The last few weeks of school were very busy. My younger children had a lot of class programs and parties, and my older children had finals and exams. It was exhausting for all of us, but we finished the school year.

Now that we made it to summer break, I decided to ask my kids to evaluate the year. I wanted to know what they thought of their teachers and school in general. I wanted to know if they were glad to be done, or if they were sad to say goodbye to their teachers.

I waited until my family was on a road trip to ask them these questions (no one can avoid the conversation when stuck in a car together). I started by asking them, “Who was your favorite teacher, and why?” My high school son was quick to respond. He told me that his favorite teacher was the one who offered him extra credit at the end of the year. My middle school daughter told me that her favorite teachers were the ones who clearly loved teaching. My elementary children both loved their teachers and thought that they were amazing.

Next, I asked them what they had learned this year. I asked them about their favorite subjects (history, communications and “all of them”) and the subjects that were challenging (biology, writing and math). We talked about how last year compared to this year. We talked about the teachers who made school fun and the teachers who didn’t. We talked about the highlights and the difficult moments. We finished the conversation by discussing next year. One of my children will be moving up to high school, so we talked about the changes that she is looking forward to/worried about.

The conversations were interesting and enlightening. I learned more about my children, their teachers, their schools, their struggles and their favorites.

Have you asked your children to evaluate their school year? What were their best and worst moments? Who were their favorite teachers and why? Are they looking forward to next year?