Proof of Progress: What to do When You Don’t See Growth

As we embark on new endeavors and set goals for ourselves, it can be disheartening when we don’t see progress right away. But the truth is, progress often comes in small increments, and it can be hard to see the bigger picture when we’re focused on the day-to-day. In homeschool circles especially, this question of proof of progress and how to show it becomes more prevalent as the school year wraps up. So whether you’re looking for evidence of growth in yourself or your kids, here are some things to consider:

What Is Proof of Progress?

Proof of progress is the tangible evidence that we are making progress towards our goals. It can be something as simple as a completed task, a new skill acquired, or a personal best in a sport. 

On the other hand, it can also be growth academically. In any school choice you make for your family, there is going to be some level of evaluation at the end of the year. If your child’s progress seems slow or non-existent, it can be hard to see the bigger picture.

Consider Where You Started

When we’re feeling stuck, it can be helpful to take a step back and consider where we started. Whether it’s with your child’s reading abilities, their ability to work independently, or their performance on assessments, it’s important to remember that progress often comes in small increments. By taking a step back and looking at where we started, we can see how far we’ve come and gain a better understanding of our progress.

But if you take a step back and wonder… where has all of our hard work gone? You are not alone in that either. We’ve encountered many families who feel like they’re doing everything right, but something is missing. Their child still can’t read. He or she still struggles with basic math. They can’t work independently, no matter how well they set up a system.

In these cases, it’s helpful to take stock and establish some new routines moving forward.

Ways to Encourage Progress in Learning, Reading, and More:

Here are some helpful starting points if you’re not seeing as much proof of progress in your family as you’d like to:

1. Set Goals Together

Setting goals together with a friend, family member, or mentor can help to hold you accountable for your progress. It also provides a support system for when progress is slow or non-existent. As a family, you can work towards reading or math goals or some other measure of progress that is important for you. Making this fun and game-like can go a long way!

2. Focus on Building Resilience and Confidence

Building resilience and confidence can be key to encouraging progress. When we are resilient, we are able to bounce back from setbacks and keep moving forward. Confidence allows us to believe in our abilities and take on new challenges. If these are areas where your child struggles, here are some tips for growing healthy self-esteem.

3. Build Brain Skills

Building brain skills, such as memory, focus, and problem-solving, can help to encourage progress in learning, reading, and more.

Brain Training to Encourage Progress

If you try the same approach year after year, without seeing progress… Or if you take the opposite approach and switch curriculums, schools, teachers, or approaches, and still don’t see evidence of growth…

You are not alone.

There is something that impacts your ability to learn and make progress academically that goes deeper than what schools and parents are able to identify on their own: cognitive skills.

These are things like attention, logic, visual processing, working memory, processing speed, and auditory processing. These core skills are involved in every area of life because they are the filter your brain uses to process the world. If one of these areas is weak, no matter what approach you use, you are likely to continue to struggle.

For many families, identifying cognitive skill weaknesses has been a life-changing step that opens the door to faster progress and exponential growth in a short amount of time. Clients who felt stuck in their child’s learning struggles found a path forward. They found confidence AND easier learning. They have found hope that even their “difficult” child could gain the skills to learn efficiently.

Every situation is unique, so if you’re looking for some proof of progress and aren’t seeing what you’d hoped for this year, we are happy to talk with you about your options. We can help guide you through the process to find out WHY learning struggles are happening and what you can do to overcome them!