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5 Ways To Build Good Habits for Success from Preschool to High School

By CeCe Schantz August 4, 2023

We know how important it is for kids to have a great start to the new year and blast off to success and positivity from the start! So, I asked my kids, and they helped me come up with this list of 5 Success Habits to begin sharing with kids now and for the start of the new school year!  We would love to hear any pluses or changes you made to customize these habits for the needs of your family!  Enjoy our Publisher's Picks here which is updated for you weekly with great deals and information you won't want to miss! If you have or know a local business interested in being our next Newsletter or Guide Sponsor, email me today!

We hope your August is taking you to wonderful places whether home or away!

CeCe   


Macaroni Kid Pittsburgh North's Top 5 Helpers for a Great School Year:

1. Help kids to see and visually map the hours of their day. This helps them become more aware and productive with their usage of time. This is beneficial when homework needs to get done first rather than last. A great way to begin this practice is with a visual daily planner for kids!  Below is one example, but this is fully customizable.  To make it as simple as possible, you can design your own layout, laminate it, and use dry erase markers to track activities! If it's not easy, you won't continue to use it and neither will your kids! Find what works for you and your kids and have fun with it!

Visual Daily Planner for Kids | Free Printables - Making Mom Magic





2. Kids need a safe space and our guidance to ease stress and anxiety. Teaching kids how to manage the tensions of new year challenges and never minimizing their fear is the healthy way to conquer and extinguish these obstacles! Creating a stress-free zone to ease fears and tension is one great solution! Here is a great craft that can take their mind off their worries and, instead, learn to relax and flow like this fun recycling Homemade Rain Stick DIY!






3. Invite the family to a healthy new habit of journaling together and/or individually. Journaling is something I've always shared with my children as a healthy means of self-reflection and a way to express and talk out your feelings through recorded word sessions with yourself that can teach us alot about ourselves and how we interact with the world around us.  If your child is too young to write, they can journal through art and pictures.

DIY Journal Craft For Kids





4. Goal tracking is an essential skill to help kids stay on track with what they want to achieve. How many of us as adults start goals but never finish them? The reason is simple! Life is unpredictable, and it's hard to stay the course. Because it's normal to lose sight of our goals if we have no process or progress tracker in place, we need to teach our kids how to stay the course.  I've downloaded a great goal chart for you here, but you can again use what motivates you to stay the course! You can look for other free templates here!


5. The best part of all is in the reward! Don't forget to 'Celebrate SUCCESS'! Again, this entire list will look different for each kid and family.  What one kid loves as a reward, may not mean much to another.  So, tailor it to what works for you as a parent and for your kids! Just don't forget to reward them especially if it was a hard-fought victory! 

This will teach them the worth of staying the course!  One reward most kids will love is a trip to the local grocery store for a special treat! I often used the Little Shopper Treat Card from Giant Eagle! This allows them to get a free cookie when they visit the store! Another smart idea is to let them pick an outing from our Macaroni Kid Event Calendar and have a little spontaneous family fun! The trick is to make sure their efforts are seen and appreciated! 

If you found this article helpful, please share it with us and with others! We hope you and your family have a wonderful back-to-school season! - CeCe


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