ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER - February 1st, 2021
Dearest PCS Families,
New year means new goals, right?? How many of you set goals for yourself as the calendar rolls into a new year? Setting goals is important for our students and children too! Setting goals and working towards them teaches children perseverance. Perseverance is a very important skill in a child’s life and one that they will use throughout their lives!
The idea with goal setting for kids is to get them started in the life-long frame of mind of thinking, planning and taking action in order to achieve results. Achievable and effective goals for your children are ones that are realistic, force them to grow as they strive to achieve desired results, ones they want to achieve, ones they believe they can achieve; and are within their skills and abilities to achieve.
I encourage you to discuss goal setting with your children at home and give it a go! Follow these steps for goal setting success with your children.
1. Identify a goal. Discuss with your kids their dreams and aspirations and write them down. Reread the list and help each child select one or two wishes. The goal must be within your child’s ability and be realistic. If it’s not, you might want to help your child choose another goal. Then help him frame it using the goal formula, stating what he will do and by when – say, “I will get at least 9 out of 10 spelling words right on my spelling test this week.”
2. Establish a time frame that is realistic for your child. For young children, goals should be kept simple and easy to achieve. Once they understand goal setting and have experienced the positive results of reaching their goals, they will be eager to set more difficult goals. Some children need to set even shorter-term goals to the end of the hour or a day, such as finishing a simple school project, reading a page a night, cleaning a closet, raking leaves, picking up toys or making a bed without reminders.
3. Think through the steps to success. The next step is to help your child think through how he will succeed. It helps if kids write down or draw their course of action. Help your child write or draw on sticky notes the tasks he must do to achieve his goal. After he’s finished, help him put those tasks in the order of when he will do them. Staple the notes together. Then have him tear off a note as each task is completed until none remain. Then have your child identify all the people or things required for goal attainment.
4. Track goal progress and celebrate success. Hang your children’s goals on a wall to remind them of their intentions. Pointing out their efforts will motivate them to keep trying: “Look how much closer you’re getting to your goal!” And if the goal is too hard, too easy or a step or resource was overlooked, just revise the plan so attainment is possible.
5. Talk about your goals. The task of setting goals affords a good opportunity to share thoughts and feelings with your children. Tell them about goals you had when you were younger and about your goals now. Describe how you overcame obstacles, how you felt as you achieved goals and/or how your goals changed. Also talk with your children about the time when you did not reach certain goals. (from childwatch.com)
I hope you get to take the time to explore our new PCS website! Many of the reminders or school procedure/policy items that you once found on my newsletter will now be found within the “PCS Families” button or the “Latest News” button, so be sure to peruse those sections on a frequent basis as well.
Wishing everyone a great weekend!
Warmly,
Dana