One of the secrets to happy families is having weekly family meetings. Click HERE to get a free printable of the 4 essential parts you need for a fun and engaging family meeting of your own.
What is a Family Meeting?
A family meeting is a sacred, untouchable time to purposefully teach children values, solidify the family culture, and create a team who supports each other.
Family meetings provide an opportunity for all family members to come together, share updates, and discuss any concerns or issues that may have arisen during the week.
Family meetings can be used to:
- establish routines
- teach values
- set family goals
- plan events and outings for quality family time
- foster a sense of accountability and responsibility
- allow all family members to participate in decision making
Overall, weekly family meetings can help families stay connected, improve communication, and strengthen their relationships, making them an essential component of a healthy family culture.
4 Essential Elements of a Family Meeting
If you’ve never had a family meeting before, it can seem overwhelming but don’t worry.
Family meetings can be super short and simple.
There are four main elements that make up a family meeting.
1. Family motto, cheer, or song
Discuss as a family the values or phrases that resonate with everyone at your first meeting, and then proudly proclaim your motto at the beginning of all following meetings!
Your unique family cheer should represent who your family is and what makes them so special. This can be as serious or as silly as you want.
“Do your very best!”
“Go Team Jacobs!”
2. Calendaring
Have you ever had conflicting appointments or sports games at the same time? This can cause a lot of stress and last-minute scrambling in a family.
A family meeting is the perfect time to talk about what is going on in your family this week. This gives lots of opportunities for everyone to support one another and effectively communicate.
“Which day do you need a ride?”
“How can we show up for each other this week?”
3. Council Together
Even a question as simple as, “What worked in our family this week? And what didn’t?”
These questions invite introspection and thoughtful responses from everyone in the family. This is a time when everyone has a voice and is able to bring up topics for family discussion.
“The kids did really well at completing their chores without being asked last week.”
“People have been coming into my room without asking. Can we talk about our family boundaries for personal space again?”
4. Deliberate Teaching
Family meetings are wonderful, neutral territory where everyone has an equal voice and the learning benefits the whole family.
You can choose any topic or value, big or small, that you feel will make your family stronger.
You can choose to focus on one value or topic for a month, like “friendliness” for August when school is starting. Or you could choose a new, small topic each week like “personal space” or “after-school routines.”
You know your family best.
Intentionally choose a topic for your first family meeting and you can’t go wrong!
Perhaps you notice that one child is struggling with honesty. Instead of sitting down and lecturing one child, you can turn it into an opportunity to teach the value of honesty to the whole family. No one person feels targeted and everyone can have fun learning together.
Don’t know where to start? I’ve done all the hard work for you and created comprehensive guides in my print shop that include EVERYTHING you need to teach your child values and skills.
More Tips for a Successful Family Meeting
Have them consistently.
Besides the fact that children thrive on consistency, giving them a regular spot in your week makes them a built-in part of your family culture.
Make them age appropriate in length and content.
Use age-appropriate words, role plays, and visuals. Try your very hardest not to think about what is effective teaching to you, but what would be effective for the person you are teaching. And don’t forget, a 3-year-old’s attention span is about 3 minutes.
Make them enjoyable!
If you want your children to love what you love, make sure it’s enjoyable for them (add laughter, a snack, music, and play).
Don’t compare or rush.
Take things slow, do what works for your family, and don’t be frustrated if you have to teach a topic over and over again.
Want to learn more about how to improve your family? Check out these other great resources: