Summer Activity: Setting Goals

Related: learning disabilities, More Tagssummer, goal-setting, parenting, Children with LD, Fewer Tags

by Eileen Bailey
Tuesday, June 29, 2010

We all know how important goal setting is. Throughout the school year and well beyond, we must set goals and create our own strategy to reach those goals. This can be a difficult task for a child, especially for a child with learning disabilities. The following are some activities you can do over the summer to help your child develop goal setting skills.

Have each member of the family write down a goal for the week. The goal can be anything from reaching a certain level in a video game, to cleaning their room to finishing a chapter in a book. Place a bowl on the kitchen table and as each person completes their goal, he or she puts their slip in the bowl. Once everyone has completed their goals, celebrate by having ice cream sundaes or going out for a special treat.

Create a horserace for one goal. Use a toy horse (a car will work just as well) and create a path or road out of construction paper, with markings for each step of the goal. As your child reaches each step, the horse or car moves up one space. The finish line is when the goal has been reached. (Your child must write down their goals and the steps it will take to accomplish it.)

Take a picture of the goal. Sometimes, children have a difficult time visualizing their goals. They can visualize a toy or material object they want but can't visualize what "being good" means. When setting conceptual goals, talk about what this means. Does it mean not getting into trouble? Does it mean getting a good report from the camp counselor? Use the rewards of good behavior as the goal and find pictures or take pictures to represent them. Your child can use these pictures to keep motivation up. Once school starts back up, you can take pictures of a paper with an "A" marked on it to help the child remember what he is working toward.

Find alternate ways of reaching goals. Sometimes, we get stuck because we can't make it to a goal based on our original plan. We have to switch plans, go to "Plan B." Children with learning disabilities may have a difficult time finding an alternate way to do things. When creating goals, talk about at least one alternate way to accomplish the goal. For example, if your child's goal is to go to the playground with a friend, she may need to list a few friends, in case one is not available.

Plant a garden. A garden is a great example of a goal. At the end there are flowers or vegetables but along the way you must follow certain steps, such as watering and weeding. Use pictures of flowers as the goal and write down the steps for your child to follow.

Remember to share some of your goals with your child. He or she may not understand that everyone has goals and things they want to accomplish. Knowing you have goals you are working toward may help your child create their own goals.

As your child goes through these activities keep in mind that:

• Goals should be specific. "Being good" is not a goal, but "not running in the house" is. The more specific, the better chance your child has of reaching their goal.
• You should work on one goal at a time. Trying to accomplish too many things at once is overwhelming. Remind your child that once one goal is met he or she can create a new goal.
• Goals take steps. With each goal, you and your child should write out the steps needed to complete the goal.

As the summer progresses and you and your child practice setting daily or weekly goals, he or she should begin to understand the process and begin to create goals on their own. This can help immensely during the school year.