Does your child pass the test on Friday and forget everything by Monday? That is not real learning — and this episode is going to show you exactly how to tell the difference. We are breaking down 2 powerful tools that reveal whether real learning is actually happening in your homeschool, and why ditching the test might be the best decision you make this year: ✅Why tests measure short-term memory, not actual understanding ✅The 2 tools that reveal what your child is truly learning ✅How ONE simple question after any lesson builds thinking skills ✅Why https://howtohomeschoolmychild.com/177younger and older kids need different assessment approaches ✅The one daily habit that turns reading into deep, lasting learning Grab the free resource mentioned in this episode and go even deeper into the process that makes real learning stick. Resources for You Free 3-Step Thinking Process ChartRaising Leaders, Not Followers Course Factory Model Education: Why Homeschool Moms Feel OverwhelmedHow to Break Out of the Homeschool TrapShow Notes: Do Kids Really Need Tests? How to Know If Real Learning Is Happening Hey, let's be honest — your child could pass the test on Friday and forget everything by Monday, right? So if that's true, how do we know if real learning is even happening? That's what we're going to talk about today. Some of you really do worry: Are my kids learning anything? Are they going to turn out okay? Will they be prepared for life? Testing Measures Memory, Not Wisdom We tend to think tests are the way to go. We just need to give them a test and find out. But testing often measures short-term memory, not wisdom — not long-term memory. One of my goals for our kids was to think wisely, to think critically, and to think biblically. I think wisdom is so important. Albert Einstein struggled in traditional schooling environments that emphasize memorization. And yet, his curiosity and his questioning produced breakthroughs in physics — the general theory of relativity — because of curiosity, because of questioning. Not because of memorizing something and taking a test. Real learning shows up as curiosity, connections, and insight. It allows your kids to go deep instead of surface learning. The Power of Discussion I have two powerful tools I want to share with you. The first one is discussion. Discussion activates the brain in ways worksheets can't. It encourages open questions, conversations, and thinking out loud. This is so important because it prepares our kids for life and gets them to start thinking. And did you know writing is just thinking on paper? So you could be discussing this around the dinner table, or you could have the kids writing. One of the things that we teach is our Read, Write, Discuss method. We go deep into this in Raising Leaders, Not Followers, but basically every day your child reads something, they write one page in their writing journal — not a narration, but about how questions and why questions — and then discuss it once a week. That works well in any subject. You can do it in science, in history, in literature, in music. You could even do it in math sometimes. I encourage families to use your family read aloud. Whatever book you're reading out loud, everyone hears it. Every day you're reading it out loud, and then you write in your reading journal. This is especially true for older kids, because that is when those thinking skills really kick in, around 12 and 13 and up. They're going to write one page, and then once a week, you'll discuss it. Don't discuss your family read aloud every day — it sort of takes the fun out of reading. But once a week, have a discussion and ask open-ended questions and let them talk about it. The Power of Narration for Younger Kids For younger kids, I would say the power of narration. Narration is a powerful tool. Charlotte Mason has really made that popular, and for people that follow the Charlotte Mason approach, this is their primary learning assessment. You can have a narration out loud, or you can have a narration on paper — a narration notebook where they write their narration. I would say younger kids, you could even do this with 4- and 5-year-olds, up to maybe 3rd grade, always narrating out loud. But as they get older, they should be able to write a paragraph about whatever they remember from the story. It's just telling back what they learned in their own words. It strengthens their memory, it improves communication, and it reveals to you their understanding of what was read. For moms that have multiple kids, it's hard to read everything that everyone's reading. So I say start with your read aloud, just to get started and get into a rhythm — discussion for older kids, and narration for younger kids. One Simple Prompt That Reveals Everything After reading anything, just say: Tell me the most interesting thing you learned or remember from that book. That works in any subject. You're not adding more to your schedule. You're taking what you're already doing and instead of giving them a test — and I know a test is easier for mom, print it out and let them do it — but ask them, what's the most interesting thing that you learned? And then let them tell you. This simple prompt reveals attention, comprehension, and curiosity. You can evaluate if they are learning. You don't need a test. For what it's worth, I didn't keep grades until high school. I paid attention to what they were doing and what they were learning, and we would have conversations. Even when they were in elementary school, one by one they would come right to the kitchen table and sit in that chair, and we would talk about whatever they were working on and what they were learning. That is how I evaluated them. I did not give them a grade on their writing ability. The only purpose for that reading journal is to get their thoughts out of their head and onto paper. So don't even grade complete sentences. It's a journal — they're just getting their ideas out. Frederick Douglass and the Power of Real Learning Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, and around the age of 12, his owner's wife started teaching him the alphabet. It was illegal to teach slaves to read. The owner found out and forbid his wife from doing it, because he didn't want to make Frederick Douglass unmanageable. But secret learning began. He started trading bread for reading lessons with poor white boys. He learned everywhere he could — in the streets, from neighborhood children, from scraps of books. He began to read newspapers constantly and became very curious about the world and what freedom was. He started reading a journal called the Columbian Orator, and this reading awakened his opposition to slavery. It wasn't a bunch of tests. It wasn't a bunch of workbooks. It was reading — deep into his soul. Education became leadership for him. He started sharing his knowledge with other enslaved people, and eventually started a secret Sunday literacy class where he taught slaves to read the New Testament, with dozens attending. His literacy brought about confidence, critical thinking, and leadership. His early self-education was the foundation for what he became — an abolitionist, a writer, a national speaker. And I think that's what we want for our kids. To give them a foundation in reading and writing and discussing is the perfect foundation to learn about any subject area. The One Question to Ask After Every Lesson So what is the one question that you're going to ask after any lesson? What did you think about that? Or, what did you learn about that? When you do that, it develops thinking skills. It builds confidence. And it reveals what real learning is taking place. That's what we want. We don't need tests. We just need to read, write, and discuss. Free Resource: I have a free chart you can grab — our three-step thinking process chart. You can find it at here. When you're there, read the blog post I've written because it dives even deeper into this Read, Write, Discuss process and moves you even further into independent learning — so that your kids begin to have the tools of learning, and they can learn anything in life.
