Suggestions to students:
Write a letter to your parents, and/or other adults, asking them to write a letter back to you about their dreams for you, and a story from their history.(Term “parent” below includes important adults you would like a letter from: aunts, uncles, grandparents, any adult who is special in your life.)
First, select the people
to whom you would like to write a letter.
They should be the most important adults in your life, each of your parents,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, pastor, teachers, anyone to which you would like
to write a letter asking them to write back to you answering your question: “What are your dreams for me?” The number of
letters is your decision, but at least one. You can send letters to relatives
who do not live with you or who even live in other countries. It is certain they would love to get your
letters.
Second, write separate letters to
each adult in the above list, i.e. one for your dad and one for you mom.
Your letter to them, and their letters back to you, can be in any language that
you understand, or that you can have translated for you.
Third, ask them to also write one
story from their family or community history into their letter to you. That
is why you write separate letters to each adult. They all have different histories to share
with you. It should be a story from their history that is also your history, stories
they would like you to someday tell your children. These can include stories from
your community history and events. This is also why you want to include older
members of your family, people with more history from your family.
Find the street
addresses of the people you want to write to you and bring that information
back to class for the envelopes if they do not live with you.
Such letters will be written each year to request another letter from parents and/or
others. You change a lot in one year. The goal is for parents and
the other adults to observe your changes and write about how their own dreams
for you as they also are changing. They
are probably gaining more detail each year as you grow.
The stories written
about can be about the person writing the letter, or grandparents, or aunts or
uncles, a valuable family story that they want passed on to your children
someday. These letters will help you gather a collection of valuable family
stories by the time you graduate.
When any parents, or other
letter writer, is finished with their letter and gives it back to you, immediately read it. Ask the person who
wrote the letter any questions you may have about the letter. You must
clearly understand it. The goal is clear communication. Priceless
conversations can happen at this time. You are encouraged to ask questions. Be
certain to say thank you.
After these letters are collected and brought
to school, the next step in this process will be when you write a letter to yourself
about your goals for life.
