End Of Year Interview For Homeschoolers

It started on the last day of our homeschool year, when I made a quick stop at Mardels. My 2nd grader spotted a boxed science curriculum kit, and she begged me to buy it for her.

I, who was not planning on buying an expensive science curriculum that day, told her I would think about it, and then I asked her more questions. That launched a whole discussion with all my kids about what they liked about our homeschool this year, and what they didn’t like.

After every school year I try to ask my kids what they thought about everything, but they have never dived into telling me all their opinions as they did this year. We talked all the way home (a 45 minute drive), and I gained a lot of insight on how to make our homeschool work better for each individual child.

The next day, I decided to do more formal interviews to get information on all our school subjects. I am including some questions that were helpful in drawing my kids out, and perhaps you can use them as well.

One thing I have learned over the years is that kids often don’t know how to express their true opinions. They need adults to ask the right questions. When my daughter was dying for me to buy that curriculum, I asked her what she liked about it. “I just like it!” she declared. I have found that to get down to the root, it helps to ask more round-about questions. I asked her if she liked that there was a dinosaur on the front, because the curriculum wouldn’t just be about dinosaurs. “That’s okay,” she told me, “I want to learn about all sorts of things.” That’s a useful bit of information.

One of the most useful type of question, for younger kids especially, is a “would you rather” type of question. Since we had been doing more of a themed science curriculum with my 2nd grader, I dug further into that. “Would you rather learn about alot of different things, or alot about one topic, like animals?” She wants to learn about alot of different things in one year. I asked if she liked workbooks, if she liked our living books, what about that curriculum seemed better than what we did this year. The answers weren’t all helpful, but they helped me to know which question to ask next.

When my 2nd grader was stuck on that curriculum, I explained how her school day would look with that curriculum, and also with a curriculum I had at home. This was the most helpful technique to figure out what she was trying to express.

It turns out it actually wasn’t about wanting that specific curriculum. Through our conversation, I discovered she wants to learn about a wider variety of topics in one year, and she wants to do experiments on her own. I wouldn’t have been able to figure that out in one or two questions, and I had to make alot of comparison questions to help her articulate what she actually wanted.

As a mom of children who also like to be unrelentingly positive, sometimes it’s difficult for them to express when they don’t like something. They don’t want to hurt my feelings! When explaining the options, we need to be careful not to frame the question in a biased way (“You don’t want to do workbooks, do you?”). That’s not going to encourage kids to be honest, and I want my kids to tell me their true thoughts. Sometimes they might not like something and have to do it anyway, but if I can make adjustments according to each child’s personality and learning needs, I want to do that. Isn’t customized education part of the reason we homeschool?

• What did you like most about this homeschool year? Why?

• What did you like least? Why?

• What was your favorite field trip from the year? Do you have any field trip ideas for next year?

• How do you feel about the amount of social things we do during the school year? Would you like to try any new social activities? How can I help you feel more connected with friends?

• Do you have one specific school day that stood out? What did you like about it?

• What was the hardest subject for you this year? Why was it difficult?

• What was your easiest subject? Was it too easy, or just right? Do you think you need more of a challenge in this area?

• What was your favorite book (school book or not) that you read this year?

• What specifically do you like about the way we do history?

• Is there anything you don’t like?

• Was any part of the history curriculum confusing?

• What kind of history books do you learn best from? How do you feel about biographies? Historical fiction? More factual books? How do you feel about the amount of pictures in the books - would more visuals help?

• What historical people, time period, facts do you remember most from this year?

• What is the most helpful part of the history curriculum? Do any parts of the curriculum feel like a chore? Why?

• Is there any moment in history that you learned this year where you can see how God was working in the affairs of men?

• What do you like, or not like, about the way we did science this year?

• Do you like the books we read? Which one is your favorite/least favorite? Why?

• Was any part of the science curriculum confusing?

• How do you feel about the science experiments? Do the experiments help you understand that science topic? Do you want to do more experiments, or do you think we are doing too many?

• What is the most helpful part of the science curriculum? Do any parts of the curriculum feel like a chore? Why?

• What did you learn about God by studying His creation this year?

• What do you remember learning about grammar this year? Do you like sentence diagramming, or grammar editing exercises better? Did the grammar book help you understand correct grammar better?

• Was any part of your grammar curriculum confusing? (The answer will most assuredly be yes, but that will help you adjust for the next year)

• How do you think you grew the most in your writing this year?

• What writing skills do you think you need to practice more?

• Did you like your handwriting book? Do you understand how to properly form each letter, or do we need more practice?

• What type of paper do you like writing best (book reports, essays, research papers, creative assignments)?

• What area of writing do you think you need to work on most?

• What is a way you would like to use your writing to bless others this next year (writing more letters, writing a family newspaper, starting a blog)?

• How are you feeling about the math curriculum? Was any part of the math curriculum confusing?

• What math skills do you think you need to practice more?

• What do you like about math? What do you dislike about it?

• Would you like more fun math resources next year (puzzle books, math coloring books, math games, etc.), in addition to your regular curriculum? Or would that just feel like more work?

• What’s the purpose of learning math? (This question is to see if they’ve gathered why we learn, which alot of kids seem to be missing with math especially - if you don’t have a solid understanding yourself, it’s time to shore this up.)

• How did you feel about the devotional books, Bible reading plan, or curriculum we use this year?

• What is your favorite part of our family Bible time?

• What was the favorite book of the Bible you read this year? Was there anything you read this year that you didn’t understand very well?

• What resources helped you grow most in your faith?

• Are there any questions you have about the Bible or Christianity that you would like to dig into more next year?

Those are the big five subjects, but you can use inspiration to formulate questions for any additional subjects you may do - such as music, art, civics, or even sports. The purpose of asking these kind of questions is twofold.

Also note, negative answers don’t necessarily mean you need to chuck the curriculum and start from scratch. Dig a little deeper - often an improvement could come from little tweaks. There are some things you won’t be able to change (“Yes, we do have to do math.”), but this is your opportunity to sympathetically explain the reasons for different subjects or your family choices, and hopefully get on the same page.

If there is negative feedback, a child will also feel heard because you took time to remain neutral, hear them out, and plan adjustments or explain the thought process behind what you’re doing. Taking the time to hear both positive and negative feedback from your child, and giving them a say in their education by being a listening ear, can’t help but bring you closer.