Parenting Success Skills: Inspire Kids to “Grow” w/ Family Goal-Setting

02 Jan Parenting Success Skills: Inspire Kids to “Grow” w/ Family Goal-Setting

Posted at 18:18h in Parenting by Dr. Christina Hibbert 2 Comments

No, it’s not usual for me to post three days in a row, but today I simply had to share our New Year’s tradition: family goal-setting.

I started doing New Year’s family goal-setting several years ago, hoping to teach my kids how to set goals they could achieve, and to inspire them to want to grow. Physically, kids definitely grow on their own–too quickly and too big. But emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and socially, they, just like us, have to work on it. And, just like us, they must be taught how.

I made a short video, below, that explains it all–part of my brand new “3-Minute Parenting” YouTube series (which goes along with my 3-Minute Therapy Series). I hope you’ll take three minutes to check it out, then read the bottom paragraphs. Your kids will thank you for it. (Someday.)

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A few More Tips on Family Goal-Setting

The point is we can do better than just hoping our kids figure out how to “grow” on their own. We can model personal growth for them and we can teach them the skills they need to succeed.

Obviously, you don’t have to do family goal-setting like we do. Whatever works for your family is great. Focus on teaching your children how to improve and you really can’t go wrong.

If you’re feeling a little uncertain about your own goal-setting skills, read this. It will help.

Here is the form we use for our family goal-setting, in case you’d like to adapt it for your family, too: “Plan for Change”

Keep in mind I started this when my kids were 1-12 years old. They are now 6-17 years old, and remember, I have six kids. So, this can be adapted to work for kids of all ages. For my little ones, I would help them fill out the form and then we would pick one thing they could work on, like “sharing my toys.” I would then praise them each time I caught them working on their goal, or we used a bead jar and they could put in a bead each time they handled their goal well. When the jar was full, we would select a reward. When they made a poor choice, I could teach them coping skills. For older kids, we do goals at the beginning of each school year and again in January. It’s a great way to check in and help them grow all year long.

At the end of the year, we do “Hibbert Family Awards” to celebrate how each of us has grown through the year. The kids love it and I love that we get to recognize their efforts. (Even if my teens roll their eyes, they still keep their awards in their nightstands!) This 30Second video explains it all.

We can be the inspiration for our kids. We can show them the way. And that, to me, is the definition of parenting success.

How do you help your kids “choose to grow?” Share your ideas by leaving a comment, below!

Be sure to check out my bestselling memoir,

This is How We Grow, available now on Amazon.com!