End-of-Year Homeschool Assessments Made Simple
Charlotte Mason was a British educator and in her writings she said, “The question is not how much does the youth know when he has finished his education, but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care?” With that in mind I am sharing some questions that are helpful in assessing the past school year so that you can make plans for the next one from a place of peace instead of fear.
Hi friends, As the current school year is nearing an end I am ready to start planning for the next one. The most important things in my homeschool are laying a foundation of faith in God, nurturing strong relational bonds with my children, and giving them something to love in their academic studies. But before I share the assessment questions that will help you in planning for the next school year I want to remind you that no matter the mistakes made in this past school year, no matter the frustrations, the lack of gentleness toward the kiddos, we can always go boldly to the throne of grace and find grace to help in our time of need.
Because we care so much about the work we do and the stewardship of these precious lives we can become overwhelmed with guilt when we see our shortcomings. I want to encourage you today to look back on your school year and not only look at the things that didn’t get done or the things that went wrong, look for the beauty and joy you brought to the table too. We all have growing to do but isn’t it just amazing that we can lean on the Lord and trust him to meet us, redeem us, and do the work in our children’s lives that we can not do on our own.
If you are feeling like that is going to be a struggle I want you to take some time right now. And confess any sin that you are carrying. any unforgiveness toward a child, your spouse or yourself,. Lay the weight of that burden down before the Lord. Do not carry this into your summer or your next school year. So go ahead and come back to read.
Alright, so right now I want you to grab a paper and pen and lets answer these questions. I want you take the time to respond. Keep in mind you can answer these specifically about each of your children or a general overview as a family. Here we go
- What is one thing you want to remember from this past school year?
- What was the most enjoyable school topic?
- What do you wish you did more of?
- What are your biggest concerns right now?
- How would your children describe this past school year?
For these next set of questions I want you to ponder the Charlotte Mason quote I shared earlier. “The question is not how much does the youth know when he has finished his education, but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care?”
- What will you do differently next year?
- What is something you know or think your child wants to learn more about?
- What is something you want to learn?
- How can you infuse more joy into your days?
Here are some of my answers.
This past school year I really enjoyed seeing my 3 year old come out of his shell more at our homeschool co-op. He was talking to other kids and occasionally other adults. He has always been joy filled and animated at home but take him out and he gets quiet so it was nice to see that change in him.
Something that I wish we did more of is just for fun read alouds. I did a few but I wish I made more time for a couple more. I did however do a great job finding some audiobooks that my children really enjoyed listening to on their own.
One of my biggest concerns right now is a struggling reader. I want to do a better job at supporting that child and sometimes I am not as patient as I know I should be. However it is an area that I am aware of and I have seen progress in myself and my child as well.
To wrap up Mamas I want you to remember that no matter how last school year went you have new mercy for this new school year. Make time for the things you love, make time for memories, read more, snuggle up, laugh, listen well, train diligently and never forget you have a helper that is encouraging you to stay faithful to the work he has given you and to trust the rest to him.
Well I hope these questions and this post was helpful to you. If so please reach out to me and share some of your answers. I would love to hear from you. Take care friends!
