Back to School Goals
This is your child’s year to shine, and the beginning of the school year is the perfect time to help your student set the stage to achieve his or her goals. These 3 steps will help you and your child get started on new goals for the new school year.
- Talk about goals: What are your student’s goals for this school year?
- Identify specific, achievable steps: Break large goals into smaller, specific steps to make them less daunting. If your student wants to read 20 books by the end of the year, help set smaller goals like reading 5 books by October 31st, another 5 by the end of winter break, 5 by March 31st and the last 5 by June 30th. Then talk about the specific books he or she would like to read and which one to read first.
- Promote internal motivation: When your child achieves the recorded goals, celebrate! Just like you love checking off tasks on that to-do list, your child will feel like a rock star each time he or she achieves one of the goals you’ve set together!
Talking about goals comes in many different forms. Some students have goals in mind – like getting higher grades or reading 20 books by the end of the year. For other students, talking about goals means discussing what is exciting – or scary – about this school year. One student may be excited about learning cross-multiplication; another student might hear “cross-multiplication” and develop a sudden stay-at-home fever. Either way, learning and feeling confident about cross-multiplication is a goal for this school year.
Help your student identify one or two goals for this year. Ask your student to write down these goals, and then keep them in a visible place so that you remember to check in. Give verbal praise as your student gets closer!
Turn each of these into a clear goal statement, and record it: “I will read 30 minutes every night” or “I will finish my first book by next Sunday!”
This is a great strategy for breaking down big school projects, too!