The Two C's Of "Success"

Source: bryantarchway.com

It is getting to be that time of year when we as homeschoolers reflect upon our school year and try to assess what we learned and what we truly accomplished.

Did we hit all of the history topics we endeavored to learn about?

Did we get to (or are we nearing) the end of our math workbooks?

Where have we gone...what have we seen...what have we done over these past 8 months?

It is hard to know how to objectively measure your success at the end of the school year.

However, research shows that there's really only two things that truly impact your children's academic success:

1. Eating dinner together as a family
2. Having books in your home

No joke.

That's it.

It is not the amount of homework finished or the course load of honors and advanced placement classes your child completed.  Instead, it is the connections made within the family, spending time together over a meal and enjoying good books.

The longer I am on my homeschooling journey, the more I tend to use these two markers of "success" for my own children.  I call them the two C's of suCCess:

• Connection: Have I made a lasting connection with my kids this year?
• Care: Do they care more about God and the world than they did last year?

If my answer is an unequivocal YES to both of these questions, then I know that this year has been a resounding success.

Sure, as a type-A, box-checker, overachiever like myself, it can be challenging at times to look past my children's portfolios, standardized test scores, book lists, and completed projects to get an accurate assessment of our school success!  But with every passing year, I see more and more what truly matters most.  The way I see it, success is spelled with two C's for a reason, and that is what it is all about.

(If you are a homeschooling parent who is struggling to to find the heart of homeschooling, or are just curious to learn more, I'd encourage you to check out the wonderful resources mentioned in this post from the archives.)

**Reference articles:
Eating dinner together--check out this article and this one, too
Having books in the home--check out this and this article to learn more