January 2009

January is a great time to talk about goals since many of the kids see their parents and teachers making New Years resolutions. Setting and reaching goals is an important part of our daily lives, and we do it all the time without thinking much about it. Some goals need more planning and effort for us to be successful, so we need to be able to set and reach our goals. If we do we will find more joy in ourselves and in our lives.
To set a successful goal we need to know four things:
1. what it is we want
2. what do we need to do to reach the goal
3. who can help us to reach our goal
4. what might make it difficult for me
After we have thought about these things, we can make a plan and find success as we overcome obstacles and achieve our potential.
To help your children learn about goals, set goals for yourself and talk about how you feel when you accomplish them. Set goals as a family and work together to be successful. Finally, help your children set and achieve their own goals.

December 2008 newsletter

We have finished up this year by talking about the choices we make. Our choices can make us healthy or unhealthy, happy or unhappy, get us in trouble or keep us out of trouble… and we make choices all the time. We choose what we wear eat, who we hang out with, what we do and how we react in any situation. It is important that we know how to make healthy choices. I tell the kids, when they make a choice they need to know what they are choosing and what the possible consequences are for the choice. Once they know this, they can make the choice that works best for them. To teach your children that life is about choices you can demonstrate the process by thinking out loud to yourself. For example: “hmm… I really want this but if I buy it I won’t be able to buy milk. I will leave it and get milk instead.” You can help your children start thinking about their choices and consequences by asking them “what do you think will happen if you do?” The decisions our children face at this age are small and the consequences are less severe than those related to the choices they will make in the future. By teaching our children now to make good choices we help them to shape their lives for the better in the future.