The ILP Process
Whether you’re new to homeschooling in Alaska or a seasoned veteran, you may find yourself asking, “Why do we do ILP’s?”
An ILP, or Individual Learning Plan, is a personalized learning project that students design. While it is true that the state requires all state-funded homeschool programs to do ILP’s with students, this is NOT why Chugach School District has each of its students – both those in the classroom and those in FOCUS – do ILP’s. Chugach School District’s mission is to empower students to take ownership of their learning and success. Because we all want our students to be successful, we must give them tools to succeed. The ILP is one such tool.
The difference between an idea and a success is a plan. The ILP is a process in which a plan to be successful at any endeavor is created. Best-practices research supports the development of ILP’s, as it shows that student involvement in setting personal goals increases student success.
So that’s the WHY, what about the HOW?
Every homeschool program approaches their ILP process differently. In some programs, the ILP is a major component of enrollment, encumbering your curriculum and learning path for the year. Therefore, amending the ILP can create a burdensome and time-consuming process that impedes learning and success. Chugach School District and FOCUS Homeschool have intentionally designed our ILP process with a great amount of autonomy and flexibility, in order to foster and support curiosity and learning. So, how does FOCUS help you create an ILP that is meaningful?
While you as a parent are capable of setting goals for your child, you help your child learn to take ownership of his or her education by having your child be part of the entire goal-setting process. Let your children lead the way to explore a subject or participate in an activity that intrigues them. The first step is to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of your child to determine an area of need or interest. Help them discover their passions and dreams! This should give you some ideas of goals that you might choose.
It is likely that you will get many ideas for things that you should or could work on. Don’t fret! Though you will work with your Advisory Teacher to set one goal, you can use this process over and over, independently, for all your goals. And, of course, the intent is that, over time, students will begin to independently and automatically begin using a similar process to turn all their ideas into successes!
If you’ve identified an area your child needs to work on, or is interested in learning about, you are on the right track. Before you take off running, there are a few more things to ponder. We help students develop a SMART process to meet their goals. Make sure your goal is Specific. Rather than having a vague goal like, “getting better in math,” rephrase your goal to be more precise. Think about why and what aspects of math you are thinking about. For example, if your child labors doing math because they need a better mastery of addition or multiplication facts, the goal may be to memorize those facts. If your child does well in math, but rarely sees a connection between the math he does in the book and how to apply that to real-life, your goal may be to apply his knowledge of fractions and measurement to double and half recipes.
Next, make sure the goal you choose to work on is Measurable. Knowing how you plan to measure, evaluate, or track the progress of your goal before you start, will increase the likelihood of success. For example, do you expect your child to answer a given basic multiplication fact within 5 seconds? Or, are you looking for a score of 95% or higher on a unit test? Perhaps you expect your child to correctly adapt 6 different recipes. Metrics like this help students realize success. It has been said that, “success breeds success!”
What Actions, or steps, will your child follow to achieve the goal? For example, will your child work independently 3 times a week using a computer program for multiplication practice or orally review flashcards twice a week and solve 5 written multiplication problems each day? You may consider having your child bake twice a month, the first time making a single batch, the second time have him write out the correct measurements to increase or decrease the recipe.
Now is a good time to look over what you have so far to make sure your goals are Realistic. For example, if your child is struggling with multiplication facts, perhaps expecting 80% mastery is a better place to start. If you know that your schedule will not allow you the time for your child to bake twice a month, you might consider having him double his three favorite cookie recipes for your holiday baking.
If your steps and goals are Time-bound, you will be more motivated to accomplish them. Consider the actions you will take each day or week to accomplish the goal. Will the goal be complete at the end of the quarter, or is it a year-long goal? Keep in mind that if your goal is a year-long one, your steps should have some quarterly benchmarks along the way.
We all want our children to do well. If they learn to make goals that are SMART, we will have equipped them with tools for lifelong success!
Specific – Measurable – Actions – Realistic – Time-Bound
