How Can We Measure Progress?

We owe it to our children to stimulate in them a wide range of interests in their elementary years. Wherever we go, whomever we talk to, whatever we see can be of some interest to children if we stand aside and let them question and consider or examine and research. It should not be "How much has our child covered?" but "How much does he care?" and "About how many things does he care?" ~Karen Andreola

As a homeschooler, I clearly have to use a somewhat different metric for tracking my children's educational progress than is typically used in schools. While I do use a couple of different curricula that guide this process in certain subjects, I don't have countless rubrics at my disposal to measure everything that my children do.

So how do I track their progress?

Well, let me start by addressing the premise in the above quote. When I first read it I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. Measuring children's progress by how much they like their subjects? What about tests and grade standards? We can't just go flitting around doing only the things that we think are fun, or what our mood happens to be that day, what kind of education is that? Most of all, no kid is just naturally going to love their homework, and therefore, want to do lots of it. Well, as time passes, I can see that the quote is not assuming we should leave out subjects that aren't our favorite, and that measuring a child's excitement about their education is a direct link to how their education is actually progressing.

As we set up our school schedule, I made sure that all the basics were given the proper time and attention: math, reading, handwriting, grammar, literature, history, music practice, and French have been staples of our daily routine. Other subjects are weekly or bi-weekly such as: science, art, geography, nature journals, a tea party/etiquette lesson and discussion, a library trip, scouts, achievement days, typing, and baking.

I have to say, at least for us, this is a pretty full schedule. Over time, a few things have dropped or evolved from the list. For example, we are taking a break from French for the rest of this year until I find a curriculum I really like. Typing, as well, has gone to the wayside as we have focused more on other things. Truthfully, winter really affects our nature journals, because who really wants to be sketching things in nature while they're freezing to death? Uh, not me, I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to cold. Also, our I dropped our weekly music study because the kids were already practicing their instruments everyday and I decided that was plenty of music study.

However, other things have gained more momentum over time as we have learned to study them in a more enjoyable way. For example, I am no artist; thus, teaching art was something I was not particularly enjoying. However, I found some FANTASTIC "living" books that have absolutely transformed our interest in art. It was something we all worked on once a week to one of the kids' favorite subjects that at times is now done 4-5 days a week. Their excitement over their art work has DIRECTLY affected how much effort they put into it. They're doing some really beautiful work right now, and I believe it's because of how much they CARE about it.

So art study is seriously better, but I have definitely seen the kids' interest in other studies improve as we have tweaked subjects to match the child and make it really interesting to them. For example, my husband had an idea to help my son, Joel (2nd grade), get more excited about writing. He thought it would be really fun for them to write letters to each other, each pretending to be a superhero.

Now, one could say, "But that's not really academic, now is it? Joel's writing shouldn't be about something silly like superheroes." Well, I can say I had a kid who was NOT interested in writing, and I now have a kid who is writing 2-3 letters per week, excited about his ideas of how to bring down Dr. Finn and Darkness (villains!), articulating those ideas, and learning oodles of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and letter form in the process. Well, I don't have an exact rubric to measure the progress that is going on, but do I need it? It's clear to me that right now, he is thriving in his writing as much as he is capable of doing.

Now on the other side of the coin, I would be lying if I said I weren't concerned about how well my kids are doing compared to other kids their ages.

So, I've tried to come up with a list of how I measure my kids' progress, both from an academic standpoint (truly measurable) and what I would call "living" standpoints (how excited, enriched, and fulfilled are my children?). In the past, it's been easy to only focus on the academic standpoints, because let's face it, isn't that what schools care about, and obviously we want our kids to get into great colleges and be successful, right? Well, one of my main goals with homeschooling has been to find the balance between high expectations for kids' learning and just flat out enjoying our lives more. Lots of learning, way less tension and stress.

Anyway, here's the list:

• I printed off the grade standards for the APS (Albuquerque Public School) system for New Mexico. The grade standards tell me, for each grade, what the child should be learning in each subject. It's incredibly detailed to the point of making lesson plans for all subjects, if I choose.
• I recently found an online standardized test from the state of Texas for grades 3-11. New Mexico doesn't require any testing for homeschoolers, but I want to get a sense of where we are (or aren't) as far as the content of these tests go. My plan is to administer the test in the spring of each school year. I also think it's important that the kids get familiar with the way these tests are set up and have some experience taking them.
• As far as math goes, my children are required to correct all mistakes immediately after I correct their assignment. Right then, no buts about it. That process ensures that they are mastering concepts as they go, and are not allowed to move on without understanding something.
• Regular use of dictionaries and thesauruses is highly encouraged.
• If I say to my kids, "It's time for history," and I hear "Yes!!!" come from their mouths, I know they are enjoying history, and therefore feeling happy and content.
• If we go on a nature outing, and the kids go running to their Dad when he gets home from work saying, "Dad! We saw a branta canadensis today!" I can tell they're happy and have learned something.
• If my then five year old sees a stick with a forked end and says, "Mom, it's just like the Nile river delta!" I can tell he is feeling excited about his history learning.
• If my daughter has a friend over and she tells him they're going to do free-form writing for fun, that tells me she's enjoying her writing.
• If my daughter asks me to give her perimeter and area problems to solve during church, I can tell she really likes math.
• If my son says, "This problem is just like a Gordian knot!" a year after we learned about Gordian knots, I can tell he really liked and picked up on that lesson.
• If I have to set my daughter's library book limit to 14 per week, I can tell she's loving reading.
• If my daughter says to me, "I had to pry that book out of Joel's hands so he could brush his teeth," that tells me he's loving reading.

These are the types of things that tell me we're making progress.

In closing, I just want to say I really want the kids to have a great education and yet have time for a really FULL, ENJOYABLE childhood. I now trust the quote above, that how much they care about a wide range of subjects directly affects how much they learn of those subjects.

I believe there are more ways than one to skin cats and measure educational progress.

Good night! ~Emily