One of the most important aspects of life that you can teach
your children is planning. Setting goals, working towards milestones, and
rejoicing when things are accomplished is a great thing. Many parents struggle
with the chaos of so much going on, but there are things that can be done to
ensure that children can learn this valuable part of life. The following guide
can help with setting up a simple plan towards goal setting in a monthly arena.
Choose A Calendar
The first thing that you should do with your children is
simple, get a calendar. Focus on a wall calendar that they like, and let them
pick it out. This is going to be the foundation of planning, as it will allow them to write in the dates, and
schedule things that should get worked on. This allows them to have a little
more control over their projects and planning overall, so let them choose just
about anything here.
Write Small
Milestones
After you have the calendar up on the wall, write in some
small milestones that lead to a larger project. For instance, let’s say that
you wanted to have a month-long project of cleaning up the house. On each week
write down 1 task per day, and that’s it. By the last day of the month, 30 or
31 projects will be done, making the larger goal completely done. The same can
be done to break up month long chores, school work and more. When a small
element is done, put a red line through it to make sure that it’s done, and the
visual is in place.
Fill Up The Calendar
The options mentioned above can’t work unless you follow up
on the process. Setting weekly milestones with 7 steps forward is a good way to
start. But over time, you’ll want to fill up the calendar with more and more
tasks. By doing this, and crossing out the things that are done, you’ll show
children how to set up a goal, follow through on steps to complete it, and
finally cross it off a list. This is the most basic way to teach planning, and
follow through.
If you’re not an organized person, or you have trouble
setting goals and accomplishing various tasks, don’t worry. You can join your
child in setting up a calendar, and crossing things out as you accomplish them.
You can even rejoice together when you both have done everything on the list!
