Back to School Goals for Kids

Create back to school goals for kids. Make this school year run smoother than the last one!

What was it that drove you CRAZY the last school year?

How could you make life easier? Why not start the new year off right and create some simple goals each month?

I love the idea of monthly goals – especially at the beginning of the school year! I know that there are ways to make family life easier in a variety of ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you start your back to school goals for kids? Pick the first Saturday of the month, Tuesday of the month, etc. Pick a day/time that works for you!

There are tons of back to school goals for kids. For some other types of goals for your child, check out this post from Care.com.

 

Your First Meeting

It’s important that you speak calmly and listen to your child’s suggestions.

For example, “Last year what were the problems that we encountered in the morning?” Then you would listen to your child’s comments (and add a couple of your own-calmly) and then ask, “How can we work on that (or how can we make that work better) this school year?” After that, listen again and add your two cents.

 

Then come up with solutions TOGETHER.  You will usually find that your child will come up with solutions that you never thought of and they’ll come up with ones not so good also.

Pick one solution and try it! Then if you haven’t lost the attention of your child, work on more!

Talk with your child about meeting monthly and discussing goals for both you and your child! That will get them to show interest if you add their suggestions!

SOME EXAMPLES of COMMON PROBLEMS & MY SUGGESTIONS
(of course, as a family, you’ll come up with your own)

POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SCHOOL DAY STARTS PROBLEMS

• Your child getting up too late or not getting out of bed
• Your child taking too long to get ready
• Not being organized about completing homework after school
• Your child won’t stop using their Technology (find the app that locks them into one website)

POSSIBLE BEFORE THE SCHOOL DAY STARTS SOLUTIONS

FOR A PROBLEM WITH FORGETTING ITEMS THAT NEED TO GET TO SCHOOL

The night before school,  put everything in your child’s backpack and put it by the door.

• ALL Homework
• Books for tomorrow
• Notebooks for tomorrow
• Folders for tomorrow
• Independent Reading Book
• Pencils/pens
• Anything that needs to be signed
• Lunch money
• Instrument
• Backpack at the door or a specific spot in your home

FOR A PROBLEM GETTING READY IN A REASONABLE TIME

• Have a competition – to see who can get ready first
• Use a timer to see how long it takes to get ready
• Beat the time from the day before

POSSIBLE AFTER SCHOOL PROBLEMS

• Losing newsletters/information/forms that you need to read
• Forgetting to do homework
• Ignores your request to complete their homework
• Forgetting homework at school

POSSIBLE AFTER SCHOOL SOLUTIONS

FOR A PROBLEM COMPLETING HOMEWORK

• Find a spot where there are no distractions. Some children prefer complete silence, and others prefer music. Whatever works!
• Have a bucket or bin of needed items – highlighter, scissors, pens, stapler, paper clips, ruler, and pencils, etc. all together so there is no wandering around looking for those items.
• You may need a timer if you decide on that. Put the timer on when your child starts so that they know there will be a break coming soon.
• Take notices, newsletters out of their backpack
• Take out any forms that need to be signed
• Ask any questions of parents
• Take out the folders that have homework in them
• Completed homework goes to the Homework Folder or the correct individual topic folder

BRAIN BREAKS

Brain Breaks are a hit at school these days, but they can also be used at home for breaks during homework. There are tons of free Brain Break videos on Youtube and all over the web. If you type in “brain break” you will find a lot. This is just one example of a Brain Break video.

MINDFULNESS and YOGA

Yoga and Mindfulness (paying attention-with-intention) is calming, helps with focus, attention, etc. Also, I have seen music and art therapy help children.

Incentive ideas motivate children! Contracts and checklists are great ideas to motivate your child!

CONTRACTS FOR SCHOOL AND HOME

• A contract is a good idea for any child. You can create a list of things that need to get done and a list of things your child wants in return. It’s a good idea to create your list together.
• You could use a point system for the contract below, your child could receive 0 points for not completing the task, 1 for a little bit of an attempt, or 2 for completing the task.
• If your child gets a certain amount by the end of the week you could use rewards such as stickers, ice cream, a favorite meal, their pick of a restaurant, later bedtime, a special movie, more iPad time, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please email me at mrs.dehm@gmail.com if you’d like this Google Document and then you can edit it – add, take off items, etc.

A HOMEWORK CHECKLIST YOU CAN USE FOR ANY TOPIC

You can add other topics to it or make a checklist for a separate reason, for example, before school, after school, before bed, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And please follow me on my Pinterest boards-Best of Getting Kids to Read! (along with my other informational boards for parents)

Pinterest Boards With More Ideas

Or my profile with all of my boards on helping kids with reading, reluctant readers, struggling readers, ADHD, mom tips on behavior, mom care-taking care of mom, family health, diet, recipes for kids and adults, getting ready for kindergarten, etc.

Use these back to school goals for kids to have a stressfree school year. How else can I help with back to school goals? Please leave a comment or question below or email me at mrs.dehm@gmail.com. I’d love to help!