Teaching your child to achieve his best takes a serious commitment. To learn and grow requires effort and the ability to be able to peak your child’s desire to achieve the goal you have helped him set for himself. His personal goal can vary due to his disability. Whether his objective is to master speech impairment, overcome emotional issues, or learn to walk unassisted, he must have the tools needed to help him reach his goal. The key to learning is desire. To begin, set a target goal and a time frame to achieve it.
There is something about charts, lists, and contracts that motivate a child to accomplish. Visualizing the steps to achieving his personal goal can help your child take the measures needed to reach the stars. Listed are inspirational and rational strategies to accomplish your child’s personal best.
DISCOVER-Find your child’s desire or dream of accomplishment. Discuss his ability to achieve his goal and talk about the journey to realizing it. Plan, list, and chart benchmark steps. If your child enjoys writing, keeping a journal can assist in seeing progress made along the way.
INSPIRE-Encouragement is important to help your child begin his journey. Giving him the confidence to begin will put him on the road to accomplishment and motivate him to reach his goal. Regular discussions and praise about the goals he has reached to date will keep him motivated to go on to the next step. Giving your child examples of famous persons who have overcome the same handicap he is dealing with should move him to a more intense desire to make it to the finish line.
ACHIEVE-As your child masters each step in his game plan, encourage him to document it. Take the time to celebrate together. A big part of reaching a goal is enjoying each benchmark achieved to get there. Discuss the steps it took to get where he is and what the next step will entail.
MAINTAIN-Continued encouragement will keep your child motivated to accomplish what he set out to do. Sustaining his dream with daily support will remind him to stay focused on his task at hand and help him to remember the importance of his eventual accomplishment.
ENVISION-Together you can paint a mental picture of your child reaching his target goal. Enjoying the anticipation of getting there will help him to try harder with each new step. Give him examples of what he will be able to do after reaching his committed goal.
Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
Les Brown