I can hardly believe it, but my oldest son is about to enter his junior year of high school. And you know what that means, don’t you?
College talk.
Recently, I was chatting with friends who have kids the same age as my oldest.
The conversation went something like this:
- Our babies cannot possibly be old enough for college.
- It’s bananas that we ask 17- and 18-year-olds to declare a major and decide on a future career when their brains aren’t fully developed!
- How many of us are actually doing what our 17-year-old selves thought we’d be doing?
- How many people do we know who hate their current job situation and wish they had taken a different path?
- How can we help our teens become more self-aware, especially regarding their natural strengths and inner motivations, so they can pursue career paths that they’ll find fulfilling?
A few days after this convo with my friends, I was offered the chance to check out ​TruSpark​, a story-based online motivation quiz for grades 7-10.
(What are the chances?!)
Homeschool Career Exploration: Help Teenagers Identify Strengths and Future Career Options
*Disclosure: I was provided free access to the TruSpark teen assessment and compensated for my time writing this review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I only share resources I have used with my family and those I believe other families will enjoy.
My kids (ages 15.5, 14, and 12.5) all took the ​TruSpark assessment​. Today, I want to tell you all about it because I think this is a resource you’re going to love!
Homeschooling allows children and teens to follow their unique interests and learn along the way. Let’s keep that mindset going into adulthood.
As a school psychologist and homeschool mom, I have always been passionate about interest-based learning. I’ve seen the power of play-based and interest-based learning in my homeschool time and time again.
As homeschool parents, we can incorporate interest-based learning into our routine in a way that is impossible in a traditional classroom setting, with over twenty children in a classroom.
Homeschooling gives us the freedom to embrace our children’s curiosity, help them follow their interests and passions, and learn tons along the way.
When we honor our children’s unique interests in our homeschool, learning doesn’t feel like work. It feels like fun. And when learning is fun, children and teens naturally retain more.
Wouldn’t it be great if this learning could continue beyond the homeschool years? Don’t we all want to raise curious adults and lifelong learners?
How do we help tweens and teenagers explore future career options that complement their unique strengths and passions so that they land a fulfilling career?
We all know friends and family members who don’t feel fulfilled in their current profession. I can’t be the only one who knows a bunch of people who pivoted career-wise following 2020.
One of my closest friends went from a decades-long career in hospitality and tech to opening an indie bookshop. It’s been amazing watching her be so brave to pivot midlife and fulfill her life’s dream.
I don’t know about you, but I want my kids to pursue their interests and find a fulfilling career. I don’t want them to feel stuck on a certain path. I don’t want them to dread Monday mornings and spend every weekday counting the minutes until it’s time to clock out.
And if my children do find themselves in such a position professionally, I want them to be brave like my friend, pivot, and find something that honors their uniqueness, interests, and strengths.
(If you ever find yourself in North Andover, MA, check out my friend Kate’s gorgeous bookshop!
Wouldn’t it be great if we could equip our teenagers with a little extra self-awareness before they start their college search? And to arm them with increased self-awareness, especially with regard to what they are good at and why they are good at those things.
Having an understanding of your strengths and intrinsic motivation would be excellent information to have in your back pocket before you lock in on a certain career track and spend a lot of money and time.
And this is why I jumped at the chance to check out TruSpark, an online narrative-based quiz for tweens and teens.
TruSpark is a story-based quiz that helps teens discover their core motivations and unlock potential strength-based career paths.
TruSpark is an affordable narrative-based online assessment tool for 7th- 10th graders. This tool identifies your teen’s core motivations and potential career paths that complement these motivations.
Traditional personality tests identify the whats, including strengths, talents, and interests. TruSpark digs deeper and gets to the whys. TruSpark uses your teen’s unique stories and experiences to identify their inner drives and top three core motivations.
What are core motivations?
The TruSpark is a research-based tool that identifies your teen’s core motivations. Core motivations relate to your intrinsic inner drive and inner motivation. The TruSpark assessment identifies the following 19 core motivations:
- Achiever
- Arranger
- Builder
- Expert
- Explorer
- Finisher
- Fixer
- Helper
- Impactor
- Improver
- Influencer
- Learner
- Maximizer
- Organizer
- Overcomer
- Standout
- Teacher
- Team Player
- Visionary
Results of the TruSpark assessment provide tweens and teens with increased self-awareness and insight into future job opportunities.
Upon completing the assessment, your teen will learn their top three core motivations and what they mean. In addition to identifying your child’s top three core motivations, results also include the top 10 occupational paths for each core motivation.
What is the TruSpark assessment like?
The TruSpark assessment is designed for 7th-10th graders. It can be accessed on any tablet or desktop web browser. The assessment takes about 10-15 minutes. The instructions for the assessment were clear. We found the entire process easy-to-understand and super interesting.
Unlike standard personality quizzes, TruSpark is a narrative-based assessment. Your child will be asked to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
The stories need only be 2-3 sentences in length. There are clear instructions regarding what types of experiences to include…
…and what to avoid.
When your teen has finished their first story, they will engage in an interactive sorting process. Your child will be shown cards with statements on them and asked to place each statement in either the TRUE pile or the FALSE pile.
Once the interactive sorting process is complete, your teen will be asked to share an additional story, and then the sorting process will repeat.
TruSpark results are immediately available to your child. The results are also sent to your parent dashboard, where you can view and print them if desired.
As mentioned, the results will include your teen’s top three core motivations as well as the top 10 occupational paths for each core motivation.
What are the benefits of the TruSpark assessment?
Identifying your teen’s core motivations will help your child gain increased self-awareness and insight about future career paths.
This information can also help homeschool parents better teach their children based on these unique factors.
How do you sign up for the TruSpark assessment?
1. Purchase the assessment(s) via the TruSpark website.
TruSpark offers two purchase options:
- Curriculum + 1 Assessment
- 1 Assessment Only <— This is the resource that our family used.
(You must purchase the appropriate number of assessments if you have more than one tween or teen.)
2. Create your parent account.
You’ll need to enter your name and email, and you have the option to add a phone number.
3. Add your student(s)
Click the “add student” option and input your child’s name and email address.
4. Assign the assessment to your student(s)
Once the student(s) is added, you can assign the assessment (the “Assign Assessment” option is located to the right of your student’s information, under the “Actions” header). Your tween/teen will receive an email with a link to the assessment.
Once your teen has completed the TruSpark assessment, your dashboard will display “completed” under the “Status” header as shown below:
You will then have access to the assessment results. Click “Get Report” under the “Actions” header to view and print the full results.
Our family’s TruSpark teen assessment results
My kiddos love taking quizzes, so TruSpark was a hit over here. They found the process fun, and all three kids agreed that their results were spot-on. For those who are curious, I’ll share their results below.
TruSpark gives teens insight and increases self-awareness about their unique strengths and inner motivations.
My tween and teens enjoyed the experience of taking the TruSpark assessment and seeing their unique results and what career paths might be a good match for them in the future.
As a parent of tweens and teens, I think it’s advantageous for them to have this self-awareness and Insight into what makes them tick and some ideas to explore for possible career paths in the future so that they find a career that is fulfilling to them.
If you’d like to learn more or think TruSpark might be a good fit for your family, head to TruSpark.me.
Now, it’s your turn. Tell me: How do you help your tweens and teens identify their strengths and explore possible career options? Share here!
