A great way to get your back to homeschool days started it set some school year goals. This is something I used to do in solitude, but now we set them as a family. We have found involving the kids in setting goals for the year gives them some ownership in the process and usually makes working toward goal achievement more important to the kids too.
You don’t have to do anything special or elaborate. You can just get out a piece of paper and write a few goals for each of the kids. You can have educational goals, behavior goals, personal goals, or even family goals. But whatever you choose, try to have the kids set some of their own goals.
Of course, you can always guide the kids, especially your little ones, on what their goals might be. Consider some of these examples to get you started:
Sample School/Behavior Goals – 10 year old
* Complete 1 level of math
* Master times tables to 15s
* Achieve Memory Master for CC Cycle 1
* Complete writing one full story
* Complete chores without being reminded
Sample Behavior/Personal Goals – 5 year old
* Ride bike without training wheels
* Complete level 3 swim lessons
* Begin piano lessons
* Build a Lego Star Wars model by self
* Respond to tasks without delay or excuses
Sample Family Goals
* Take one family camping trip
* Complete one Family Bible study
* Get Christmas cards out on time
* Do one family service project together
These are just examples. You can choose to post these on a goal board in your homeschool room or kitchen or even in the kid’s bedrooms. Whatever works for you but having them displayed can help you and your kids keep the goals in the forefront on everyone’s minds which will encourage accomplishment and fulfillment.
Whether you always set goals or never have, finding a system that works will help make the process easy. Making the goal setting process can help you work toward easier achievement of the goals.
Goals can be a great way for the whole family to be accountable and have something to work toward. You can also choose to reward goal achievements or celebrate them in some special way. For instance, this summer, we had a goal for the kids to complete a reading list. They were allowed to pick a “reward,” within reason, if they attained the goal of reading EVERYTHING on the list. They were excited to pick their prize and having that prize helped them stay motivated to work through the reading lists. You might find a simply reward for achieving the goals is a way for the kids to stay motivated to achieve them.
In the end, working toward goals that are set at the beginning of the year can help you stay accountable and on track throughout the year. Just be wary of setting too many goals or unattainable goals, as this can be defeating and a de-motivator, so go over the goals with your kids and make sure everyone agrees they are attainable. Remember, you can always add MORE goals later if they are too easy or were not challenging enough but it’s difficult to take away goals without feeling defeated.
Do you set beginning of the year goals? How does your family work through them?
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