Reflect and Learn from Your Experience

Your family will get even more out of a volunteer project if you take the time to debrief your experience. Take time to talk about your family volunteer experiences. Research shows that reflecting on service projects is key to ensuring that children and teenagers learn from the experience.

• Talk about your experience. What was each family member’s experience? Their feelings? Their thoughts? What suggestions do they have to improve the project for next time?
• Many people find that the following three questions provide a helpful structure for reflecting on your family’s volunteer activities in ways that promote growth and learning:
  • What? What did you do together? Share all of the funny, sad, frustrating, and touching stories from the day.
  • So what? Why was your service important? How did it fit with the values and beliefs that are important to your family?

• Now what? What will your family do as a result of this volunteering? Which kinds of activities do you want to do in the future?

By talking about your family’s volunteering, you can make sure every family member gets the most out of the experience. It doesn’t have to be an organized discussion—it can even be in the car on the way home from the project. No matter where you are when you talk about your service, make sure everyone gets to talk about the experience. You might be surprised at what you learn!