Setting Goals- Marilyn Groop
- on 11.12.10
- Education, Life Skills
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Do you have written goals for each child and for your homeschool? If you do, congratulations. Few people have written goals. If you don’t, here is a way to write some. Of course, just as there is no one right way to homeschool, there is not one right way to write your goals.
Here are some goal setting guidelines. Adapt them to your purposes:
1) Think about what you want for your child by the time he or she graduates from high school. You may want her to go to college.
You may even want or need him to get a scholarship to help pay for said college.
You may not think college is in your child’s future, but you probably do want her to be able to support herself and move out on her own. That would mean that your child would have a marketable skill.
You probably want your child to be able to support a family, prepare a meal, have friends, be serving in church, balance a checkbook, and bring your grandchildren back to see you!
2) These are all long-term goals and can be written as such.
3) Once you have your long-term goals written, think about what steps you need to take this school year to bring you closer to these goals. These will be your short-term goals.
-If my child is in third grade and my long-term goal is being able to balance a checkbook, I might need him to be able to add and subtract multi-digit numbers accurately. This would bring him a step closer to my goal.
-If I want her to be able to study her Bible, perhaps working on reading comprehension would be a good start.
4) Once you have your long-term and short-term goals, think about the “how” of accomplishing them. What is my plan for this year that will bring my child closer to this goal?
-Do I need to complete a math workbook?
-Do I need to study another culture?
-Do I need to teach her about proper nutrition and exercise?
5) When you set your goals, don’t focus entirely on academics.
-You can include physical, social, and spiritual goals.
-You can include obedience, teamwork, and diligence. (These will all be important to raising a child who is ready to enter the real world someday.)
When my boys were little, I included a goal of being able to “handle a variety of social settings”. For years, it seemed that the short-term goal was accomplished if they burped and said “excuse me” instead of “that was a good one”. As they grew and matured it included things like being able to handle a job interview, knowing how to dress appropriately for an occasion and proper etiquette on a date or on the dance floor at a wedding.
Each child and family is unique. We can glean from each other, but it is detrimental to compare ourselves to others. Once you have your written goals, you can use them to help you decide which curriculum or activities fit for you. And, you will be surprised to see how much you accomplish each year!
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