Parent

Welcome College Mentors for Kids Parents
College Mentors for Kids is a mentoring program that pairs college students in one-on-one friendships with elementary school students. The children go to the campus each week for two-hour-long activities with their mentors. Through College Mentors for Kids, your child will get to explore the college campus and all it has to offer. Your child will learn about art, music, science, languages, people and cultures from around the world, and much more! Your child also will learn about the needs of the community, and how he/she can make a difference by helping others or helping the environment. The goal of College Mentors for Kids is to give your child a mentor who will help him or her develop an appreciation for education and culture and a desire to help others. One child said that she learned, "I can have any career I put my life towards." Children in the program look up to their college student mentor and develop very special relationships with them.

We call our mentors "big buddies" and the children "little buddies." College Mentors for Kids carefully interviews, selects, and trains qualified mentors to participate in College Mentors for Kids. Your daughter will be matched with a female college student mentor. Your son will be matched with a male or female college student mentor. College Mentors for Kids is a one-of-a-kind mentoring program because children and their mentors will always be in a group. This way, your child will get to know several college students and other children as part of a group called a "buddy family."

College Mentors for Kids Activity Structure
Each week at College Mentors for Kids, your child will participate in interactive, educational activity. Each activity begins with a nutritious snack and a physical activity or game to prepare the kids for their time on campus. After a bathroom break and a review of the rules, the Book of the Week is read aloud and the group discusses the College Question of the Week.

Higher education and career activities allow little buddies to increase their awareness of college life, different careers and the training required for each. For example, in an activity about journalism, they may meet the editor of the campus newspaper, tour the newsroom, and write an article under the supervision of a journalism professor. Or, the children might travel to a biology lab to learn about how plants photosynthesize, while also listening to a professor speak about botany, why people study botany and how a college degree is important in becoming a botanist.

Through culture and diversity activities the little buddies learn about the talents and heritage of the different people who form the college community. Activities may include celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a student from Mexico, sitting in on an orchestra class, or learning a routine with a hip-hop dance group. These activities expand little buddies' world view by exposing them to the languages, foods, visual and performing arts, and histories of groups different from themselves.

Community service activities enable the children to identify and respond to needs in their community and learn about community resources. For example, the group may discuss homelessness and its causes and then assemble toiletry kits to give to clients of a local homeless shelter.

At the conclusion of the activity, the buddy pairs spend time together reflecting on their experience. They discuss and respond to the College Question of the Week, which links the activity to higher education. For example, "what kind of classes should a student take if they want to be a nurse?" Or, "where on campus do students go to practice with their dance team?" The little buddies record these thoughts in a journal before being bused home.

If you need to speak with someone regarding your child's attendance or participation in the program, please contact your child's elementary school.

You may call the College Mentors for Kids headquarters toll free at 877-473-2635 with general questions about the program or for additional resources related to college.

Additional Resources
The College Mentors for Kids website offers resources related to mentoring, preparing your child academically and financially for college and other links to helpful resources.

Download the College Preparatory Packet, a free comprehensive resource with information about supporting your child's education and planning and paying for college. You will also find sections about educational opportunities for yourself. This section was added by request of numerous parents whose children are enrolled in College Mentors for Kids and several of our parents have gone back to school as a result of this information.

Indiana College Preparatory Packet _English (pdf)

Indiana College Preparatory Packet _Spanish (pdf)

Illinois College Preparatory Packet _English (pdf)

Illinois College Preparatory Packet _Spanish (pdf)

To receive a copy via mail, please call 1-877-473-2635

Visit these websites for other helpful information:
www.learnmoreindiana.org
www.driveofyourlife.org
www.triptocollege.org
www.collegecosts.com
www.bbbs.org
www.collegeforward.org
www.in.gov/ssaci/programs/21st/index.html - to learn about 21st Century Scholars
www.healthcareforhoosiers.com

Are you interested in enrolling your child in College Mentors for Kids?
Click here to see if your child's elementary school is a College Mentors for Kids partner school.