Setting Academic Resolutions: Think SMART
When helping your child set academic resolutions, keep the idea of SMART goals in mind. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Some goals that meet these criteria could be:
- Score above 90% on my next math test.
- Complete all of my homework on time.
If your child struggles with setting goals, you can ask strategic questions to help them along. Questioning helps focus your child but allows them to maintain control over their own learning. Mindset Works, an organization that works to help children develop a growth mindset, suggests using questions like this:
- What will you need to do to reach this goal?
- Do you think this goal will challenge you to become a better student?
- Which skills are hardest for you right now? What can you do to improve in these areas?
Keeping Academic Resolutions: Make a Plan
The key to keeping any resolution is to have an action plan at the ready. Here are 5 of our favorite strategies for academic success.
- Set a structure. Without a consistent time and place to study, it’s easy for academic goals to get away from students. Work with your child to decide on the best time of day and location to work towards their goals. This could be as simple as practicing math flash cards for 5 minutes a day in the corner of the living room. Whatever you decide, write it down and refer back to it often!
- Have a study buddy. Working with peers can often help motivate reluctant students. Help your child find a friend or family member to check in with, and set a consistent time each week or month for pairs to meet and discuss their progress.
- Present goals to parents and teachers. Similar to study buddies, many students do better when they know they need to share their goals with adults. Have a time each day or week for your child to present their goals to you. Talk through their victories and challenges with them and help them make a game plan for the next day.
- Celebrate incremental progress. Celebration is key in achieving any goal. Was your child hoping to score 90% on all of their math tests but most recently scored 80%? If this is a higher score than before, celebrate! Any progress is worth a little celebration, even if it doesn’t meet the overarching goal.
- Create a progress tracker. Similar to the way adults like to see their weight loss progress on a daily basis, it’s helpful for your child to see the consistent progress they’re making towards their academic goals. Come up with a kid-friendly chart that they can use to track their progress. For younger students, it could even be a sticker chart; for example, they can add a sticker each day they complete their homework on time.
Reflecting on Academic Resolutions: Emphasize Continuous Reflection
Goals are nothing without continuous reflection. Find a regular interval that makes sense for a check-in on your child’s goals (monthly is a good place to start). Mindset Works recommends using the following questions to structure your discussion:
- What is my current level of performance? (How is it going?)
- What is my evidence? (How do I know?)
- What can be done to improve, or how can I sustain my success?
- When, specifically, will I take action?
The key here is to emphasize progress over performance and help your child keep learning in 2021. This will help them stay motivated for the long haul.
Interested in learning more about how you can help your child make academic resolutions? Stay tuned for more details about our live webinars this month! We’ll focus on goal setting in January, and in February we’ll give you some ideas for what to do if your child is falling short of their goal.
