Dear Parent or Guardian,

The Business and Personal Finance textbook has been selected for use in your son or daughter's business classroom, and you have every reason to be excited. As your child embarks on a year of growth and discovery, he or she will be working in partnership with a textbook that empowers students to make wise financial decisions, demystifies the financial process; and enables students to become critical thinkers, active listeners, and effective speakers.

You may ask, "How can I too be a partner to my child's learning? How can I help my child learn to manage their finances, especially if my own financial knowledge is not as strong as it could be?" The answer is simple: stay active and involved in your child's learning process.

Encourage your child by

• asking questions about the financial challenges he or she faces
• listening carefully and being a sounding board for your child's ideas
• inviting your child to read aloud homework assignments and activities and offering feedback and advice when asked
• acting as a role model and demonstrating the value you place on sound money management and on managing other resources you use each day, such as your time, knowledge, and skills.

By finding and reading this letter on the Business and Personal Finance Web site, you've already begun to model for your child the process of inquiry and research. We hope that you'll take advantage of the other resources available on this Web site. Here you'll find an annotated list of Web Links for Parents on a variety of subjects that have been specifically chosen by Glencoe editors with parents' concerns in mind. For example, some links will help you assist your child in conducting research for writing projects, while others contain family learning activities. Still others address a range of issues, from bilingual education to finding the right college. Consider making your first stop the U.S. Department of Education's Parents Guide to the Internet; the site will help you learn to surf with confidence, knowledge, and awareness.

Thank you for supporting your child's work with Business and Personal Finance.

Sincerely,

The Editors at Glencoe Publishing