James Smith’s Info Serv

The power of setting and achieving goals is perhaps the most significant lesson a child can learn. Whether your child wants to be a doctor, a professional athlete, a teacher or a scientist, goal setting should be a key aspect of their lives.

Here are some goal setting activities for kids that will help in their development as children, and perhaps as adults as well:

Let their imaginations run wild:

Kids have unlimited imaginations. Get them to think about their goals and to use their imaginations to visualize what they want to achieve. Let them imagine what they would like to become, what they want to do, where they want to live, and who they want to be.

Writing goals down:

Get them into the habit of writing down things they want to achieve every week or every month. It can be really simple like what level they want to reach in the video game they’re playing, or how many points they want to score when they play sports, or how much of their pocket money they can save every week.

Once they get into the habit of writing down their goals for small activities, they will feel at ease with the idea of writing down their goals of the bigger things they want to accomplish. This may be one of the simplest goal setting activities for kids, but also the most beneficial.

Develop plans:

Once the kids have defined their goals, perhaps with your assistance, they must create a plan of actions that they must take to achieve their goals. This is an important factor of goal setting activities for kids. It will teach them that they will need to develop plans as to how to achieve anything.

Regularly checking whether they are on the right track will also teach them to remain focused, or to adjust their plans if it is necessary.

Remaining focused:

Get them into the routine of reading their list of goals every day, preferably before they go to bed and after they wake up. This will keep them focused on what their goals are and will get them to continually think about their goals.

Celebrate accomplishments:

Perhaps the most enjoyable and most rewarding of the goal setting activities for kids is to allow the kids to celebrate after achieving a goal. Give them something as a surprise reward for the dedication, focus and persistence they displayed during the process of achieving the goals.

Goal setting activities for kids should be fun and enjoyable. They also contain valuable life lessons for the kids that will serve them well right into their adult years.

About the Author

Simon Lim is a motivational writer and the creator of Rubama.com. You can find more free articles and courses that will inspire you and motivate you to achieve your goals by visiting http://www.rubama.com

by Arthur Buchanan
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More Details about mental health depression here.

Not all children enjoy the “carefree” days of childhood. Unfortunately, when things start to go wrong, people often despair of being able to repair the damage. NIMH has made research on diagnosis, early intervention, and treatment of children an absolute priority.

Arguments are waged as to the management of children who attempt suicide, commit crimes or even those who are abandoned and neglected. Our society has impoverished resources to answer such questions and while some hospitals are available, all too often the answer is prison. Research has demonstrated, however, that children do not need to be hospitalized or incarcerated to get the help they need. A home-based model of therapy, called Multisystemic Therapy or MST, offers treatment services to young people and their families in their homes. Youth with serious emotional or behavioral problems, such as antisocial behaviors, substance abuse, delinquency, or severe depression and suicidality, have been successfully treated through MST.

This approach shows a more hopeful and positive approach and focuses on how to help parents assist their children and how to teach young people to deal with their schools and communities. This program has been found to be an effective alternative to hospitalization and to jails.
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What is a parent to think? I see behavior changes in my child. They used to be social, outgoing and communicated with the family. Now my child is secretive, isolated & uncommunicative. Is it possible that my worst nightmare has come true? My child is using drugs?

In today’s world, pressure to use drugs is quite significant. When we were children, back in the 60’s, 70’sand 80’s; the drugs of choice were marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Today’s world is much different. The children of today are exposed to numerous other “rave” drugs. They include ecstasy, (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), Khat, Ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride), GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) and Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) this is the date rape drug.

Is my child going through normal adolescence, where they begin to separate from their parents, or using drugs? There are very important signs that you will see when your child is using drugs. Some of the most important signs are:

Less attention paid to grooming. “My child used to take care of themselves, brush their hair, brush their teeth, now they seem indifferent.”

Loss of appetite or an increased appetite, loss of weight or increased weight, without current medical issues. “My child has lost/gained 5-20lbs over the last few months and I don’t know what is going on. My PCP reports all blood-work and physical examination appeared fine.”

Red and glassy eyes and frequent use of eye drops. “My child is using Visine on a regular basis. I smell breath mints when they walk in the door. Is it possible that they are drinking/smoking pot?”

Decreased attendance and performance at school. “I have received phone calls from the school stating my child is tardy/late to some/all classes.”

Loss of interest in school, sports, or other activities. “My child used to be involved in baseball, basketball etc. Now it seems they just want to sit and watch TV all day.”

Newly developed secrecy; deceptive or sneaky behavior. “My child locks his bedroom door, appears uneasy when I am within “earshot” of their phone calls. My child is telling me that they are at the mall with their friends, but I find out that they were at a friends house instead.”

Withdrawal from family and friends. “My child used to be very athletic, had at least 5 – 10 good friends. Now I am seeing “other friends” that I do not know. My child is no longer hanging out with their old friends and my child is reluctant to introduce me to their new friends”.

Lying and stealing. “I have caught my child stealing and lying from me on several occasions during the past year.”

Disrespectful behavior. “My child was always brought up to respect other people, but is now very disrespectful to others.”

Changes in mood. “My child’s mood is very liable. One minute they are happy, the next minute they are sad and the next minute they are angry. I feel like I’m walking on “eggshells” every time I speak with my child.”

Goals for the future. “My child used to have dreams and goals for the future. They used to talk about going to college or a trade school or entering a specific market field. Now they are consumed with nothing.”

These are all prominent signs that your child may be using drugs. There are various ways to deal with this problem. The most important is to begin counseling, specifically with a drug and alcohol counselor whom is up to date with the current drugs of abuse and is able to test for drugs of abuse, via urine screens. If you determine via urine screens that your child continues to use drugs, then you may be best served by enrolling your child into an Intensive Outpatient Program, specifically for drug use. If your child has continued drug use, even with the Intensive Outpatient Program, then a residential drug and alcohol treatment program is suggested.

Your child’s future is at stake. I have seen some children do extremely well with counseling and others that ended up in the prison system or worse (accidental overdose). The most successful cases however, had very prominent parental involvement in their child’s treatment, even though the child did not want treatment or parental involvement.

About the Author:

Wendy McLellan is a licensed mental health and substance abuse counselor, with more than sixteen years of experience. She has recently devoted time to the efforts of http://www.safecomputerkids.com in their goal to provide parental internet safety tools and resources to the public.
Read more articles by: Wendy McLellan MA, LCDPII