Goal Setting with your Child for the Next Academic Year

The school year is just around the corner, which means new opportunities and challenges for your child as he progresses to the next academic level. As your child looks ahead to the new year, now is an excellent time to set clear and attainable goals to ensure good academic performance, besides having a home tuition teacher in Singapore.

It sounds intuitive, but goal setting is more beneficial than helping your child stay on track. Goal setting can lead to increased motivation and improved performance. It empowers your child to take charge of their learning and develop a sense of autonomy over what they want to achieve. More importantly, goal setting instills values such as long-term planning, commitment, and effort to achieve them.

Benefits of goal setting

There is a multitude of benefits when students set their own academic goals. These include:

• Greater sense of well-being
• Motivates the student despite setbacks
• Helps students explore different strategies for success
• Gives direction and focus
• Increases GPA by 30% after participating in a goal-setting programme

Sitting down with your child to set goals for the upcoming academic year can make a real difference in their success inside and outside the classroom. Before diving into goal setting with your child, learning the different types of goals is essential.

What are the different kinds of goals?

Outcome goals

We typically think of outcome goals when we hear “goals.” These goals are results-focused and specific. Goal achievement is attained through competition with others, such as being the top student in mathematics or winning a writing competition. Since students are not in control of the performance of others, they have less control over the attainment of outcome goals.

Performance goals

Performance goals are specific measures of a student’s performance, such as improving their science score by 10% or achieving AL1 for the English Language. In this type of goal setting, students use their abilities as a starting point instead of competing against others. Such goals give students greater control over their success than outcome goals.

Process goals

Instead of an outcome, process goals are task and behavioral-focused, which relies solely on individual action, for example, spending 30 minutes every day learning new English vocabulary words or completing three Chinese practice papers weekly. Process goals are concrete steps to achieve our outcome goals. Students have complete control over the process goals they set for themselves.

Strategies for setting goals

Follow these strategies to help your children set academic goals at the right level of challenge.

Use the SMART goal strategy

You’ve probably heard of the SMART goal strategy, but if you haven’t, SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This framework is practical because it ensures that the goals meet all criteria for evaluating their success.

Help your child define their goals in each of these categories, and you’ll be well on your way to goal-setting success. The goal should be clear and concise. For example, rather than, “I want to do better in school,” your child could say, “I want to improve my math marks by 10%.”

Next, there should be a way to measure progress toward the goal for the whole academic year. For instance, track your child’s maths practice work at the beginning, mid and end of the year.

Let your child decide the subjects they want to focus on and the areas they want to improve.

Brainstorm with your child

Brainstorm the steps and actions required to accomplish the goals from January to December. Break down the goals into smaller, more manageable steps for your child to keep progressing even when things get tough. This will help your child stay on track and keep moving forward with their goals, increasing their accountability and commitment to accomplishing those goals.

Help your child to organise the goals visually

After the goals are set, get your child to write and organize them visually using a graphic organiser; this will help them remember their goals and stay motivated to achieve them. Remember to display the plans where your child will see them often, for example, on the fridge or in their bedroom.

Goal setting is a great way to help your child focus on what they want to achieve and develop a plan for how to get there. By using the SMART goal strategy, brainstorming with your child, and helping them to write and organise their goals visually, you can set your child up for excellence.

Remember to be supportive and encouraging throughout the process; your child will be well on their way to achieving their goals.

Conclusion

If your child is facing learning difficulties and you struggle to discuss academic goals with him, consider engaging a private tuition agency in Singapore for specialised help.

Besides helping your child with schoolwork, an experienced home tuition teacher in Singapore can act as a coach or mentor to motivate and help your child. Contact a Singapore home tuition agency if you are wondering where to engage a reliable and committed home tutor.