If you are truly expecting great things, then you will look for them. However taking on the monumental task of inspecting everything that we expect can be overwhelming. This is where community can help us. Here are some strategies for keeping eyes on what your children are completing each week.
- If you read, you write : for every reading assignment require a written narration. Something that proves to you that they've written something. Then simply ask to see their narrations each week. If you are familiar with the books, then you can ask questions that may prompt fun discussions, if you aren't familiar then you can ask questions about their narrations.
- Accountability partners : it's hard to be accountable to your mom for everything. Don't believe me? Try telling your mom everything. Actually don't. Just trust me, it's not a good idea. Is there a subject that you hate checking on? Math maybe? Outsource it. Have your child share his work with Lori here at Scio. Find a co-op where you child is help accountable by another teacher. Even dad can pick a subject. Each of my high school students does weekly check-ins with dad. Having another set of eyes on their work challenges them and gives me some peace.
- Weekly grids are a great "at-a-glance" resource. Helping your kids create a weekly list of tasks to be completed helps them know what to do each day. We separate our tasks by day and subject. That way they have a working to-do list and don't have to come to me to get their next item. If I'm inspecting the work that I'm expecting, I want to reduce the amount of unnecessary inspecting as much as I can. Grids can help with this.
- Create stepping stones. You may not have time to grade an entire chapter review in science, math, or latin, but you should be able to check a few things. In high school, teachers check student's work by randomly grading only a selection of the homework. Create a habit of producing something each time a chapter, lesson, or monument is reached in a class. Maybe at the end of each latin lesson, your high school student could share a latin sentence with her siblings. In math masters, Lori has the kids complete a three question triad at the end of each chapter. That's it, just three questions. Small stepping stones can make large milestones approachable for the homeschool parent.
I know it's a lot of work, but we need to understand that if we take the time to assign something and then ignore checking on it, then we communicate the worthlessness of that particular part of our child's education. If it is worth enough to be assigned, then it's worth enough to be inspected.
What are some ways that you create a natural habit of inspecting your children's work without feeling like you're being drawn and quartered each day?