Kudos! That's very proactive of you!

Over the holidays many of us like to spend time with our loved ones, as we reflect on the year gone by and plan for the year ahead. What better way for a parent to take advantage of a quiet afternoon than to spend a little quality time helping their child prepare for the future!

Increasing parental involvement is much easier when you have the right tools...

First, it's important that you send home a Choices Explorer Quick Start Guide or an Access Reference Card with every student, so they will remember their portfolio name and password. These resources are available by going to the Choices Explorer Resource Materials page on our website.

You should also download the parent letter from that same page. The parent letter can be easily customized, allowing you to suggest some great tools that will help parents get the most out of using Choices Explorer with their child.

For example:

• In the Parent section of www.bridges.com, on the right hand side of the page, parents will find links to valuable resources including printable guides with exploration and career planning activities.
• In Choices Explorer's Professional Tools section, parents can access the Resource Library without requiring a professional account. At the bottom of the page, they will find a link to even more Parent Resources.

Now if you're really feeling motivated, after the holidays you might want to consider hosting a few parent involvement seminars at your school. The Parental Involvement Kit can be downloaded at www.bridges.com/resources.

And on that note, I'm out of here for another year. Have a safe and happy holiday season, and I'll see you in January!