Wrapping up your homeschool year is a beautiful way to connect with each child and the perfect opportunity to offer them metacognition (self awareness of their thought processes). Reflection on our thoughts is a big part of understanding our feelings and learning new things. It teaches us how to deal with tough situations with less anxiety. It gives us a deeper recognition of our true self leading to a sense of peace.
Create some thought provoking open ended questions that reflect on the past school year and conjure up some exciting plans for the next one. It’s a special one on one moment for the two of you to celebrate and collaborate. Be sure to take some anecdotal notes for your homeschool portfolio. It will likely become a sentimental keepsake that elicits smiles from both of you over the years.
Set aside 15 to 30 minutes of special time in a quiet comfortable space to meet with each child individually. Say, “I want to celebrate your accomplishments and ask for your help with making next year even better.” You may choose to start with big picture questions to spark a conversation:
- What were the best and worst parts of schooling this year?
- What is something you have learned this year that you will never forget?
- What was your favorite part of your school day? Why?
- Was there anything that you really did not like about the year? about each day?
- How could we make that better?
- What are the things about life that interest you the most?
- What do you think you are really good at?
- What do you think you might want to be when you grow up?
Then, possibly focus in on highs and lows of each main subject area:
What parts did you enjoy most? Least? Why? What would make that better?
- Language Arts (ELA), Phonics, Fluency, Spelling, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Analysis, Handwriting, Grammar, Composition, Presentation, Foreign Language
- Math
- Social Sciences
- Natural Science
- Other Subjects
Before reflecting with your kids, consider having them take an untimed Online Stanford 10 Achievement Test. This gives you great insight to their strengths and the parts of your curriculum or delivery methods that may not be serving them well. It’s not necessary to show the score reports to the kids. They are most useful as a tool for making curriculum and delivery adjustments.
Bloom Homeschool Support Services offers tailored homeschool support services including:
- Online Stanford 10 Achievement Testing
- Consultative Annual Portfolio Evaluations
- Academic Advising
- Private Tutoring
- Live Zoom SAT/ACT Test Prep
- College Planning
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