Tell your son or daughter stories about how you have dealt with life’s issues like stress, motivation, and confidence. Tell your child who you have made connections with in your life. How have these experiences helped you meet your goals and get you where you are today? Are you influenced by internal (your desire) or external (someone forcing you) factors? Which do you use with your family (for example, to get chores done around the house or homework done). Explore these motivation factors with your family. Not sure how to start your story? Here are some sentence starters with an example to get you started: 

• One of the things I did not feel confident about when I was entering a new school was… (“…meeting new people.”)
• I think I didn’t feel confident about this because… (“… I had never gone to a new school before and I always knew people. This was a whole different place for me and I got really shy.”)

PLAN
Talk about goals you have for your child and your child's personal goals. Then, set some goals to make them happen. Goals can be long or short term, and both are good to talk about. Write these goals down and keep them visible to you and your child. Seeing goals everyday helps remind us of what we want and keeps us accountable.

Try this: Together with your son or daughter, make a list of things you do and don’t feel confident about. Then pick one area that you want to work on and write down three things you can do to gain confidence in that area. This is now your action plan to work toward.

EXAMPLE: GOAL:  I want to be more confident on my homework.

• I can write my homework assignments down so I don’t forget them.
• I can call my friend for help.
• I can find a place to do my homework at home.

Follow through with the Action Plan
Start by setting deadlines to help stay on track. In Success Highways classes, teachers ask students to make a timeline of what they want to do between now and age 25. Find out what your child wrote down. Kids are excited and happy to share their dreams, and having a plan helps personal goals come true.

KEEP WORKING
Success Highways guides students to talk, but the conversation never ends. Continue it at home! Take a look at a Success Highways lesson plan that you can work on with your child at home.