How do you measure success? - Melinda Harrington

How do you measure success?

- Melinda Harrington

(There's a video made by Marnie about this topic down below after you've read this post, or you could skip to it straight away!)

 Having met so many successful young people who have been home schooled, I was surprised when someone recently asked me “..but how do you measure success?” It got me thinking about how the measure of ‘success’ is a subjective thing.

For some people ‘success’ equates with
getting a job, being able to support oneself, getting a higher education qualification, earning a lot of money. But for others ‘success’ means finding a special someone and settling down to a happy, healthy family life. And for others still, the meaning of ‘success’ would equate with something more spiritual and internal.

When I meet vibrant and happy young people who are doing what they love – following dreams and passions – I know I’m looking at success. Perhaps a successful homeschool graduate is someone who knows what it is they love and want to pursue; someone who has learnt how to learn; someone with enthusiasm and the energy to pursue something important to them. I guess we hope that all young people enter adulthood with excitement and passion for pursuing their dreams and opportunities, whether they are educated at home or at school.

Here in Australia we have a standard test called NAPLAN that is administered to all school children every two years (National Assessment Programme – Literacy and Numeracy). The ‘success’ of a school is often measured by its comparative NAPLAN score – it is a little like a ‘scorecard’ for schools which measures how well their students are performing in literacy and numeracy. 

I’m sure that most people who follow this blog would agree with my own sentiments which are that the ‘success’ of my home schooling could never, ever be measured by my daughter’s score on a NAPLAN test. We have a simple little ‘reporting’ procedure which we undertake every six months or so. I say to her, “So how are we travelling with homeschool? Do you still like it?” And she replies “Yeah, I love it”. That’s how I measure success. 

How do you measure your homeschool success?

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