end of year "interview" - Farrar?

[EmilyGF]

I'd like to take each of my kids out to an end of year/beginning of planning interview where we talk about what went well or not so well and about what they desire to accomplish in this coming year.

 

I'm sure I heard about this idea on the WTM boards. Do you do this? Do you have a set of questions you start out with? Ideas on how to make it useful?

 

Thanks,

Emily

[SkateLeft]

I've done this for years. I just did it with my youngest last week at the coffee shop. I'm very informal about it. I have my laptop open with a google doc where I have notes on possible options for the fall.

 

I don't have a prepared set of questions or anything. II just ask what they thought of this last school year, which stuff they liked and didn't like and what kinds of things they might want to do in the coming year. This is also when I run possible curricula by them. I just choose some things myself, but I also have options for other things. My youngest expressed a preference for doing BYL 8 (History of Science) over Bookshark 6 or MBtP 10-12, told me he wants to read Frankenstein (no idea why), and picked which physical science resource to use (Conceptual Academy).

 

Kids #1 and #3 got really into the discussion and loved providing feedback. They could spend hours talking about school and their goals and which approaches they felt suited them best. #2 and #4 just wanted to get it over with. "Yes, everything is fine. I didn't like that stupid math textbook. Why? Because math is boring. Yeah, that looks good. No, there's nothing else I want to learn." :D

[Farrar]

We don't do an interview, but I have the kids write a reflection along these lines three times a year. And it's pretty much exactly those sorts of questions. Usually I make them...

 

What have I learned? (and sometimes I give them some reminders of topics we've studied, though sometimes I just remind them to think about skills, content, co-op, things learned outside of school)

 

What am I proud of?

 

What do I need to work on?

 

What are my goals for the next semester/quarter/trimester or whatever you call it?

 

I don't do much editing. We print it and stick it in their portfolios.

 

Someone else does do an "exit interview" though with a slightly different set of questions, but I can't remember who.

[TracyP]

We do something like this at the end of every year and usually mid year as well. It basically looks just like what skateleft described. And like she said, some of my kids get really into the conversation while others are more "whatever." My 8yo loves having this type of conversation and will initiate it on his own.

 

Is it maybe swimmermom who has posted about this in the past?

[MerryAtHope]

We always did this--I always enjoyed this time with my kids. Here's a post on my blog with a form that I had them fill out as they got older (I liked to have them think about the questions--sometimes I got more info that way, but we still always did conversations too). And here's another post where I tell more about how we started doing evaluations.

 

Have fun!

[Jackie]

I do a more informal "check in" with my daughter every 2-3 months.

 

What are you most enjoying? What are you least enjoying and/or most struggling with? What are your thoughts on this new resource we're using? We're about to finish up ______; do you have thoughts on what comes next? Last time we talked, you were feeling _____ about _______; how are you feeling about it now? You haven't mentioned X subject this conversation; any thoughts on that one or just cruising along?

[EmilyGF]

Thanks for the input.

 

This is on the to-do list for next week. :-)

​Emily