GET READY, SET, AND GOAL!

The back to school count down is almost over and it is time to start preparing your children’s minds towards resuming a new school year. The purpose of this is to minimize every form of stress in the new school year.

Learning good study skills can help your child get organized and make the most of their time in order to achieve the best result. Now is the best time to discuss and explain to your child(ren) the essence of going for the ‘Goal’.

• Goals are things you want to accomplish. 
• Goals can be long term like what they want to be in future, medium term like getting excellent grades this year, or short term like finishing classwork or homework on time, sitting calmly through a lesson or studying for an upcoming test.

Teaching your children to set goals towards the new school year will give them a sense of purpose. After discussing and breaking down their goals with them. Make them write it down by themselves (if they are old enough to) then stick it nicely on the wall (they may like to decorate it so it is interesting to look at and they will want to achieve these goals).

All goals set must be realistic. It is great to aim high, but be sure that the set goals are the ones your children are actually able to achieve with some effort and hard work. When goals are unrealistic, both you and your child get stressed trying to achieve the set goals.

Goals can only be achieved when priorities are properly set. Part of planning to reach set goals is being able to decide what to focus on first. They need to learn how to arrange all they need to do in a day for instance in the order of importance. For example, which is more important: completing my class task first or rushing off for break when the break bell goes?

Getting children to be self-organized, setting goals and working towards achieving such goals while prioritizing means less stress, better grades and social skills in the new school year. 

So it is time to ‘Get ready!’