Learn to ride a bike, maintain a Duolingo Spanish streak, or take an online class in search of a certificate.” Master a cartwheel, cook a beloved family recipe, or take a course to boost your ACT score. Summer is a hot time for kids to find a goal to pursue a new hobby, hone a skill or get ahead for school without the daily pressures of grades and homework. Try these tips to help your child or teen climb the ladder to joyful summer achievement.
In “What are good summer goals for kids?” of the Research Institute for Learning and Development, Vinnie Wengert encourages kids to practice goal setting on projects they are already passionate about. Or consider multistep activities related to outdoor adventures, sports, arts and crafts, coding or cooking related to various aspects of life from hobbies and academics to social life and family time.
“These approaches not only offer opportunities to build executive function skills such as planning, organizing, problem-solving and self-regulation - all essential for achieving goals - but also can provide valuable direction and help them feel anchored during the unstructured time,” writes Wengert. He recommends the CANDO model: clear and specific; appropriate and realistic; numerical and measurable; broken into doable steps; made considering potential obstacles and their solutions. “Using a framework like CANDO helps students craft personalized goals with a built-in framework for reaching success.”
Climb Higher: In the Big Life Journal article “4 steps for helping your child set effective goals” Ashley Cullins advises to ask children what they would be proud to accomplish and why, which gives them a sense of purpose to achieve it. It recommends breaking goals into smaller steps that are incrementally more challenging with a “goal ladder” leading to the big goal at the top. For learning to ride a bike, the first step would be to watch a parent, followed by riding with training wheels; next ride with a parent helping with balance and finally ride independently. Then “visualize achieving a goal, recognize obstacles and plan a method for overcoming them,” it states. “Recognize and celebrate small steps towards achieving your child’s goal, including climbing the steps on their ‘goal ladder.’ Celebrate your child’s effort, determination and persistence.”
Family Fun-time: The PBS article “Learning how to set goals with Donkey Hodie” affirms that goal setting also helps kids build self-esteem and perseverance. Talk with younger children about how they have to try hard, plan and practice to reach a goal, whether to balance on one foot, share toys with siblings or follow the steps of a recipe. It suggests for kids to draw or write down each of the steps of a goal on a paper strip. After each step is completed tape it into a loop and connect the loops to make a paper chain. When the child needs encouragement, “share this hee-hawesome reminder from Donkey Hodie: ‘Take a deep breath, stay focused, think smart. When a problem’s really hard, be strong, take heart.’”
Ready, Set, Math Prep: In the Washington Post’s “How to turn ‘summer slide’ into learning opportunities for children,” Richard Sima discusses the value of homespun goals for math, reading and other academics. Pick all the cool books from the summer reading list and make sure kids can access the library. “Parents can serve as good role models by reading as well to show that reading is a part of life,” says Kathleen Lynch, assistant professor of learning sciences at University of Connecticut Neag School of Education.
And tackle that extra math practice goal with fun, organic exercises from measuring ingredients while cooking to keeping score in sports and board games to calculating costs in shopping expeditions. “The relative freedom of summer break means that children also have the opportunity to dive deeper into topics that they are interested in but did not get the time for during the school year. ‘Build learning opportunities in kids’ daily lives that are enjoyable,’” says Lynch.