{"id":55042,"date":"2017-09-07T06:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplehomeschl.wpengine.com\/?p=55042"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:16:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:16:49","slug":"measure-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/measure-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to measure progress when it feels like you’re not making any"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Shawna Wingert of Not the Former Things<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

W<\/span>e began this school year in almost the exact same place we did last year.<\/p>\n

(and I don’t mean our kitchen table…)<\/p>\n

My youngest son is one of the hardest working\u00a0kids I have ever met. He has had to be – most of the time, he works twice as hard for twice as long to get about half the results of other children.<\/p>\n

So it really shouldn’t surprise me that we are still in Level Two of our reading curriculum<\/a>. Even more so, it shouldn’t matter. On my good days, it doesn’t.<\/p>\n

But some days, the truth is, it feels like we are not making any progress at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When I worked outside the home, I loved feeling like I had achieved something.<\/strong> Measurement was an important motivator for me. It still is.<\/p>\n

While my job has changed substantially, my desire to see results and have the satisfaction of making progress has not.<\/p>\n

Over the past seven years, I have learned that sometimes, if I want to see progress in our homeschool, I am going to have to go looking for it on my own.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How to Measure Progress When It Feels Like You’re Not Making Any<\/h3>\n

Take A Step Back<\/h4>\n

Sometimes, I need to remind myself of how far we’ve come. While our timeline might look different than others, there is still progress being made.<\/p>\n

Last week, I pulled out Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons (aff).<\/a>\u00a0I haven’t looked at this book in years. When we first started homeschooling, everyone I knew who homeschooled said it was amazing. I tried it with my youngest when he was seven and again when he was eight. It was a disaster.<\/p>\n

Out of curiosity and a desire to see some evidence of growth, I had my son read one of the passages aloud to me from the end of the book. He did it flawlessly.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we need to take a step back, even in the curriculum we are using, to remind ourselves of the progress we’ve made. My little guy reading that one silly passage about pots encouraged me for a week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Teacher Knows Best<\/h4>\n

One of the easiest ways to measure our progress is to ask my sons to teach it back. Either to me, each other or the dog – it doesn’t matter. It always amazes me to hear them sharing all they’ve learned.<\/p>\n

I find this to be a much more effective way of seeing how well they have retained the information, than any test or quiz. Plus, it’s a lot more fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"
My 11-year-old is teaching his dog fractions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Focus On Strengths<\/h4>\n

I find that most of the time\u00a0if I am feeling defeated by a lack of progress, it is usually because my focus is on my sons’ areas of weakness, rather than their strengths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If I really want to see how well my boys are doing, I need to look at the complete picture. \u00a0My sons make far more progress in their areas of natural strength than in subjects that are\u00a0a challenge. <\/strong><\/p>\n

This is true for all of us, and shouldn’t negate the increased success we see in areas of strength. Even more so, I need to remember that their strengths are what will impact their future performance most!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSpelling may not be his strength, but humor certainly is!<\/span><\/p>\n

Record It All<\/h4>\n

This is my number one tip for seeing progress, even when it feels like there is none.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, every single day, I list out all of our learning activities. On days when it feels like our learning is a complete disaster, I am still surprised to see how much we really accomplished.<\/p>\n

Keeping a record of our learning activities serves as a reminder that my perception of progress is not always reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Often times, I will look at my list and think, “If one of my homeschool friends<\/a> showed me this, I would be impressed with their day.” It’s amazing what a little perspective can do for a despairing homeschool mom.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The truth is this: we can be our own worst enemies.<\/p>\n

Looking for the good, finding the progress and celebrating success not only helps keep our learning on track, it makes it much more joyful.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you find yourself feeling like you are not making any progress? What do you do to help move forward in your homeschool?<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Shawna Wingert of Not the Former Things We began this school year in almost the exact same place we did last year. (and I don’t mean our kitchen table…) My youngest son is one of the hardest working\u00a0kids I have ever met. He has had to be – most of the time, he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":55044,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[342,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-relationships","category-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to measure progress when it feels like you're not making any - Simple Homeschool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over the past 7 years, I have learned that if I want to measure progress in our homeschool, I have to go looking for it on my own.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/measure-progress\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to measure progress when it feels like you're not making any - 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