An Annual Educational Checkup: Questions Every Parent Should Be Asking
Disclosure: Greatful Moments received this expert Q&A from Cher Murphy PR on behalf of Independent Education Group. The questions were provided by Greatful Moments, and Michelle Smith took the time to answer them for our readers.
When we think about an annual checkup for our children, we usually think about the doctor, dentist or maybe even an eye exam. But there is another kind of checkup parents may want to consider: an educational checkup.
How is your child really doing at school?
Are they learning and growing? Do they feel connected? Are they becoming more confident and independent? And if something doesn’t seem to be working, how do you know whether your child needs additional support or perhaps a different educational approach?
These are questions worth asking throughout the school year—not just when report cards come home.
For this conversation, Greatful Moments reached out to Michelle Smith, Founder and Chief Education Strategist of Independent Education Group, for her perspective on the questions parents should be asking about their children’s education.
Michelle took the time to answer five questions for Greatful Moments.
Michelle Smith Answers Our Questions
What are the first questions parents should ask during an annual educational checkup?
I would begin with three questions: Is my child learning and growing? Do they feel known and connected at school? And is this environment helping them become more confident and independent?
Grades matter, but they do not tell the whole story. I encourage parents to notice how their child talks about school, whether they have meaningful relationships with peers and adults, and whether the work offers an appropriate mix of challenge and support. A wonderful school can still be the wrong fit for a particular child at a particular time.
What signs suggest a child may need a different educational approach?
Look for patterns, especially when a child seems very different inside and outside school. A student who is curious and capable at home but disengaged in class may need more challenge, a different way to explore their interests, or more ownership of their learning.
Another child may be working exceptionally hard just to keep up and need more explicit instruction or support. Frequent frustration, loss of confidence, avoidance of school, or the feeling that they have to hide an important part of themselves are also worth exploring.
The question is not simply, “Can my child succeed here?” It is, “What does success here require of them, and is it helping them thrive?”
How can parents build executive-function skills at home without doing the work for their children?
Make the process visible, then gradually hand it over.
A parent might sit down once a week with their child to look at upcoming assignments and ask, “What is due? What is your plan? Where might you get stuck?”
Help the child break a large task into steps and choose a time to do each one, but let them record the plan, gather the materials, and follow through.
If the plan fails, review what happened together instead of immediately taking over. Executive-function skills grow through practice, feedback, and age-appropriate responsibility.
What should families consider before changing schools or educational paths?
First, identify the problem as precisely as possible. Is it the level of academic challenge, the teaching approach, the social environment, the pace, the support available, or something outside school?
Talk with your child and their teachers, and consider whether a meaningful adjustment can be made where they are.
If a change is needed, look beyond a list of well-known schools. Families may overlook a smaller school, a different curriculum, a specialized program, a thoughtfully structured homeschool or hybrid approach, or a change in course placement within the current school.
The goal is to find an environment that fits the child’s needs and gives them room to grow.
What is one thing every parent should do at the beginning of the school year?
Have a conversation with your child that is more curious than evaluative.
Ask:
“What are you looking forward to?”
“What feels hard right now?”
“When do you feel most like yourself at school?”
“What would you like to be different this year?”
Then listen without rushing to solve everything.
That conversation gives parents a starting point they can return to throughout the year. An annual educational checkup begins by understanding the child in front of you.
My Thoughts
There was a lot in Michelle’s answers that made me stop and think, especially because I have homeschooled at two very different times in my life.
When Suzanne was homeschooled, we had barely gotten a computer into our home. Technology wasn’t the center of our education because, quite honestly, it wasn’t nearly as much a part of everyday life as it is now.
Then came Charlie.
Even when Charlie was little, I didn’t use the computer to homeschool him. We did books. We went outside. We learned through experiences and hands-on activities.
In fact, there was barely a day when we sat at a table and worked through a workbook.
Our homeschool looked much more like doing than sitting down and filling in pages.
And looking at Charlie today, I can see how much room that kind of learning gave him to explore his interests and develop his own strengths. He has gone on to start his own businesses and pursue the things that interest him.
I would never say that wouldn’t have happened if Charlie had gone to public school. I simply don’t know that.
What I do know is that, with his learning disabilities, homeschooling was what was right for our family at that time.
And I think that is one of the most important points in Michelle’s answers.
There isn’t one educational path that is automatically right for every child.
What worked for Suzanne wasn’t necessarily exactly what worked for Charlie. What worked when Suzanne was young would look very different today. And what works beautifully for one child may not work at all for another—even within the same family.
Children change. Families change. Education changes.
Sometimes a child needs more challenge. Sometimes they need more support. Sometimes they need a different environment. And sometimes the answer isn’t changing schools or educational paths at all. It may simply mean changing the way we’re approaching learning.
That is why I really like the idea of an educational checkup.
It isn’t just about asking whether our children are getting good grades.
Are they learning?
Are they growing?
Are they confident?
Are they connected?
Are they being challenged in a way that makes sense for them?
Are they becoming more independent?
And perhaps most importantly, are we paying attention to the child in front of us?
For our family, homeschooling was the right answer at the time. Another family may find that public school, private school, a smaller school, a specialized program, hybrid education or another approach is exactly what their child needs.
The goal isn’t to prove that one educational choice is better than another.
The goal is to help our children learn, grow and become the people they are capable of becoming.
And sometimes the best educational checkup we can give our children is simply to sit down, ask questions, and really listen to their answers.
Learn More
To learn more about Michelle Smith, Independent Education Group and their approach to education, visit:
Greatful Moments thanks Cher Murphy PR and Michelle Smith of Independent Education Group for providing this expert Q&A and taking the time to answer our questions.
Glenda Cates
Greatful Moments
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