Back to School Family Home Evening

First day of School, 2009 (Joshua, Jeffrey, Sarah)

It's that time of year again, back to school!  Some of my children are looking forward to it, some of them are not.  I'm looking forward to a more structured regime, but I'm not looking forward to packing school lunches again!

Every year the Monday before school starts, we have our traditional back to school Family Home Evening.  Scott gives all the children a Father's Blessing, which is a wonderful spiritual opportunity.  Then while we're having a yummy refreshment, I give all the children a piece of paper and a pen or pencil, and encourage them to set some goals for the upcoming school year. 

Here are some ideas for setting goals for the new school year:

keeping their agenda up to date
handing in all their homework on time
trying a new activity or subject
learning a new skill
joining in on some extracurricular activities
improving your mark in a core subject that you find difficult
being on the honor role
keeping a minimum average in each class
making a new friend

It's a great opportunity to encourage children to pick 2-3 realistic goals to work on during the school year.  If they want to share their goals with the family that's great, some may want to keep their goals private, it's a personal thing.  If they have shared their goals with you, you can take moments during the year to check in with them to see how they're doing.  Mum and Dad can set their own goals as well, the children can see that learning is a life long endeavor.