If you want your child to strive to develop good habits, you need to lead the charge. Consider sitting down with your family to discuss how to make and keep resolutions. Whether you want your child to have healthy eating habits or to get to school on time, you’ve got to model the behaviors by turning down that big piece of chocolate cake and arriving to work on time.
Demonstrate a positive, even celebratory, attitude toward setting New Year’s goals, sharing how each day is an opportunity to live well, to even “reinvent yourself.” Point out what everyone has done and encourage them to think of abilities they have now that they didn’t have a year ago. Then, what’s next for the upcoming year? Avoid a “punishing, preachy” manner, as that turns off children and adults alike.
Discover what goals your child has for himself or herself and let that drive the conversation. Provide guidance to help him or her clarify goals and to ensure that they are age-appropriate. Suggest categories—such as personal, friendship, helping and school—and then ask how your child would fill in the specifics.
We invite you to read the rest of the article, as it contains plenty more great information. Meanwhile, another Parents.com article shares resolutions that children have made that fit into these types of categories:
Read these real-life resolutions and consider using these categories to help guide your own family to age-appropriate New Year’s resolutions.
And here are sample resolutions from 5- to 12-year-old children that the American Society of Pediatrics considers appropriate:
Find more resolutions here.
An article from PBS suggests that there are age-appropriate resolutions for preschoolers, too, including these:
Is one of your 2016 resolutions to enrich your child’s learning and life? Horizon Education Center provides affordable quality care including educational and enrichment opportunities for children in the following Northeast Ohio locations.