Many of the topics that we research in FPS are new to the students. You can support your child's participation by helping manage time to allow for research at libraries, museums, and events that would build schema. Students are provided with readings and parents are encouraged to discuss relevant current events at home. You can also support your child by encouraging them to think beyond just the facts, and to dig deeper into the topics with a futuristic mindset. Ultimately, this is your child's research path and the work they complete as a team must be their own. In PRISM, we focus on the process of problem solving and not on how we perform at the competition. To do so would diminish the efforts of our young problem solvers and place the focus solely on an extrinsic motivator.
- The following information is from FPSPI.org's Parent Newsletter
How can you help your child prepare for FPS?
Parents really can contribute to student preparation in a meaningful way. One way is by helping them find information on the topics for competition! The FPS topics are tough, especially for younger students. "Research" is necessary for students for many steps of the process: to have a solid understanding of the topic, to recognize challenges faced within the topic, to recognize potential solutions to concerns, and to create an Action Plan to provide a better situation. When I say "research" I don't mean lots of stuff to read. Students need to discuss the topic and the materials that they have read. Reading is the starting point. Discussion is where real understanding begins.
Students need to think about why a topic was chosen. Why is the topic important to their future? How might this topic change their future? What are good things about the topic? What are possible challenges? What might be some solutions to the challenges? Who might be the different "stakeholders" affected by this topic and how might the challenges affect them?
It is also helpful to talk about trends. What is a trend? What are the trends of the last 10 years that we have experienced? What surprised you? What might the world look like in 10-20-30 years? Who will the students be in 10-20-30 years? Who will you be? What are the good things that could happen? What are some of the challenges? Students often must learn to be positive. Gloom and doom isn't fun or particularly interesting for many kids. Cynicism isn't helpful either and kids do pick up on it. We want the students to become problem solvers and that means finding ways to make the world a better place.
You don't have to be an expert (I certainly am not) but understanding the basics of how the world works can go a long way to helping students develop realistic ideas. These can be fun conversations.
Here are some suggestions of things you might talk about:
How does the "world" work?
• How do different countries work together, or not? Why?
• How do governments work? What is the government's role in society? What is the citizen's role?
• How does the field of economics work? What are the different sectors in an economy: business, service, government, etc.? What are their roles and how are they different from one another? Why are there taxes?
• How do laws work? For instance, it isn't helpful to make a law that cannot be enforced. "Making a law (or a rule)" often doesn't solve a problem in an adult world, but it is a common solution because that is how problems are often solved in a child's world. How can we help them to develop more effective ways to solve problems?
• How do families work? What are the roles in a family? How do families get money? How do they pay bills? How does economics affect your family? Why are laws important? How does the functioning of the government affect your family?
