Kris Dobson, Dear Parents Contributor
I look forward to using this forum to highlight key career information and “college and career” planning tools. I also hope to field questions that readers may have about the college and career planning process, and garner input from students, parents, and educators about what tools and information they find most useful – or not.
This is the first blog post in a new “Dear Parents” series I’ll be writing for UtahPublicEducation.org. While I plan to fill future posts with current education issues, tips for student success and topics that you’ve suggested, I will dedicate this first post to introducing myself to you.
So who am I? I’m a Utah educator, mother, grandmother and now a blogger. My career in education spans more than 35 years. I’ve worked with students at all levels, elementary through graduate school. I’ve worked in public and private, for-profit and non-profit organizations. But I’m also a parent, having raised one birth daughter and numerous step-, foster- and now grand-children. This is all to say that I anticipate sharing my own opinions from time to time, but my opinions are informed by both professional and personal experience.
I currently manage the Utah Career Resource Network, a project of the Utah State Office of Education. We develop and distribute information regarding today’s careers, including how one can best prepare for them. I look forward to using this forum to highlight key career information and “college and career” planning tools. I also hope to field questions that readers may have about the college and career planning process, and garner input from students, parents, and educators about what tools and information they find most useful – or not.
Finally, let me share a bit of my educational philosophy. I believe that the ideal process brings together a student, her parents, and an educator in order to design a personalized program of study that engages the student and builds a bridge to take her to the next step. As part of this ideal process, students define their personal brand of success and learn the skills necessary to review and evaluate their own progress as they set and achieve life goals.
I look forward to your comments, questions and topic suggestions for future blog posts. Let’s talk!
Kris Dobson is a Utah mom, grandmother, educator, and now a blogger. In her “Dear Parents” column on UtahPublicEducation.org, Dobson will provide educational tips and strategies to prepare children for success in school and in their lives after they graduate. You may contact her and submit your questions or suggestions for blog topics via email. As Kris says, “Let’s talk!”
Hi Kris,
I’d like to know what skills a child should have before starting Kindergarten. Is it important for parents to teach them to read before school or is it OK to wait and have them learn that at school?
Monaca
Hi Monaca,
Thanks so much for submitting this great question to Kris. She’ll get back to you soon with the answer! -Elizabeth Ziegler, USOE Social Media Specialist
Thanks so much for your question. Like most parents, it sounds like you have a keen interest in assuring your student’s success at school – and you’re right to think about kindergarten as a major transition point. I hope I’ll get an opportunity to do a blog more specifically related to these important transition points, and maybe one or two blogs that talk about key learning objectives by grade level, but for now, let me point you to our kidergarten readiness guidelines – http://schools.utah.gov/CURR/preschoolkindergarten/Home/PreKindergartenGuidelines.aspx – and here’s a quick checklist that is handy to use -
http://school.familyeducation.com/kindergarten/school-readiness/38491.html
Best wishes for success!