Yearly goal for children....

[Free Indeed]

Do you set yearly goals for your children? I am looking for all types of goals, not just academic ones. DO you do this? Would you mind sharing some past and present goals?

[NanceXToo]

No, I do not set goals for my children.

 

But I do ask my children periodically what THEIR goals for THEMSELVES are. What do they want to learn? What do they want to do? What do they want to know about? What are they interested in?

 

And then I try to help them explore those things.

 

For instance, toward the end of third grade when I first started homeschooling (not this past school year, but the year before), I asked my then 8 year old daughter what her goals were. She said:

 

Be the world's best kid at giving back massages

make jewelry for other people

Help people with their problems if I can

Be able to go places, like amusement parks, water parks, beaches, hotels and home

Learn how to be a tattoo artist

Learn how to play sports like soccer and basketball

Learn how to make all different foods, like cakes and cookies and cupcakes

Learn how to paint houses

Learn how to make lotion ("like for people who have face problems")

 

So... I looked up back massage techniques online, went over them with her, and let her practice on her dad and I.

 

I provided her with jewelry making kits and beads and whatnot.

 

I took her on plenty of field trips and outings.

 

I let her go to work sometimes with her dad (who is a tattoo artist and owns his own shop).

 

I signed her up for a week long basketball day camp over that summer.

 

I signed her up for a 4H cooking club, and we made some food together.

 

We didn't paint houses or make lotion- but we did paint other things and made our own scented oil.

 

I asked her what she meant about helping people with their problems, and she said she meant like poor people, and so we did some community-service minded things this year that would help other people. These ranged from raising funds for a children's hospital to donating some belongings to the salvation army to doing an Earth Day park cleanup, and more.

 

More recently, she told me she wants to learn more about photography. We read a Snowflake Bently bio. We made a "day in the life of" photo journal. I make a point of letting her use my camera more often instead of stressing over whether she's going to drop it (so far she hasn't). I'm going to get her her own camera for her next b-day and let her try other things, like time-lapse photo projects and playing with size perception and more.

 

Your kids already have goals. You just need to find out what they are. :)

[thowell]

This is our 2nd year and I will be setting goals which I didn't do last year. Some things will be very specific like having dsd11 memorize multiplication facts and parts of speech. Others will be more general like learn to be a better helper. Practice being kind. Each child will have a printout of their yearly goal in the front of their student planner. As we complete these things they get checked off.

[Wendy in ME]

I set goals every year for the boys, and I write them down in my notebook/ organizer to help keep me grounded. Here are some that we are planning to work on for the up-coming year:

 

D (8th grade) - time management, organization, and self scheduling, and adding more detail and specific examples in his writing. He is also a very "black and white" kid so we are working on having more open-ended discussions rather than focussing on right and wrong answers.

 

G (6th grade) - He is coming back home after a one year horrible PS experiment. We have lots of ground to make up so it will be a "back to basics year" academically. We will be playing catch-up in math and all language arts areas. Everything else will be considered enrichment. For more character related goals, he will be working on having a more positive attitude toward his education and taking pride in his work rather than doing "the bare minimum". I have let him choose the direction he wants to go in for history, science, and literature in an effort to spark some interest.

 

L (2nd grade) - My goals for him are very simple. We will focus on reading fluency, writing skills, and math. He is an eager student and works hard.

 

L (K) - My only real goal for him that he be reading by the end of the year.

[Closeacademy]

I set goals each year. I set them up for each subject and they usually relate to things like:

 

Math--regrouping, times tables, measurement terms

 

Composition--learn to write a paragraph.

 

Grammar--subject and predicate work, direction object and indirect object

 

Spelling--Work on lists A-M

 

I usually write down what curriculum we use, what I hope to accomplish. At the end of the year I do a progress report where I type up how they did, what we actually used, what we actually did and where we need to make improvments.

 

Hope this helps.:001_smile:

[Rhea]

Before start of school last year my kids and I sat with our eyes closed and I led them through envisioning themselves in the future, what they thought they might be doing, where they would be living. Afterwards anyone who wanted to share did. Then we closed are eyes again and each person envisioned the end of the school year and what they had accomplished in their studies, sports, other interests. Then I asked the kids to write down goals for the year. No one had to share, but all the kids wanted to. I asked a few questions. For example my son had a goal for basketball that included skills only. I asked him if in his vision of himself he had included how he handled winning, losing, and team mates with bad attitudes. We discussed different basketball players (all older, on the H.S. team) and their behavior, what my son admired, what he thought was poor sportsmanship, etc. The final version of his basketball goal made me tear up.

 

I'm glad you asked this question because I'd forgotten all about the above, even though I'd planned to do it yearly.

[helena]

Last year my goal was to do tons of classes so the girls could make friends and just generally get to know different kids in the area who homeschool. The year before that we were at a testing site for homeschool kids, and I thought, "I want the girls to be able to walk in here and know tons of kids and be happy by seeing their friends testing along with them".

So this spring we went in and tested, and it was just like I imagined! It was an awesome feeling for me, to have set a goal like that and reach it. The girls were all smiles that week. It's important to them to feel that sense of community I guess.

 

Now I know that setting these kinds of goals are achievable :).

With fall just around the corner, I've decided to set two goals. The first being to become members of a local museum, and becoming active in the arts. My youngest loves to look, read, and take her time at museums, and my eldest is old enough to listen to the occasional lecture. I think they're both ready to get something out of it. I'm not going to go out and buy a bunch of curriculum for it, or turn it into another thing to check off the list three days a week. More like, a slight change in lifestyle.

 

The second goal is to take a long serious look at our reading habits in this house. Books are collected, read, and loved here but I realized that I've dropped the ball in a particularly regrettable way. I've never had required reading or used a book list. I've haphazardly collected and let them choose their own reading. I realized also that my eldest is about to out grow a lot of wonderful classic books that I've yet to have her read.

I've started collecting book lists from 2nd grade and up, I've checked of the ones we've read and buy the ones that I find at used book stores. I've become a maniac collector lately. :D I've logged them all into my computer on Delicious Library. I've separated history novels... I'm taking stock this summer. I'm thinking what the best way to do this is, once school starts up again. I'm convinced that next year this time, I'm going to say, "Wow, we did it! We have excellent reading habits. (I could work on it as well ;))"

 

I don't have the girls set goals like how I'm doing it. I just encourage them, and offer opportunities to further their interests, I want them to see the big picture of their lives in a way like, "You love fencing, how serious do you want to get? If you want to go all the way, here's what you need to do", I don't want them to be passive in making things happen for themselves.

[helena]

Before start of school last year my kids and I sat with our eyes closed and I led them through envisioning themselves in the future, what they thought they might be doing, where they would be living. Afterwards anyone who wanted to share did. Then we closed are eyes again and each person envisioned the end of the school year and what they had accomplished in their studies, sports, other interests. Then I asked the kids to write down goals for the year. No one had to share, but all the kids wanted to. I asked a few questions. For example my son had a goal for basketball that included skills only. I asked him if in his vision of himself he had included how he handled winning, losing, and team mates with bad attitudes. We discussed different basketball players (all older, on the H.S. team) and their behavior, what my son admired, what he thought was poor sportsmanship, etc. The final version of his basketball goal made me tear up.

 

I'm glad you asked this question because I'd forgotten all about the above, even though I'd planned to do it yearly.

 

I love this.

[Embassy]

 

Here are my goals from the start of this past school year. We met some, surpassed some, changed some, and fell short in others. I think that is typical of goals though. At least they give you a idea of where you are going.

[Farrar]

My kids set short term goals for themselves when we check portfolios every two months. I didn't tell them to do it this way, but they often seem to have a vegetables and dessert attitude toward it. They usually choose something completely silly from an adult perspective (though obviously important to them!) like getting a better score on a video game. Then they usually pick something sort of meaty, like a goal with sports or something. Then they usually choose an academic goal, like to be able to read a certain book on their own or add two digit numbers. It's something we started doing midway through last year and I'm so glad we did. It's been fascinating to see the kinds of things they have as goals and usually they're things I really want to help them achieve.

 

I don't write down goals, but I do tend to think about short term progress things when they're setting their goals. The longer term goals are harder for me to envision, but when I think to myself, I really want to work with this kid on this attitude issue and this academic issue, I find it usually helps me focus and move them forward.

[fairytalemama]

For instance, toward the end of third grade when I first started homeschooling (not this past school year, but the year before), I asked my then 8 year old daughter what her goals were. She said:

 

Be the world's best kid at giving back massages

make jewelry for other people

Help people with their problems if I can

Be able to go places, like amusement parks, water parks, beaches, hotels and home

Learn how to be a tattoo artist

Learn how to play sports like soccer and basketball

Learn how to make all different foods, like cakes and cookies and cupcakes

Learn how to paint houses

Learn how to make lotion ("like for people who have face problems")

 

 

 

I loved this post. Thanks for reminding me to ask my children what their goals are.

 

I do set some long term, loose academic goals (I was formulating them in the car yesterday as we drove home for 11 hours from vacation).

 

My goals I hope to complete with my daughter by her 6th birthday next June:

- Finish OPGTR (we're on around lesson 80 now)

- Finish Rightstart Math Level A

 

Doesn't sound like much, but I want to keep everything else very fluid so that we can work at her pace on handwriting (she needs extra help) and follow some rabbit trails in other areas. I'm planning some geography/travel unit studies right now to make things fun. Daddy decided he's going to be in charge of Science Saturdays. Yay!

[ubermomto5]

my kids do personal goal setting several times a year but i consider it my responsibility to make goals for them from an adult & parental perspective. i use the 'physical, mental, spiritual, social' areas and list anything that i see needs to be focused on. i generally have a few things that are 'problems' and several strengths that i want to encourage them in. with 6 kids now, i need something concrete to look at that helps me remember where i am trying to go.

my goals might look like: help s strengthen her friendships with x and y. (by making more time for them to get together). foster musical talent (with some new piano books) help a learn to listen more carefully.

 

edit: i also meet with my kids once a month for a 'mom meeting' and i have a little notebook that they are excited to see. i ask them questions, talk about good things that have happened, how they'd like to change school or things they'd like to learn, problems that they are feeling, and how they've moved forward on their goals.

[angela in ohio]

We have long term goals, and we determine our yearly goals from those. They are in all areas, not just academic.

 

For example, one goal is to have them proficient at a sport they can enjoy for life as exercise (running, swimming, etc.) as well as some knowledge of the sports commonly played socially (tennis, softball/baseball, etc.) So each year, we have smaller goals toward that end.

[Momling]

I like nice achievable, quantifiable goals best of all... I work with my kids to identify goals like:

- write a letter in cursive so that somebody else can read it.

- memorize the times tables

- sew a dress for my doll

- learn to ride a bike

- make dinner for the family by myself

- swim across the pool

 

Goals like "be more organized" are hard to figure out whether you've actually met the goal, but goals like "make my bed every morning" are more clear.

[CathyT]

I love Nance's post. We too have our kids (ages 14 and 16) set goals for themselves since we view learning as a lifelong activity. The goals do change over time and that is ok too. My husband and I get together at least three times a year to review what we are doing with our kids and how we can better help them achieve their goals. We also assess where they are and if we can share new recourses or give them new experiences. Getting away from the house to do these things has been wonderful for all of us. We come away inspired and full of new dreams.

 

Last January I had my three older kids think about one word that might describe what their one goal would be for the upcoming year. Play, dream, and think (ponder) were the words. I bought some wood letters from A.C. Moore and painted them and hung them prominently in my kitchen, dancing along the walls. We get a lot of nice comments about them.