Do You Share Your Goals for the Year with Your Kids?

[knitgrl]

The subject line kind of says it all. I'm sitting down writing what I want each kid to be able to do or achieve by the end of the first quarter, and then reassess when we get there. Are the goals just for yourself? Do you share with your kids as a principle? Does it depend on whether you think that will motivate your child or not? Just curious.

[HomeAgain]

I did.  I know not all schoolwork is pleasant, so I wanted my kids to understand why I was having them do something and what the point was.  I didn't have end dates, but I did have a running list of "stair steps" that my kids needed to meet before going on to the next part.  We used to hold conferences and discuss how to change things up, so by being upfront with why I wanted them to do something they could counter with a different activity that met the same objective.

[luuknam]

I guess pretty much the same as HomeAgain. Probably a bit more end-date-y with my then-8th grader this past year, though still not super-firm. Definitely with end-dates for my high schooler, but since this is the K-8 forum I assume you meant for younger kids. 

I also did talk to both of them about curriculum sequences (mostly wrt math) while in middle school so they knew what to expect, and to give them an idea of how much leeway is reasonable on the no-firm-end-date-y-ness. And on foreign language that my philosophy is to hit them hard with them at first and then let off more later, since being stuck in beginner-land for a long time sucks. So, this past year my then-8th grader did 2 high school French books, but we talked about if that was too easy we could do a 3rd, or if it was too much it'd be okay to only do 1.5 books. Play-it-by-ear kind of thing, but with reasoning for them to understand. 

When they were in elementary school, we occasionally talked about future goals of education (the expectation to go to college or learn some skilled trade or something), and more general stuff about why they're learning, say, multiplication and a very rough sketch of how long I think it might take, but nothing firm and with plenty of "learning speed is unpredictable - sometimes you get stuck for a long time, and other times you suddenly fly through a lot in a short time, and all that is super normal, so don't worry if you're stuck for a while, it happens."

Edited July 22 by luuknam

[Clarita]

Yes I do. For pretty much the same reason as @HomeAgain. They weren't always clear quantitative goals as much as they were I'd like us to be better or improve on this. I always phrase it as an us goal rather than just a them goal (like a group effort to bring them to a certain place). 

This is also the time we discuss curricula/method. See what worked last year and if we want to continue on the same trajectory this year. I give my input and the kids give theirs. 

My son 100% needs this because he would be awful to work with if he wasn't included but practically teaches himself because we have these conversations. My daughter would probably be about the same whether I include her in the discussion or not.

[knitgrl]

For years now, I've done an end of the year survey with them to see what they did or did not like, what things they wanted to learn next year, what they were looking forward to, or worried about, and I have tried to honor their input as much as possible. But setting shorter term, more specific goals aside from we need to finish this curriculum by the end of the year is new for me. The past two years have been complicated by major life changes, and I'm trying to get my homeschool mojo working again. I wish I had had the energy to start doing this months ago, but I guess better late than never.

[Elizabeth86]

I mean kind of. We just kind of have the conversation through the year. They usually just tell me without asking what they like and don’t like. 

[AnneGG]

I don’t share my goals for academic performance with the children. My children aren’t going to automatically work harder to memorize their math facts just because I tell them I want them to memorize their math facts this year. In fact, some of my children would probably work towards the opposite of my goals just to rile me up. I have some ornery ones. 

I do sometimes say things like we need to be done by 11:30 today because we have an appointment or I want to finish this chapter by the end of the week. 

I ask for feedback on a pretty regular basis. What was one thing you enjoyed today? What is one thing you wish we didn’t do today? Give me a reason we should skip the review lesson. Tell me the story of how your history book ended up in the garage deep freezer. 🥴

 

 

[knitgrl]

1 hour ago, AnneGG said:

Tell me the story of how your history book ended up in the garage deep freezer. 🥴

 

 

That totally counts for narration, lol!

[Ellie]

Nope. I don't see the point.

[Tanager]

I never thought about not sharing them. I ask them what their goals are and we plan for that, then I add in what goals I have for them that haven’t already been covered and explain why I want them to do such and such. Then we work together to find the most attractive way for them to reach those goals. But I guess with having an oldest kid a bit ADD (works much better interest led) it makes learning easier when everyone is on board. I also find resources and curriculums and then let them pick which ones (after we look at them together). Though my kids are pretty agreeable and if they’re not they usually have a good reason.