Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: child/adult mentor program?

[KJ (pumpkin2282]

You really need to consult with someone who is already doing this. Perhaps a 
church group with an established mentor ship program, or someone with Big 
Brothers, Big sisters.  Do you know the National Mentoring Center is 
headquartered in Portland? Here's a good "getting started" PDF.

http://www.iyi.org/resources/mentor/pdf/mentoring%20program%20start-up%20tool%20kit.pdf

They will be able to give you lots of advice like how to structure your time 
together, how much should be facilitated, where its safe to take kids and where 
it's not, how to match up mentors with kids(ie based on gender? Shared 
interests? Age difference?)  legal liability issues involved, etc. (to keep 
both kids safe from a us and adults safe from false claims of abuse).  How to 
manage expectations (so mentors/mentees & parents are on the same page).  

Also you'd need to have at least 1 administrator, so participants can come to 
them if they are having issues with their mentor/mentee, as well as to follow 
up, plan group mentor ship activities, communicate with the rest of the 
ecovillage about available mentors/mentees.  You should also seek regular 
feedback from both parties, to improve your mentorships, communication, and 
entire program.  Some advice in conflict resolution would be good - you already 
have this experience within the larger cohousing village, but within the 
smaller group you'd need more specific instruction, some of which is 
age-appropriate.  

PSUhad a youth mentoring conference last summer, speaker videos here:
http://www.pdx.edu/youth-mentoring/innovative-and-non-traditional-models-of-youth-mentoring

Some mentoring orgs will help you get started- some times even for free if 
you're a NFP. 

Here is a great PDF with some FAQs regarding youth mentorships:
https://www.nationalserviceresources.gov/files/legacy/filemanager/download/mentoring/mentoring_faqs.pdf

Www.mentoring.org has some good resources

Best of luck!

Kj





Sent from my iPad

On Nov 17, 2013, at 10:11 PM, Joey Kimdon <jkimdon [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> Many kids are interested in the vague idea. It remains to be seen how
> reality will pan out though. :-)
> 
> 
> 
> On Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 2:43 PM, Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] 
> gmail.com>wrote:
> 
>> Have the kids expressed interest in this?
>> 
>> 
>> On Sat, Nov 16, 2013 at 6:59 PM, Joey Kimdon <jkimdon [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>> Several of us in our community would like to establish a child/adult
>>> mentor
>>> program, and we were wondering if any other communities would be willing
>>> to
>>> share their experiences.
>>> 
>>> One of our main goals is to deepen the connections between children and
>>> adults who are not their parents. We're hoping these special connections
>>> will give the kids many people they're comfortable talking to as they are
>>> going through life's challenges, as well as enrich both parties' lives as
>>> they share their special talents, interests, and personalities. We also
>>> see
>>> it as a way to keep the kids connected to and interested in the community
>>> as they grow older.
>>> 
>>> We already have many rich child/adult interactions, informal activities,
>>> special friendships, and a kids club where adults can share activities
>>> with
>>> the kids. However, we're looking to have a more formal program in order to
>>> include more of the less-outgoing people, to encourage more one-on-one
>>> time, to help people find ways to fit this type of connection into their
>>> schedules, and to give an almost family/grandparent-type of commitment
>>> that
>>> the kids (and adults) can count on over many many years.
>>> 
>>> Our current thoughts are to have some rotating one-on-one mentorships
>>> (maybe 6 months long?) starting as soon as the kids are interested and
>>> continuing until adulthood, fostering many different relationships. Then
>>> in
>>> addition, as part of a coming-of-age ritual (around 12 yrs old), having
>>> the
>>> child and an adult find each other for an enduring (non-rotating), deeper
>>> mentorship. The shorter mentorships could help the children and adults
>>> figure out who they want for their long mentor and could continue even
>>> during the longer mentorship.
>>> 
>>> Does anyone have any experiences they'd like to share that could help us
>>> as
>>> we are developing this idea? Or can you point me to some archived posts? I
>>> did a quick search in the archives, but didn't find the right search terms
>>> to come up with anything.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> Joey
>>> (from CoHo Ecovillage in Corvallis, OR)
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