Well that sounds really formal doesn’t it? But, it’s not! Today I’m meeting with each of my kids to assess where they are in their lessons as we come to the end of the school year. You are probably thinking, “Don’t you know where your kids are in their lessons? After all, you are their teacher?”
The answer is yes and no. When kids were younger, I knew every lesson they were are on. But, as my kids hit their teen years, things began to change. They transitioned to more to being charge over their lessons and I am here to teach certain things, and do follow-up and be more of a tutor. It helps to prepare them for college and independent study. That doesn’t mean that I don’t plan anything out anymore. But try as I might, we always wind up with a wonked-out schedule. Sports, illnesses, injuries, etc. always get in the way of my well-laid plans. But I still believe in well-laid plans!
So, I do an assessment every so many months to see where we are. Are we on target, near target or missing the mark altogether. This is where the “Course Projections” from Girlfriend’s Guide 2 Homeschool Planning comes in. I can use it to see where we are supposed to be by key dates in the school year. This way, when my planning is lax and our schedule goes crazy, I can refer back to it when everything settles back down again.
I’ll sit each kid down with all their books, notebooks, etc. and evaluate compared to the Course Projections and make adjustments from there. I’ll catch up on grading papers and entering grades, so we know grade wise how we’re doing. If I get at least 3/4 of a textbook finished, then I’m a happy camper. Some of the schools in our area only get 1/2 a textbook finished, can you believe that? I always shoot to get the whole book done, but sometimes you have to make adjustments.
We’ve been doing practically a year-round schedule for a few years now and I’m ready to have a real summer vacation! With no school! It’ll be good for me and good for them. Next year, I’ll be down to two kids in my homeschool, so I’m going to need the summer to adjust. How are you winding down your school year?
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