Spring Greetings from your school counselor, Ms. Shari.
Our Weekly Theme: ACHIEVE!!!
Definition of ACHIEVE: to successfully bring about or reach a desired objective, level, or result by effort, skill or courage.
Dream it----Believe it---Achieve it!
When I think of our theme this week, I think of achieving something as being the end result, the culmination of the work done between the beginning and the ending. The hard work happens in the meantime. That’s why it’s called the “mean” time. Therefore, it’s the hard work of getting down to the nitty gritty, as we talked about last week, that’s what propels us to the end result...the achievement! (cue music-Celebrate good times-COME ON!)
You’ve probably heard the quote, “Whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t…..you’re right.” So it only makes sense that part of the achievement process is believing that you really can achieve your goal. Guide your child by helping them turn the “I can’t do it” into, “Yes, I can!” statements. Teaching children to plan for success and breaking down something large and seemingly overwhelming into smaller pieces is a valuable life lesson.
Achieving your big goals can seem daunting when you’re standing at the foot of the mountain looking up at that looming figure. Achievement, then, is the process of breaking down a larger goal into smaller, more manageable pieces that can be picked away at and achieved...step by step, bit by bit. Kids need to see this modeled and more often than not, they need encouragement in the “mean” time. Saying simple inspirational things like, “we haven’t gotten there yet….but we’re getting there” or “one step closer” can help keep the fires burning to reach your goal. Incremental achievement of your smaller goals adds fuel to the fire which leads to encouragement and forward motion. Plan to hold mini celebrations with your child along the way to your end goal in order to keep the dream alive and promote forward energy.
The process of achievement may mean stopping along the way and asking for feedback with some possible readjustments of the plan to accommodate for the things learned along the way. Children learn by example. Share the times when you’ve readjusted your sails for a more desirable outcome or achievement.
The self discovery along the way to the achievement is what Henry David Thoreau was talking about when he said…
