Ep. 80 Helping Kids Set Goals

0:03
Hello and welcome to dyslexia devoted the podcast dedicated to building awareness, understanding and strategies to help those with dyslexia. I'm your host, Lisa Parnello, dyslexia therapist and founder of Parnello education services. Join me as we dive into today's episode of dyslexia devoted.

0:23
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 80 of dyslexia devoted. This week's episode is all about goal setting and sticking to our goals. Because that is actually why I'm recording this episode today. It is currently Tuesday, in the summer when normally, I would record on the weekend. So like Friday, Saturday ish. But unfortunately, working with kids equals kid germs, and I lost that pedal. And I chose to sleep this weekend, and did not get this recorded on time. But I had set a goal for myself to record an episode of the podcast every single week of 2023. And I'm not about to lose out on my goal in the last three weeks of the year, I managed to make it through the last 80 weeks in a row, well, 7090 weeks in a row, and this one's going to be number 80. And I'm on a mission to reach my goal. Now when we work with kids, there is a really big reason we set goals for them to but unfortunately, a lot of times the goals we set for them, we talk about the kids, we do it in IEP meetings, but rarely do people actually tell the kid what their goal is. And that is what I wanted to talk to you about today is that when we set a goal for kids, we have to tell them what that goal is, we need the kids to know what they're working for. And when the deadline is to meet that goal. I've been working with a lot of kids who will be changing schools next year, just because of their age, going from middle school into high school. Or there's some kids who are going from private school where they were getting specialized instruction into a Gen Ed public school again. And this middle of the year is when I helped them set a goal for themselves of what are we going to do between now and the end of the school year, so that you are ready for your new school next year. And so I don't want them to think they're working for me because I want them to do something specific. And I'm just bossing them around. I want the kids to know that they have a goal for themselves, and that they can reach that goal. And so when they know what the goal is, then we can do check ins from now until the end of the year to say okay, here was our goal. Here's what we're working toward. Are we there yet? No, not quite. But that's okay. Are we still on track? Sure. Or are we running a little behind? Yes. So how can we focus a little harder? What else can we do so we can try to meet this goal, so that you are really ready for your new school next year, or you're ready for the next grade level or whatever it is they're getting ready for. When we are creating these goals, we need them to be very specific and very measurable. So for example, one of the girls her goal is going to be to learn all of her vowel teens by the end of this year, so that when she goes into public school, she knows all of her vowel teams and can read them really well. Another kiddo is going into high school. So we've been working really hard on essay writing and punctuation, and knowing how to use assistive technology, because that child's not going to be in a specialized school anymore, they're going to be in a general education school. So we need her to know how to use all of her assistive technology, because maybe some of her teachers don't know, when you're in a specialized school, all the teachers know how to work all the assistive tech all the time. But when you're in a public school, that doesn't necessarily happen or just a general education school. So as we are working with each of these kids, the parents and I have created some goals for the kids so that we can see them be successful. And we make sure we communicate that to the kids is not some obscure thing, we're just talking about them. And we want the kids to have buy in because they want to feel successful. And in order to feel successful, they have to have a goal and reach it and then be really proud of themselves. So I would like for you to help the kiddo in your life reach their goals. In order to do that, you need to write some really smart goals. And smart is actually an acronym for specific and measurable and attainable and realistic and timely. I believe those are all the right acronyms. True story, I'm still getting over that cold. So if there's a little bit of fuzziness in my brain, and I gave you one of those letters wrong, I apologize. But I do have a special resource for you. So if you would like to help a kiddo make a SMART goal for themselves, or you can use this chart for yourself as well. Just go to Parnello education.com, forward slash episode 80 As in the number at eight zero, or I will link it where you're listening in your show notes. And I would like you to help a child in your life create a goal for themselves that they can attain by the end of the school year. What is something that they can work toward and be really proud of when they achieve it? We want students to have these goals because sometimes you really just don't have the motivation and you like me this week. The podcast never got done over the weekend. It's usually published by Monday at the latest and it's Tuesday, and I really thought about it for Going out there and going, You know what, forget it. I just don't need to do an episode this week. But I reminded myself, what is my own personal goal, my goal was trying to do an episode every week, all year long, and you're so close to meeting that goal. Just do it. When we have goals for ourselves, they really push us. And they give us that intrinsic motivation to go just a little bit further when we don't really want to. Because Is there anyone going to be mad at me if I skipped an episode this week? No. Okay, well, maybe a couple of you would be disappointed. But I think you'd love me anyway. I though, but I personally created a goal for myself that I have done really well with all year long, even when I had COVID, I managed to do an episode anyway. And so I wanted to make sure that I reached my own goal, because I've actually been doing really good at my goals. This year, I had some big goals for myself, which was to take real vacations. And I've done that, because I have a tendency to work if I don't go somewhere. So if I have days off, but I'm not really doing anything, and someone asked me to work with their kid, I'm a sucker and will probably say yes, if I'm not doing something. But if I am gone on a vacation in a foreign country or something, then I won't actually work. And I have a tendency to make way too much work for myself. And so one of my goals was to take real genuine breaks. And I've done that. My other goal was to keep up with a podcast every week. And I did that. And then I had goals for myself with this being the first full calendar year as a solo business owner where this isn't like my side job. And I totally met that goal, too. And so I was really proud of myself that the really big goals I made for myself, I was on track to me. And so this week's episode when I really did not have the motivation to do it, because I really didn't feel good. I reminded myself of what is my goal? And how close am I to reaching it, and it gave me that extra push to go a little farther, we can do the same thing for kids. We can teach them how to make a goal, how to work toward it, how to keep track of how they're doing toward their goal. And how can they push this a little bit further, even if they're not totally motivated to do it. And sometimes kids need to have a little carrot at the end, maybe something that they get as a reward for working really hard towards this goal besides the feeling of accomplishment. And other times kids just feel really good knowing they did something really well. Just the other day, I had one of my kiddos who really struggles at absolutely everything go, I'm smart, I'm smart, I'm so smart. And it just made me so happy to see him feel really smart. Because nothing is easy for this kid. And to have him get really excited and feel really smart because he reached a goal that he had for himself. There was no prize involved. He just got to know that he did everything right. And that was enough. And we really want kids to work toward that. Some kids need a little bit of extra motivation beyond that. So you decide what works best for the kiddo in your life. So go ahead and go make a goal for kiddo. Work with them to help them be part of the goal writing, it's not necessarily all about you. So let the kid give a little bit of say of what they think is an attainable goal. And go ahead and grab the template at Parnello education.com forward slash episode 80 Alright, that's it for today. We're doing a little bit of a short episode because like I said, I've not been feeling the greatest but I was on a mission to meet my goal, and I did it. So go ahead and help a kiddo. Make a goal and succeed. See you next time.

8:18
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. If you want to learn even more about dyslexia, check out Parnello education.com forward slash courses. See you next time.