College Mentors for Kids

Weekly activities range from grade to grade depending on developmental and educational level of the particular students.

First- & second-grades:  children in these grades are educated on the basics of college.  Questions such as:  What does college mean?  What is campus like?  Why do you go to college? might be answered. 

Third- & fourth-grades:  activities in these grades may probe deeper into collegiate topics like what a major is, or a minor, or what a professor does.  Children continue to expand their knowledge of college. 

Fifth- & sixth-grades:  As fifth- and sixth-graders, students start to discover what areas interest them and perhaps what they might want to be or study when entering higher education. 

Seventh- & eighth-grades: Finally, in the last years of the program, these grades are learning about specific ways to get into college and what students should be doing now to prepare. 

Click here to see weekly activity structure

College Mentors for Kids Program Initiatives
Many children struggle with reading, which has long-term consequences. The Book of the Week connects children to the activity topic and encourages reading for pleasure.

Many families live without a bank account and are easy prey to cash advance businesses. The Economics for Kids initiative teaches kids about the importance of earning, saving and spending money wisely to break the cycle of poverty.

Verizon gave a grant to integrate Thinkfinity.org resources into activities for the children.  Thinkfinity is a web site that offers free educational resources for teachers, instructors and parents to use in increasing student performance in their problem-solving, creativity and critical thinking skills.

The Career Mentors initiative invites local professionals to share his or her profession and required training. It exposes participants to career options and how higher education plays a role in reaching each career.

A health and wellness curriculum focuses on nutrition, physical fitness, hygiene and personal growth, while exposing families to resources such as Hoosier Healthwise.

                                                                         A science curriculum was implemented to give the

                                                                         children the chance to experience science outside the classroom. Activities will primarily be in the form of experiments and mini-projects with the guidance of college professors.

Technology literacy and access to the resources that it provides crucial to the development of children in today’s economy. Exposing young children to a technology curriculum on a college campus and 

technology careers will help to build computer skills

and awareness of how technology impacts the

economy.

The College Preparatory and Financial Planning Initiative connects youth and their families to academic and financial planning resources for higher education. Families receive a College Preparatory Packet at the end of each program year.

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