Mentor Library

Welcome Take Stock in Children mentors! In addition to the Mentor Minute, the Archive, and The Mentor Toolkit, Take Stock in Children is providing yet another valuable resource you can use to help your student succeed. The Take Stock in Children Mentor Library contains the best of the websites mentioned in The Mentor Toolkit as well as additional sites that will enable you to get the most out of the mentoring experience.

The Take Stock in Children Mentor Library is your connection to valuable information about mentoring. Take Stock in Children has compiled the most current information that will promote your student's success in school and in life. Topics include:

* Building a Strong Relationship
* Educational Games
* Academic Help
* Planning for College
* Career Exploration

How can I improve my mentoring skills?
Take a look at the Active Listening websites. They will provide you with many effective communication techniques.

I would like to know more about the way young people grow and develop.
The Adolescent Development sites will give you some good background information to help you better understand a young person.

My mentee doesn't know what she wants to do in life. How can I get her to think about the future?
The Self-Discovery websites will help students learn more about themselves and what they really want in life.

My student loves to play games. Are there any good educational game sites on the Internet?
Check out our Educational Games section. It lists several great game sites that students can use. (You can use them too!)

How can my student get help with academic subjects?
You can use the Academic Help sites to encourage your student to learn more about academic subjects.

I have no idea if my student is taking the right courses to graduate from high school or to prepare for college.
Look at the Planning for High School and Preparing for College sections. Print out the information you need and then check with your student's counselor to make sure he or she is on track.

How can I help my student get ready for college?
Take a look at the Planning for College section first for some general ideas. Because paying for college is very important you may also want to look at the Financial Aid portion of the Library. You can also use the Scholarship Search sites to locate scholarship opportunities for your student.

My student doesn't have very good study skills.
Examine the Study Skills sites. They have many great tools and ideas you can use to help your student.

What's the best way to explore careers with my student?
Use the Career Exploration sites. Florida eChoices is perhaps the best single resource for students on the Internet.

I am not a Take Stock in Children mentor, but I would like to get some practical tools to help a young person.
You should consider purchasing The Mentor Toolkit. It contains over 100 activities and tools that adults can use to help young people succeed in school and in life. For more information, take a look at the excerpts from the Mentor Toolkit on this website. Click here to purchase The Mentor Toolkit.

Building a Strong Relationship

Active Listening

Mentors can be much more productive when they improve their active listening skills. To learn more about active listening, visit the sites listed below:

1. http://www.taft.cc.ca.us/lrc/class/assignments/actlisten.html
2. http://www.vet.ohio-state.edu/docs/vm700_11/Notes/active.html
3. http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-w/g-wt/g-wtl/comm.htm
4. http://www.higher-skills.org.uk/mfb_AL_start.htm
5. http://www.poynter.org/Research/lm/lm_listen2.htm

Adolescent Development

Sometimes it's hard to talk to adolescents because they seem to be so different. Look at these websites to find information that may help you better understand your mentee:

1. http://education.indiana.edu/cas/adol/development.html
2. http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/develop.htm
3. http://www.cdipage.com/teens_stages.shtml
4. http://www.cdipage.com/development.shtml
5. http://www.cdipage.com/erickson.shtml

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Holland Code

The Holland Code is another assessment method that helps students discover careers that match their interests and personalities. Check out these websites to help your student learn his or her Holland Code:

1. http://career.missouri.edu/holland/
2. http://www.usu.edu/explore/holland.html
3. http://www.ksu.edu/acic/career/holland/holland.html
4. http://www.oln.org/explore/interests.php
5. http://www.soicc.state.nc.us/SOICC/planning/c1a.htm

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Educational Games

Students enjoy using the Internet to play games. Why not direct them to educational games? These sites have links to hundreds of educational games that might get students interested in academic subjects:

1. http://highschoolhub.org/hub/hub.cfm
2. http://mathforum.org/students/high/fun.html
3. http://dmoz.org/Science/Math/Education/Games_and_Puzzles/
4. http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/games.html
5. http://scv.bu.edu/Games/games.html

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Academic Help

General Topics

These websites are great tools to use to get students interested in academic subjects:

1. http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/
2. http://www.infoplease.com/homework/

Math

If there's one subject that scares every student, it is probably math. These sites will help them learn about math on their own:

1. http://www.math.com/
2. http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
3. http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/webmath/

Study Skills

Many students would make dramatic improvements in their academic performance if they could develop better study skills. Take a look at these websites and see if you could use them to help your student:

Writing This is a powerful tool that motivated students and mentors can use to master all the phases of the writing process. http://www.powa.org/

Reading The SQ3R Method is the simplest and most productive way to read textbooks. Why don't schools teach it to students? If they don't, you can! Take a look at this website to learn more about this method: http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/texred2.htm

Test-Taking Does your student know how to prepare for specific types of tests? Does he or she have good study habits? You can help your student learning effective test-taking strategies by using this website: http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/tstprp.htm

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Planning for High School

Every student should know two things: the right courses to take to graduate from high school and the courses they should take to prepare for college. The websites listed below can help them in both areas:

1. http://sss.usf.edu/html/Professions/Counseling/graduation_require.htm
2. http://www.mapping-your-future.org/MHSS/

Preparing for College

Is it time to give your student information about college? If so, you can look at these websites to learn just about everything there is to know about planning for college. The College Board site is a MUST READ for all mentors and students!

1. http://www.collegeboard.com/
2. http://www.act.org/
3. http://www.collegeispossible.org/
4. http://www.collegequest.com/
5. http://www.collegenet.com/
6. http://www.facts.org/

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Planning for College

Does your student need a plan for college? You can look at these three websites to find all the planning tools he or she will need to design a practical college plan:

Community College Planner http://www.dcc.firn.edu/programs.htm Click this address and use the search tool to learn about all the programs offered by Florida's community colleges.

Four-Year College Planner http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil This site contains a grade-by-grade task list for students with extensive instructions and detailed information about every step in the college planning process.

State University System College Planner http://www.floridanext.com/articles/view/asp?sid=9&id=111 This is a college planner designed specifically for Florida students. It provides them with practical information about admissions standards for Florida universities and a streamlined task list for students in the 7th through 12th grades.

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Financial Aid
Is your student a junior or a senior? If so, you can use these websites to help him or her learn about paying for college.

Guide to Online Schools where students can learn the basics, find scholarships, and learn about everything else from loans to work-study: http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/financial-aid

FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on the Web Every student should also visit this site prior to their senior year to learn all about the process of applying for federal financial aid http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Information and Tools This site offers students many practical tools and a lot of great information about financial aid: http://www.finaid.com/
Scholarship Search

Would you like to help your student search for scholarships? You can if you use the following websites:

1. http://www.fastweb.com/
2. http://www.free-4u.com/fl.htm
3. http://www.collegeboard.org/fundinder/html/ssrchtop.html

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Career Exploration

Mentors and students can spend many sessions researching careers. The following career exploration tools are highly recommended.

Florida eChoices This is one of the best all-around career exploration websites available on the Internet. Students who want to know how much a physical therapist can make in Palm Beach County can simply click a few buttons and find out. This is another "must read" website for all mentors and students!
http://www.florida.echoices.com/eChoices/eChoices.nsf/frmlogin?OpenForm

Occupational Handbook This is another great career search tool. If your student asks for information about a career, you can give him or her a printout of all the necessary information at your next session using this site! http://www.bls.gov/oco/

O*Net This is a high-level career search engine. You can use it to research just about any career that interests your mentee. http://www.bls.gov/oco/