what age can you start teaching your children goals?

Question

i was never taught to have goals to aspire to and so when i learned to have them in middle school my life improved a lot

im still pregnant but i was just wandering at what age can you start giving them goals and teach them the concept of goals

thanx (also ideas on how to do this)

Answer 1

Ild say as soon as they are old enough to do things, walk and understand. start off with little things like ok lets pick up our toys so we can go play at the park.

Answer 2

Personally we will not be giving our son an allowance. He gets our pocket change each day and puts it in his bank and then we'll take that to the bank every few months. We don’t give an "allowance" because he needs to learn that you don’t always get a reward for doing the right thing. He feeds the dogs and cats, cleans up after himself, and puts away the silverware (minus the knives) and the Tupperware. We explained to him that mom does not get money for cooking or cleaning or taking him to school, nor does dad get money for mowing the lawn, or taking out the trash. We do these things as a family because it is the right thing to do. Money is totally separate. We do teach him about money though, he has a very good grasp (for a 5 year old) as to what the value of a dollar is. When he wants something new he'll ask, how much money is that, and he's passed on many things because HE decided that it was way too much money.

Answer 3

As soon as possible even a baby can reach out that bit further to reach his toy !

I've learnt goals from my children and I'm a Grandma now and my littlies are being taught goals by me on the sly, as I was never taught any - just taught myself to grab at opportunities. I believe, and teach, "Nobody has problems-just an opportunity waiting to be solved or taken". Offer rewards, yours or theirs, for achieving little milestones in life to start with when 3-4 years. Try the library for ideas.

Good luck with the birth, and enjoy the bub not worry about the undone stuff.....teach it, or them :-) asap.

Answer 4

Right off the top of my head i believe it begins at birth. Your first goal being a healthy child.. around 2 months you have a goal for your child to sleep through the night and around 4 months you teach them the goal of patty cake....So goals are through out your child life. Just more prevalient in some families who nuture these thoughts and ideals. Goals are great teach through out life. Not just big goals but the littles ones. You teach your child through the first five years that some times mommy and daddy go away but we come back and so on the first day of kindergarten your child walks in with confidents that you'll be back. ENJOY parenthood!

Answer 5

I think this is life long learning. We as parents should be modeling for our children what is acceptable and modeling values.

Of course goals are something that could be set for a young child i.e. If they need to put their toys away, you can make it into a game. You can buy a timer and see who can get them put away the fastest. That is small goal setting.
As they get older, their goals will change to something perhaps like getting their homework completed every night etc....

So, see?! Goals are a part of our every day, lifelong living. It is just up to us as good parents to model and emphasize their importance in the lives of our children.

Hope this helps. Good luck to you and your pregnancy.

Answer 6

As early as they can understand you, or even before then. Most parents will encourage their child to crawl, and hold out their hands to give the child a physical goal to attain.

One very common time it happens is potty training, and using a star chart when they manage to pee in the potty or stay dry for a certain length of time.

Answer 7

Congratulations!

It can start as early as you want it to. Here's an example of a short term goal my son has almost every day. We're going to the park in fifteen minute. In order to go to the park we must have our room clean. Goal: Go to the park. What does he have to do to reach that goal? Clean his room. He's twenty months old.

The long term goals come later. At eight your child might want to get good grades. In order to get good grades she must turn in all of her homework. Goal: Good grades. What will she do to get good grades? Do all of her homework and turn it in.

As they get older long-term goals will be more relevant and long term. Just put it into terms your child can understand and they'll start out young and keep going with it until they are very goal driven. If you really want this to be a focus. Start even as young as newborn using the term goal.

"Okay, the goal for today is to have the whole house clean before daddy gets home. We have to sweep the floors, mop them, vaccum the living room, and clean the surfaces in order to reach our goal."

"We'd better set a goal to make the bed everyday so our room looks nice!" Goal: Nice looking room. What to do in order to get it done? Make the bed.

Best of Luck!

Answer 8

our first goal was having no peepee or poopoo accidents when toilet training. my son is still learning about goals or new one is no bad notes for one week from school hes only 4

start around age 2. potty training is the best place to start teaching goals make them simple and easy to understand.

Answer 9

i think you should start as young as possible to me that is like 3 yrs old you do have some smart children out here so um find the funnest method you can and get to work whatever your child seems to enjoy the most you go for it congratulations

Answer 10

as soon as you think they understand what you are talking about some teenagers won't even know what goals they want to accomplish