Homeschooling Tips from A to Z for 2023: The Letter Q

Hi Friend,
Welcome back to our Homeschool Tips from A to Z series. This week we are on the letter “Q”. 

Homeschooling Tip #1: Quizzes

To quiz or not to quiz? That is the question. 

To help us answer that question, we have to understand the reason behind why someone would give a quiz. The answer?  To assess understanding of the information.

Is there more than one way to make sure my child is understanding the information? Yes, my friend, there is more than one way, and sometimes, it’s even better than a written quiz

Oral Assessments

A simple conversation, back and forth, with you asking questions, can help you assess if your child really understands the information.

One question can lead to another question and so on, going deeper and making the child think things through. A written quiz can’t really do that without giving away answers to the questions that were before it. 

A narration from your child on information that the child has just heard, read or watched, can be a good assessment tool also. 

An oral report is another way to let your child research information and then put it in his/her own words.

Written Assessments

Creative Assessments

Notebooking pages give a child plenty of opportunity to share his/her knowledge, as well as lapbooking activities. 

Doing a project or experiment and then explaining it, is an excellent way to do an assessment.

Does All of My Child’s Schoolwork Have to Be Memorized?

Absolutely not. Do you have everything memorized? I know that I still refer to printed recipes in order to make my favorite dishes, and I also still look at my sheet music to play Happy Birthday on the piano. 

Final Word on Quizzes

Teach your child how to find the information that they are looking for.
Teach your child how to organize the information that they found.
Assess how well your child comprehends the information, in a manner that best suits them and you.

Will they remember everything they looked up and read about? No, but neither do I.

Homeschooling Tip #2: Qualifications of a Christian Homeschooling Parent

Isn’t it wonderful when we have the fruit of the Spirit? If you’re not sure what they are:

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Meekness/Gentleness
• Self-control

Along with these fruits, it’s also good to ask God for wisdom. There are so many decisions that have to be made, that we all need His help and His guidance.

Along with our prayerful petitions, we need to put some action behind our prayers. I would encourage you to spend time alone with God and His Word everyday. In the quiet, God will speak to you and reveal His most wonderful secrets just for you. 

Homeschooling Tip #3: Quality vs. Quantity

Do you think it’s ok if you don’t finish all the items and lesson plans inside of a teacher’s book? 

In my opinion, it’s ok. Let’s suppose that your son is having trouble with math and he is in the third grade. You’ve reached the halfway point in the book, but you still have a half year left of school.  Do you keep going, even though your son has hit a brick wall and just isn’t getting the hang of things? Or do you stop?

When this happened to me, we didn’t do either of those things. We marked the textbook where we were, and we just reviewed with games, hands-on activities, and flashcards. We ended up having to do that for the rest of the year and through the summer. 

When school started back up again, he was ready to pick back up where we had left off. He wasn’t a speed mathmetician or anything, but he did have more of the fundamentals down, and he also had a year of maturity behind him. 

So, the moral of the story is, take things at your child’s pace. If they’re ahead, great! If they’re behind or a little slow at getting the hang of things, that’s ok too. 

The quality of their learning is better than the quantity finished in the book. 

Homeschooling Tip #4: Questions

Did you miss any of last week’s letter “P” posts? If you did, just click on the one you missed below. They are all really good and informative. 

P is for Park: Lego ABC’s from Desiree at Our Homeschool Notebook
P is for Pictionary from Desiree at Our Homeschool Notebook
Discovering the P Rabbits of the World from Annette at At Home Pets
Studies in Philippians from Annette at A Net in Time
Educating Pet Rabbit Buyers from Annette at A Net in Time
Palestrina and Prokefiev – Composer ABC’s from Lori at At Home: Where Life Happens
P is for Podcasts from Chareen at Every Bed of Roses

If you would like to read more Homeschooling Tips from A to Z, just click on the alphabet letter below.