Helping Kids Succeed – Alaskan Style!

Practical Suggestions for Building Assets in Your Child

Asset # 1 – Family Support

Traditional Ways to Promote Asset #1 Share family stories - Chuathbaluk Make kuspuks with your doughters. Spend time with them to learn the work, practice the stitching, and just be in each other's space. - Elim Hold beading or sewing circles where women talk about family as they do something practical and beautiful for their family. They exchange ideas and give each other real support. Women go home feeling positive about themselves and their community that they rely upon every day. - Unalakleet Simple Ways to Help Kids Three things that parents and extended family can do: 1. Show interest in your child's life. ask questions about their day. listen to them when they share things with you. 2. Give children praise and verbal encouragement - "You can do it" and "Great Job!" 3. Always make time for your children. Be available when your child needs you. Research Shows! Research shows that close family relationships and parents' caring and empathy for others help young people develop strong, positive values.

To Build Asset #1 Parents and Extended Family Can . . . 1. Set aside at least one evening per week for family activities. Brainstorm as a family things you might like to do. Then agree on which ones to try. Be open to ideas from all family members, and be willing to share your childrens' interests. 2. Tell your children that you love them. Tell them often. Show them in many ways. - Hoonah 3. Make little things for your children. When you give them, make sure they know that they are given out of love. - Chuathbaluk 4. Always have compassion when disciplining your children. Explain to children why their behavior was unacceptable. Be caring and firm. Let them know you believe they can do better in the future. - Yakutat 5. Spend time with each of your children individually. Try to make this a daily event-ten minutes after school, a half hour in the evening, an hour on Saturday morning. Let them know that your time together is important to you too. 6. Don't be afraid to show love and affection for your kids. Give hugs and kisses-up to the point that it feels good to your children. - Homer

Asset #1 — Family life provides high levels of love and support.

School provides a caring,encouraging environment.

64% of youth surveyed by Search Institute have this asset in their lives.*

*Based on Search Institute surveys of almost 100,000 6th to 12th grade youth throughout the United States

What are Assets?

Assets are 40 key building blocks to help kids succeed. Like a dream catcher, assets are the supporting threads in a young person's life that can keep away harm and invite goodness.

	Words of Encouragement After growing up in a community where there was a high level of love and support for children I'm a firm believer in this asset. I look at my graduating class and it's fairly obvious to me who had the appropriate level of love and support at home, and who came to school looking for that love and support that they were missing in their home environment. Often the latter students turned to sex, drugs or alcohol. It's important that there are no more graduating classes like mine. I'd like to see all of Alaska's children receiving the love and support of a family so that they don't have to turn to negative behaviors as they search for love and support. Remember growing up and when you couldn't fall asleep your mother would rock you or scratch your back? Maybe your mom showed her love by diligently hanging all of your accomplishments on the refrigerator door. Perhaps you lived with a Grandmother and she would spend time with you at the playground and tell you about her childhood. Do you remember your father building you a tree house? Or maybe your Uncle took you out for pizza once a week. Perhaps you foster parent spent time listening to you and helping you with your homework. Whoever it was in your home, you most likely received love and support from your family. They spent time with you, hugged you, and made you feel important. We can now do the same children in our homes, communities, schools, churches and programs. If you know of a child who could use some extra love and support, get to know them and become a mentor to them. I have left home now and am living in a college dormitory. My "family" has changed a little bit! I know consider those around me to be my "sisters and brothers". But, I still have memories, home videos, and plenty of photo albums to always remind me of my family back in Petersburg. They continue to love and support me from a distance. My parents send me care packages, email, and we regularly talk on the phone. My sister emails me and visits every once in awhile. It's important to begin loving your children from the very beginning and never stop supporting them as they grow older.	Research Parental support has been identified with positive outcomes such as lower levels of substance abuse, early sexual intercourse, and higher levels of academic performance. Some other outcomes of positive family support include: Higher adolescent self-esteem, positive feelings about self, and perceived competence. (Blyth & Traeger, 1988; Cauce, Felner, & Primavera, 1982; Cotterell, 1992; Zimmerman, Salem, & Maton, 1995) Less psychological distress or a "buffering" of the effects of stress. (Dubois, Felner, Brand, Adan, and Evans, 1992; Eisenberg & McNally, 1993; Frey & Rothlisberger, 1996; Hershberger & D'augelli, 1995) Less delinquency and school misconduct. (Barnes & Farrell, 1992; Cochran & Bo, 1989; Vazsonyi & Flannery, 1997) Higher school engagement, motivation, aspirations, attendance, personal responsibility for achievement; more hours spent on homework, higher grades, and higher standardized test scores. (Astone & McLanahan, 1991; Bisnaire, Firestone, & Rynard, 1990; Feldman & Wentzel, 1990) Greater ego and identity development and identity exploration. (Cooper, Grotevant, & Condon, 1983; Palmer et al., 1993) Quotes: "Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give — which is everything." - Anon "Do all things with love." - Og Mandino
This newsletter and other asset resources are produced by the Association of Alaska School Boards’ Alaska Initiative for Community Engagement (Alaska ICE) 316 West 11th Street Juneau, Alaska 99801 Tel: (907) 586-1486 Fax: (907) 586-1450 Email: alaskaice@aasb.org