Careers Try It

What Am I Good At?


We started by talking about things that Shayla likes to do. We also discussed what a talent is and talked about her talents.


We talked about different jobs and how some careers have more men in them than women. We named several jobs like firefighter, construction worker, road crew worker, police, and sanitation workers.

Future Jobs

We talked about what kind of jobs may be good to get into, considering Shayla's talents and abilities and the future job demand. We decided maybe a doctor, a nurse, or a teacher. She just wants to be a kid, she says!

Women Pioneers

We read stories about Marie Curie, the woman who invented the radium x-ray. We also learned about Nellie Bly, who was a reporter in a predominantly male field.

Career Charades

We started discussing, dressing up, and acting out different jobs, but I felt like we were rushing through a learning opportunity, so we went to the library and checked out books about some professions and we will be doing one a day for awhile. Somewhere in the first grade curriculum in Social Studies it talks about community helpers. What a fun, hands-on way to learn! We will also see some workers in action on field trips to the bank, library, doctor's office, etc.
Here she is playing a bank teller.

Now Sporty is pretending to be a coach. She didn't say what she's coaching, but she sure liked the whistle!

I am so glad that we decided not to rush through this badgework. Friday afternoon, I went to the library and picked out many books on different career fields. Each day we will read a book and act out (in some way)the career.

We read a wonderful book by Dr. Seuss. It is called, Maybe You Should Fly a Jet, Maybe You Should be a Vet. We briefly discussed what each profession mentioned does. We also watched a Barney episode called All Aboard for Sharing. It has a song on it called, What I want to be, when I grow up to be big me!

Sunday we learned about bus drivers. First we read a book about bus drivers. Then we got out the old school bus tent. (Yes, we do some homeschool on weekends. She thinks it's play, but it's also learning. Don't tell her any different, please!)
Shayla was the bus driver. I got into the back of the tent. We pretended like it was a real bus and she was the driver. I'm sure we got some funny looks from cars passing by. It's not everyday you see a school bus tent walking around a field! The dogs and cat were passengers sometimes. As we walked around in this stifling hot school bus tent, we sang, "The Wheels on the Bus" song.

I don't think Shayla is meant to be a bus driver. She lead us right through the low tree branches several times.

Maybe something else...

Musician. We read books about being a musician. We talked about the different groups of instruments (percussion, woodwind, brass). Then we had fun playing with Shayla’s box of instruments. She said she does not want to be a musician when she grows up. (I thought there might be a chance, since she has always loved music!)

Jayden loved her instruments, except the whistles!

Shayla has been to many football games. Here she is being a conductor or field commander for the band!

Farmer. Today we learned about being a farmer. We read I’m Going to be a Farmer and If You Were a Farmer. We discussed that farmers can grow crops or animals or both. Most of this stuff is just second nature for Shayla because we put out a half acre vegetable garden, harvest wild berries, apples and grapes, and are beginning to acquire a whole menagerie of farm animals. I guess we are farmers. She said she would not like to be a farmer. After reading the books, we played with her Fisher Price farm set, then we sang Old Mac Donald had a farm.

Veterinarian. We read several library books about the work that vets do. Shayla was bothered by one of the books that mentioned that animals can pass some diseases to people. UGH! I guess I’ll have to be more careful about what I teach! She definitely enjoyed playing the part. She used an old green shirt as a scrub and a toy doctor kit. We had a real stethoscope from earlier days. She practiced her vet skills on her stuffed animals, then her twin pups. She said she would not like to be a vet because the sounds of the cows and big animals! She did seem to enjoy this career, though!

Fire Fighter. I guess I forgot to post this, but it is definately a career. After our trip to the Fire Museum, Shayla pretended to be a fire fighter for two days! She was interested in this one, but we talked about how it may not the career for her because of her eczema.

Look at that imagination. She's using a stick of wood for a hose. Later on she found a kitchen sink sprayer and hose. The one that didn't fit my broken one in the kitchen. Hint! Hint!

Plumber. This profession has been in the media a lot lately. Let me assure you that the only reason I chose this career was because it was mentioned in the scout handbook. We read I Can Be a Plumber. Shayla has helped her dad with plumbing projects in the past. As a toddler, she sat and peacefully played with a box of pvc pipes and fittings. This time the only thing she did was help me plunge the toilet. Yes, it needed it! Don’t ask!!!

Dentist. With all the dentist appointments mom has had lately, I thought we should definitely talk about this career! First we read some non-fiction books about dentists from the library. We pointed out different tools and such. Then we read some books from Shayla’s collection, like Little Critter’s Just Going to the Dentist, Barney Goes to the Dentist, and Dora the Explorer: Show Me Your Smile: A Trip to the Dentist.

Then came the fun stuff!

Last year (as a homeschooling parent) I got a freebie available to Kindergarten classroom teachers. It was a classroom pack from Colgate-Palmolive. It contained a Dr. Rabbit DVD(similar to Reader Rabbit character), a poster of the proper way to brush, 30 toothbrush packets and take-home booklets. I don’t know if this would be available, but it may be worth it to email the manufacturer asking for it.

We watched the DVD and played dentist.

First we put Shayla’s doll, Shyanne, into the chair. We used our old rocker-recliner as the dentist chair. First we put a spit bib on Shyanne (an old handkerchief worked well but you could use anything). Then the dentist put on her mask. I was hoping to find a paint mask around here, but no such luck, instead we used a handkerchief. I just safety pinned it in the back. We discussed the proper way to brush teeth. Shayla pretended to brush her teeth.

Then Shayla had a turn in the chair. I demonstrated to her (as a dentist, of course)how to properly brush your teeth. *Note to self: Maybe we should play dentist every night to get those teeth brushed right! LOL!

I think this was good for her because I think she had a fear of the dentist.

Doctor or Nurse. We read several non-fiction library books about being doctors or nurses. Shayla is particularly interested in nursing. I also realized in doing the careers badge, we completed the Abeka 1st gr social studies curriculum entitled Community Helpers.

Astronaut. We read library book, I Can Be An Astronaut. Shayla said she did not want to be an astronaut because she didn’t want to travel that far away from home. After we read some fun fiction books, (Astronaut Critter and Little Bear Goes to the Moon) we dressed up as astronauts and pretended we were flying in outer space. She wore my “moon boots” and a construction helmet as a spacesuit. We used a round shape pop-up tent as our spaceship. Then we talked about the moon – it was bumpy and holey (huh, so is our yard! LOL!) (language) We talked about gravity differences on the moon (science)and practiced “moon walking.” (phys ed). She created a space scene by coloring on her black Crayola Color Explosion paper. She made planets, moons, stars, and spaceships.