New Year’s Resolutions for Kids

I am not the type of person that makes lofty New Year’s resolutions. After a couple years of failing miserably to make big life changes, then feeling guilty, I gave up on them. Instead, I like to reflect on the year and pick one or two realistic goals that will mean something to me long term. Often, it is reading a title from my long list of “To Reads,” as the list only includes books I really want to finish. Or learning a new skill like crochet, knitting, making an excellent pie crust, speaking a few more sentences in a new language, etc.

This year, I want to set goals with my daughter. I have been watching her and I know she is getting to an age where she can be successful. She has already started setting some small goals (saving for a toy, memorizing a piece of music to play on the piano, etc.) and has shown the self discipline to achieve them on her own.  I would love to see her work on one or two things this year that would be meaningful to her.

Setting goals is something we talk about all the time.  Even when we don’t call them “goals,” we are still making lists of them. Finish the laundry today, get through math everyday this week, have dinner ready before ballet tonight, etc.  Our children are learning to do this for themselves, also.  Why not be intentional about teaching them to be successful in reaching their goals?

Breaking the process into steps makes it easier.

1.  Set a realistic goal that has value or meaning to you. Don’t try to become a new person this year, just improve on one habit or trait.  After you achieve your goal, you can always set another one.  Goals that are too ambitious can end up making you feel discouraged.

2.  All goals should be measurable. Write down the goal as well as what success looks like to you and why you want it.  For a child, this could be, “I will learn to ride my bike without training wheels.  I will be able to take bike rides with Dad and Mom.”  Remembering your motivation is important in achieving goals.  Having a clearly written measure of success lets you know when you have made it.

3.  Create a plan to achieve your goal. For me, this part gets tricky.  It is like the grand homeschool plan that gets thrown out week 4.  Instead of making this rigid, I make a flexible plan.  For completing a book, my plan would be: Buy it, read from it at least once a week, be halfway through by July, finish by Dec 31st.  Your plan is really just a list of mini-goals that help you achieve the greater goal.

4.  Use reminders. For my personal goals, I write notes in my planner to remind me to keep at it all year.  This would work for an older child as well.  You could also set up an accountability partner system where a child and their sibling, parent or friend ask each other about their goals.

5.  Set a time line. For New Year’s resolutions, this is usually by the end of the year.  However, you can set any date you want.

6.  Celebrate success. I think it is really important to celebrate the things we have worked hard to achieve.  This can be as simple a big family bike ride or as grand as a new bike.  Find what fits your family and budget.

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Melissa homeschools her two lovely little girls and blogs about it semi-regularly atHopeSprouts.

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