Personal Education Plan Conference

After working through about six weeks of the school year it was important to have a conference with each of my students (children) to discuss their accomplishments, what they are currently working on and their ideas of future study for the year. Because my kids have lots of control over their education and primarily work independently throughout the day conferences are important to ensure we have a solid education plan.

First, I asked them to list activities they spend their time on during a typical day and to estimate how much time is spent on each activity.

My son's list:
Engineering Class at High School 1 hr
Band Class at High School 1 hr
DuoLingo 30 minutes
Programming 30 minutes
Reading different books 1 hr
Geometry 1 hr
Walking 30 minutes

My daughter's list:
Reading 1-2 hrs
Algebra II 1 hr
Sewing 30 minutes

We discussed each of their activities and whether it was a short, medium or long term activity. Short term activities take one week or less to complete. They include easy research topics such as what is the Maginot line, but can lead into research of additional tangent topics. Medium term activities take 6-10 weeks. A few examples include unit studies such as Greek History, or the solar system. Long term activities can last the entire year. Completing an algebra book or continued study of a foreign language are good examples.

Therefore, if the school day lasts six hours, six long term activities are the most that can be fit in one school year. If one hour per day is dedicated to medium term activities, approximately 3-6 can be covered in a year and 36 or more short term activities can be covered in a one hour period over the course of a school year. 


For my son, his day is pretty full and most of his activities are long term. I suggested that he add short term research topics into his day especially if he feels he has finished something. That will give him the opportunity to briefly touch on many different topics.

My daughter has some time available in her day. In addition to what she listed, she had been visiting a doctor three days per week, cooking at least one meal per day and attending rehearsals for theater four days per week. Therefore her schedule is a bit busier than it first appears.

Next I listed standard school subjects: reading, writing, math, history, geography, science, foreign language, art, music, p.e., and technical classes. Then I asked them to determine which subjects were being covered and which subjects were lacking.

With an idea of time available in the schedule and subjects that could be covered better I asked them both to list a few things they would like to study in the near future. My son wants to learn about Henry Ford, Steve Jobs and Hitler. My daughter didn't have any strong desires.

So for the next six to eight weeks or so, my son will continue down the same path until we sit down and reevaluate again together. I felt my daughter needed some more guidance. So I added several activities to her schedule including: reading the Story of the Greeks, finishing the book In the Hall of the Dragon King, working through Lightning Literature and Composition, finishing a spelling program we began at the end of last year called Uncovering the Logic of English, studying the Human Body with the book The Way We Work, and watching various musicals that are great for kids such as Singing in the Rain. Many of these activities I will be doing with her but she can do some on her own. Just like with my son, I will sit down with my daughter in another two months or so to discuss our plan.

My goal is the make the independent learners so I want to give them lots of freedom, but I also want to make sure they are progressing and learning each day. It is definitely a balancing act of give and take, suggestion and trial to meet those goals, but I we are all satisfied with our current plan.