Teachers use several tools to measure the extent to which their students learn a particular subject or topic, such as written tests or oral and surprise questions, etc., but in the case of homeschooling, the question becomes: Does the child actually progress through homeschooling or not?
Parents who study their children from home during the current period due to Covid-19 may need to know the answer to this question as well.
In homeschooling, parents have to find innovative ways to see how well their children are progressing, and Verywellfamily provides some ideas that can be used in this context.
Use a different approach
In theory, you could take a surprise spelling test for your child, or ask him to stand in the front of the living room and give a presentation on one of the topics he is currently studying in his history course.
In practice, however, when you teach your child yourself, you are assessing his progress as he learns.
You might already know he's good at multiplication tables, but he's having a hard time dividing.
In a traditional classroom, one teacher is responsible for many students.
So he relies on standardized assessments and tests to see if his students are learning well.
Quality or quantity?
New parents in the homeschooling process care whether their children are learning enough and what parallels their other peers, but what determines this?
Children in every class depend on the district's curriculum or subjects covered by standardized tests, but homeschooling your child does not need to follow a traditional path.
You can start wherever you know it responds, depending on how well you understand it.
This way, you can focus less on how much your child learns, in terms of quantity, compared to the depth of his learning, as this is a better measure to assess his progress over a given time frame.
Your homeschooling child does not need to follow a conventional path (pixels).
Creative assessments
Here are some "outside the box" ideas for measuring your children's homeschooling progress:
Asking your child to explain what he has learned to someone other than the one he taught him is a good way to see if he has kept any information in his head.
- Switching roles: Put your child in the role of the teacher instead of the role of the student, this will help you in the evaluation.
Also try asking the older child to train his younger sibling on facts like addition and subtraction or reading an illustrated book.
Project completion: Instead of evaluating them through tests and writing reports, ask them to design a simple machine to perform some essential household tasks, or plan a trip that you will take with a specific budget and time.
Digital thinking: Learning public speaking skills is an important value, and we did that while shivering most of the time, and for your child, the Internet can be used, which allows information to be presented in several ways to a larger audience, such as recording a video and publishing it on YouTube with the need to take into account the safety of Your child is online.
Searching for Progress
So that parents do not fall into the trap of thinking that a child is not successful in homeschooling because he scored only 60% on his math test, the context of his learning must be looked at.
If he only got 40% the last time you rated him, then he has made progress, and that's an important metric.
But if it's consistently getting 60% then you need to find the cause.
Open book tests
Many families prefer to teach their children how to find and use information rather than memorize it, with an emphasis on the art of learning to use dictionaries, encyclopedias and reliable digital resources.
With this approach, you may want to consider open-book tests, where your child's ability to find and interpret the information he needs is prioritized over rote memorization.
Memorization is a useful tool, and it is an important exercise that makes your brain stronger.
But there is a difference between useful memorization and memorization as a substitute for real understanding, such as what many of us went through when we remembered for tests at the last minute, memorized facts only to get a good grade and then forgot everything immediately after the task was done.
Monitor the special learning process
How do your kids respond when they don't know the answer to something?
Do they know where to look?
Or how do they ask for help?
Are they eager to learn more about their favorite topics?
Do they constantly ask you questions about animals, math problems, or heads of state?
A child who actively participates in his own education, searches for information and wants to fill the gaps in his knowledge, this is the successful child in homeschooling.
It can be difficult to know how far your child has come without keeping something tangible that reminds you of the beginning (Getty Images)
Step back
Take a step back to give your child the space to solve the learning challenges on his own.
If he can't, he may be counting on you too much.
It's good for all students to take on challenges from time to time, whether it's solving a difficult word problem or reading a book that is above their usual level.
Keep a note
It can be difficult to know how far your child has reached without keeping something tangible that reminds you of the onset and the simple development that occurs every once in a while, so consider keeping a diary to look at from time to time.
Throughout the year, include notable projects, artwork, and assignments, along with your lesson plans, to make it easier to track how much learning your child has done.
It likely is more than you think it actually happened.
When are official exams used?
There are some concepts that can be tested in a formal way, such as mathematics, spelling and language arts, and it is important that your child knows how to express himself in writing without your help.
Finally, if your child's home learning assessment process is not sufficient, you may consider hiring a private tutor to do this for you.