Supporting Goal Success

Goal setting is one of those topics that we all know is important, but can prove to be challenging. For this reason it comes up frequently during trainings. Goal setting is a new skill for many families and at the same time, supporting families in writing goals is often a new skill for the home visitor. So this week, GGK and Re-MAP Trainer Zoe Lemme shares some thoughts regarding the goal setting process.

Zoe’s recommendations include the following:

1. Use Module 5 – Growing Goals from Unit 1 in the Growing Great Families Manual with every family the first time they are writing a goal. Remember that you may need to use this module more than once to help grow the family’s ability to think about and set goals.
2. Look to GGF unit 4 to find and use the Supporting Goal Success with Families Blueprint conversation to “check in” or re-work a goal. Pay attention to the fact that the way this blueprint is designed, you must first decide which situation is most appropriate to the family in their goal process. There are several different sets of questions and conversation starters that are appropriate for a variety of scenarios.
   • If the parent is making progress on their goal you would start on page 321.
   • If the family is experiencing challenges but still indicating that they want to continue to work on that goal then page 322 will be helpful.
   • When the parent hasn’t really been working on their goal and maybe a new goal could be identified, then the conversation on page 323 would work well.
3. Sometimes the goals set are too big so be sure that you’re supporting families in setting small manageable goals.
4. Be honest and normalize the fact that achieving goals is hard work. Help your families be prepared to learn through their goal work challenges, reminding them (and yourself) that it is only failure if we don’t grow from our difficult experiences.
5. Note that most of the modules from the GGF curriculum can be used to inform and guide goal setting conversations. These modules often walk the family through a discovery process, helping to clarify areas where they may want to grow.
6. And don’t forget your GGK manual! Growing parenting skills is a big part of what we do, use your Daily Dos and every module to support the parent in connecting these to their “Parenting Skills Goals”.

Thanks Zoe! Your suggestions serve as a great reminder that we have a variety of tools in our toolbox. When it comes to the tough challenges, we may need to think more broadly and use more than one of the tools we have at our disposal.

As always, feel free to email any topic suggestions or questions to danabroadway@greatkidsinc.net . Be sure to add Great Vine ideas to the subject line of the email.