End of year or End of term

I thought I’d share something our family began last year that everyone enjoys. We have an occasional “Parents Night”. I type up a little program outlining the order and noting who is speaking for each part. Each of my children recite something they have memorized during the year and share what they want to share about their learning. We have refreshments afterward. It is a sweet, insightful time.

This week we held our end of year Parents Night, and I realized how much I learned about my children by what they chose to share. My six year old wanted to share everything in his copywork book, in his Nature Journal, in his History Notebook. He became so excited when he turned to a map he drew of Columbus’s voyage to the new world, and I remembered that maps were always a favorite part of any lesson for him. My eight year old has a gift for speaking and presented herself and her work so well, and I remembered how much she enjoys speaking (recitation, narration). It encouraged me as a teacher to see them excited about sharing what they learned. It confirmed our choice of following the CM path for education. It was such a nice evening to reflect on our progress in this homeschooling journey.