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HOO’s PARENTING
Child
Setting goals each year is not just for adults. Goal setting
is a life skill that kids can learn and use to bring their dreams
and aspirations closer to reality. Here are some tips that can be
used to help even young kids set goals.
• Introduce goal setting by asking your child to come up
with one or two simple but specific things he would like
to complete in the short term, like finishing up an extra
credit school project. These short-term goals provide a way
to practice goal setting and prepare him to work towards
more complex, long term goals. The goals should be specific
enough that you can assign criteria for completion and set a
completion date. Once he feels the great sense of satisfaction
that comes with successfully completing this short-term goal,
he will be all fired up and ready to take on a more complex one.
• Let your child decide on what his long-term goals will be.
You can ask him questions about what he wishes he could
accomplish and inquire about the purpose of his
goal to ensure it is not too vague, but do not select the goals
for him. Your role is to teach him the process of selecting goals,
prioritizing goals, and working to achieve them.
• Once your child has selected a goal, help him analyze it and
break it down into smaller steps. Help your child assign dates
for completing these smaller pieces and on those dates, help
him review his progress. If your child does not complete the
step by the date he assigned to it, review the steps he had
laid out to reach his goal to ensure the steps were clearly
defined and the dates were not too ambitious. However, do
not criticize him for not meeting the goal.
• As your child progresses through the steps to reach his goal,
praise him when you see him putting a lot of effort towards
reaching it and especially praise him for using his problemsolving
skills to overcome obstacles. The journey towards
the goal is just as important as the goal itself.
HElp Your
SET goalCshild
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