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Free Homeschool Science Materials Checklist

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Sometimes you just need a homeschool science materials checklist to see what your missing in your science supplies. Also, look at my page Homeschool Planner for more free homeschool planner printables.

Besides, part of learning how to homeschool is doing all the fun hands-on science.

However, more than once, I have been caught short at the house with some of the supplies we needed in our home to complete the activities.

And even though we have used laid out science curriculum too, I have learned a lot through the years regarding how to stock my kitchen and home.

Homeschool Science Materials Checklist for your 7 Step DIY Free Homeschool Planner by Tina Robertson

So, I have reduced some of the things we have used over and over, year after year and put them in this homeschool science materials checklist.

For example, we love doing science and have used 365 More Simple Science Experiments with Everyday Materials more than one time through the years because we love to pick activities which interests us.

In addition, we love books like Janice VanCleave’s Big Book of Science Experiments because you can easily obtain other materials not found at home.

Household Products for Science at Home

Now, depending on which area of science, like earth science, chemistry, physical science or life science, you will need to have a few exact materials for a branch of science you focus on.

For instance, we add specific things we need and use Homeschool Science Tools.

In addition, Homeschool Science Tools has just kits if you don’t want to use a full science curriuclum.

Look at their science kits here to see your options.

So this list is a list of general things you will want to stock your home with.

It’s kind of a given too that you will eventually want a microscope and slides, but I noticed year after year I have collected some of the same things in home.

Reducing materials I seem to use year after year into this checklist, I’m hoping to keep you organized.

And not do like us by having to put a fun activity on hold until we make a run to the store.

I hate when that happens.

Free Homeschool Science Materials Checklist

Also, I have a provided space on the free printable science material checklist so you can add unique items you’ll need for upcoming science lessons.

Too, another tip is to jot beside the product the total number of items you have. Sometimes I think I have more jars than I actually do.

This science checklist will help you to keep those items at home organized.

homeschool-science-materials-checklist-for-the-7-step-homeschool-planner-grab-your-free-copy-over-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

This Homeschool Science Materials Checklist is part of the 7 Step Free Homeschool Planner and you can begin building your own homeschool planner below.

Homeschool Science Materials Checklist for your 7 Step DIY Free Homeschool Planner by Tina Robertson

Add Your Science Checklist to Your Homeschool Planner

Be sure to add this science checklist to your homeschool planner each year.

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You!

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

How to Get the Free Science Materials Checklist

Now, how to grab this form and 10 other free homeschool planner forms. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1) Sign up on my list.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Homeschool Science Materials Checklist for the 7 Step Homeschool Planner @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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Free List of Major Holidays For 5 Years 1 Planning Page

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I’ve updated the list of major holidays for your homeschool planner. Having a list of the major holidays for 5 years on one page is a handy reference page used in planning.

And too everybody plans differently for holidays. Homeschoolers can from many backgrounds and not all of us take off every holiday.

This form not only helps you plan your homeschool, but gives you a reference for when businesses will be closed. Also, it helps me to remember when public school may be out in my area.

Planning Your Homeschool Around Holidays

Also, this 5 years of major holidays on one reference page I have for you today gives you much flexibility when preparing your 7 Step DIY Homeschool Planner.

Free List of Major Holidays For 5 Years 1 Planning Page

In addition, look at the ways you can use it:

  • If you’re planning long-term projects, you’ll love having the handy reference page to plan the days off for your homeschool.
  • Short-term planning becomes a cinch because you can quickly glance at upcoming holidays.
  • By looking this far out, it helps me to decide when I want to take a family vacation.

But these forms are used to help you plan not just your homeschool year, but vacations and days off of your school year.

Also, my form can be used beyond planning homeschool and holidays.

It can be used in my diy easy home management binder, diy best student planner, and unit study planner.

Curriculum Pages for Planner

In addition because my 5 years of holidays listed on one page is updated each year, be sure to grab it each year here on my blog OR on the permanent place here on my site which is Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers.

Look at these other homeschool planner products that I know you’ll love!

7 Step DIY HOMESCHOOL PLANNER

Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color” Begin building your homeschool planner.

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Finally, Download Your Free Copies Below
I have 2 color choices. Print both and place them in different places in your planner for quick reference.

Holidays-Listed-Aqua-2022-to-2026-by-Tina-Robertson-for-the-7-Step-Homeschool-Planner-.pdf (6195 downloads )
Holidays-Listed-Wine-2022-to-2026-by-Tina-Robertson-for-the-7-Step-Homeschool-Planner.pdf (5950 downloads )

4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If you need a homeschool attendance sheet for your homeschool planner, you’ll find one here.

Even if you’re not required to take attendance in your state, my attendance sheets will help you stay on track. However, some states do require a certain number of days to homeschool.

It’s easy to track them when you have a detailed easy form.

Why Track Attendance?

Although I’ve homeschooled the longest in Texas where I do not have to track attendance, I did for many years.

6 reasons to track attendance.

  1. When you’re new to homeschooling, you may want accountability for your new schedule.
  2. If you think you’re not doing enough with your new schedule, track the days you’re showing up. You may be surprised.
  3. Eventually by middle school and high school, you’ll need to track classes for your teen. Creating a high school transcript for some colleges may require it.
  4. I decide how I break during the year when I track our days. It means I plan vacations and time away from formal lessons.
  5. And sometimes the sheet needs to be included in your portfolio for your state.
  6. A teen may need accountability. And you can encourage him to track his time and place his form in DIY Student Planner.

4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping

Next, when choosing a homeschool attendance sheet, you have options.

For example, some forms are created for multiple children. While other forms have one page per student.

In addition, I prefer forms to which explains why the day was counted as absent.

All my forms have a key or legend where you can see reasons why the day was missed. Another valuable area on the attendance sheet is to allow you to determine when you begin and stop.

A lot of homeschoolers homeschool year round. Because of homeschooling year round, a traditional school year calendar won’t work.

Too, even if you begin your first of the year with a physical year, you want choices.

4 Types of Homeschool Attendance Sheets

Below, find which form suits your needs this year.

Option 1. An Attendance Record | 4 Students on one page| All months blank.

4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping

You write in the month you begin. But tracking all your children is on ONE page. It is undated and has a key. Download here Attendance Record on One Page – Max 4 Students.

Option 2. Attendance Sheet | 4 Students on one page | Months beginning July to June.

Also, you can download this form Option 2 here.

Option 3. Editable Attendance Sheet | 1 Page Per Student| 3 color options in this one download.

4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping
  • This is one page for one student, however, there are three different and beautiful color options in this one download.
  • There is a section where you add the beginning and ending month of your school year. Whether you begin using a physical year or academic year, you decide which months. Note: The month is vertical text on the form and has room for a three letter abbreviation. (See the picture below.)
4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping

You can grab these gorgeous attendance records below!

TOS

Important: READ THIS FIRST.
Before you email me asking where your download link is or tell me that it is not working, read this to ensure that you get your pretties timely and that you don’t pay for something and not get it.

• All my products are digital. You will not receive a physical product for anything in my store. A digital physical year calendar does not mean a physical product or calendar

.• Downloads are INSTANT. When you pay, you will receive an email with a download link INSTANTLY. Depending on your internet connection, the email could be just 30 seconds or so, or a bit longer. The point is it will be soon, not a week later, etc.

• The email with the download link will go to the email you used for paypal. If you used your husband’s paypal, your downloads will go to that email. Please check that email and your spam before emailing me telling me you can’t find it.
• Please put my email tina @ tinasdynamichomeschoolplus dot com (of course substitute the right symbol for dot) in your address/contact list so that your product does not go to spam.

MY GUARANTEE: To treat you like I want to be treated which means I know at times technical problems may cause glitches, so I will do everything possible to make your experience here pleasant. If you have problems getting your download OR have a question email me my web based email: tinahomeschools at gmail dot com.

Additionally, I have another set on my 7 STEP DIY FREE HOMESChOOL PLANNER page. I call these my originals.

Option 4. Months Filled in | Not Editable| 4 Students on On One Page | 1 For an Only Child too.

The month begins July and ends June like all my forms and has a key on the form. I keep this set on STEP 5A of my 7 Step DIY Homeschool Planner.

Whatever type of record keeping method you choose, you’ll be set for ANY year with my forms!

Which one do you like the best?

4 Beautiful & Colorful Homeschool Attendance Sheets For Record Keeping

Look at these other planning topics:

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m share some of my favorite homeschool planning pages for my homeschool planner.

When creating my unique 7 Step Homeschool Planner, I never dreamed that it would be the best tool I’ve used through the years. I’m sharing tips about what I do BEFORE I begin my year and 4 pre-homeschool year planning pages you may have missed.

Tip ONE/ Planning doesn’t begin when your school year begins.
It begins 8 to 6 weeks BEFORE your school year. (Use the PRE-Homeschool Year Checklist.)

It seems like stating the obvious when I say that planning doesn’t begin when your school begins. Knowing that I’ve still found myself short on time for planning our schedule.

You need just as much time to decide which months you’ll school and which months or weeks you’ll take off as you do time to make curriculum choices.

When it’s your first day of school, you want to be ready and rested to teach without having to focus on planning.

One tidbit we can learn from public school is to do like a public school teacher does. She comes back to school a few weeks earlier than the kids.

This allows her quiet time to plan and to set up things in her teacher space. That’s a great tip for us as home educators. Plan while you’re not formally teaching.

Though I make notes all throughout the year on what I want to change, I put pen to paper about 8 to 6 weeks before school on my pre-homeschool year planning page. I find this gives me time to change my mind.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

Curriculum Planner Pages

Here are a few of the things I’ve jotted down on my page.

  • when to throw away or sell old curriculum
  • when to have my mind made up about new curriculum purchases
  • when to check out co-op classes or field trips in my area
  • when to buy supplies to coincide with back to school sales
  • when to choose unit study themes as well as when to finalize my choices
  • if I need to update a study area
  • buy new art, paper supplies or atlases

Just a side note, I also use it and write in it before I bind my planner.

The document I grab to do this is the Pre-Homeschool Planning Checklist.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

Something else I do is to put a clean unused page at the BACK of my current planner.

Then, as I think of what I need to do before the next school year, I jot them down and have it ready to go for the next year.

You’ll love having your thoughts, notes, and ideas of what you need to do weeks leading up to the start of your year. It’s the only way I’ve been able to keep organized too.

Tip TWO/ Plan your year when you’re free of teaching.
(Use the School Year Round Planning Schedule, which I update each year.)

Whether you decide to school year round or have a complete stop in the summer, you need to plan your next school year when you take your longer break.

Too, remember just because you may choose not to homeschool year round doesn’t mean you don’t plan that way. Homeschooling and planning should be two separate tasks that are not necessarily done at the same time.

Sometimes you need to separate the mommy and teacher hat and this is one time when you can. Plus, I enjoy planning and savor it more so when I don’t have to focus on the needs of the kids.

With a clear mind, I can plan our year and not while something may come up during our year.

When originally creating this schedule, I made it for a full 12 months. Begin planning on it where you need to.

I keep it 12 months too because life changes when you’re homeschooling. For example, one year you may actually school year round and other years you may choose not to.

This schedule is flexible for the time you begin planning.

The two documents I grab for this are the 5 years of holiday pages  and the School Year Round Planning Schedule for the current year.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

The holiday reference page helps me to mark them on my schedule.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

I keep the School Year Round Planning Schedule each year on Step 5a.

Actually, I print several copies of this form for many reasons. I use one for a draft and I may scratch up and scratch out a copy until I find a workable homeschool schedule. Then I print out another one and make it all neat, clean, and purd-y for my new planner.

As you can see above, I’ve already started working on this next year’s schedule to determine when I want to start. This year, we’re not taking much time off during summer because we will be moving into a new home at the end of August. I adjusted our schedule and take off time accordingly, but have still kept myself accountable.

Adjust your schedule to your life, but highlight the weeks you want to school. By doing this each year, your keep it real. What I mean by this is that you actually keep yourself accountable to see how much you’re actually learning.

We don’t need any state agency looking over our shoulder as homeschool teachers. Most of the time, we school way longer than a public school year anyway.

Here is another side note, but it matters the type of highlighter you use. I don’t like nasty black smudged prints on my brand new planner.

I have a pen and highlighter addiction which I’ll save for another post, but the one time tested highlighter for me is the Sandford Highlighter Kit – 4 Colors Dry Pencil Non-Bleed.

It’s a dry lead pencil and doesn’t smudge or smear as I highlight. I’ve tried many that claim to be smear or smudge proof by I’ve learned that they are not. The Sandford has been my for-sure-doesn’t-make-a-mess highlighter. It says it’s actually a Bible highlighter. That’s probably why it really works.

Homeschool Planning Means Letting Go!

Tip THREE/ Renew your vision AND release the guilt.

Lastly, it’s not only important to set realistic goals, but to learn from past mistakes.

A mistake we always seem to make is over planning. We tend to think we can do more than what we end up doing. We can be hard on ourselves for that.

Equally important is to learn from past mistakes and to put down what we want to do less of next year as a reminder to not repeat the same mistakes. We need to let go of guilt because we understand that we’re doing more than we realize.

This page I use is about looking at my overall goal for the year. It’s not about planning objectives like my objective planning page. Objectives are measured goals.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

The page I use is my school year goals page. The top of the page is to reinforce what you want more of and the bottom part is what you want do less.

Look at these other homeschool planner products that I know you’ll love!

Getting ready for a new school year can be equally exciting and exhausting. I try to keep it fun by planning when I’m excited about it. Do you?

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and tips to use them)

I think you’ll love these other tips.

4 PRE-Homeschool Year Planning Pages (and how to use them).You need just as much time to decide which months you’ll school and which months or weeks you’ll take off as you do time to make curriculum choices. When it’s your first day of school, you want to be ready and rested to teach without having to focus on planning. Click here to grab these four AWESOME and free homeschool planning forms!

Hugs and love ya,

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Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

In this homeschool beginner’s guide to figuring grades, I’m sharing tips I didn’t know when I began. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter.

Although I live in Texas where grade keeping is not required by state law, I started keeping grades before high school for two reasons.

One reason is that my teen wanted feedback.

The second reason is that I wanted to know how to figure grades sooner instead of tackling it on top of learning how to homeschool high school.

Having homeschooled twenty-five years now, I see how figuring grades has changed in the public-school world.

It’s not that we want to keep up with public-school changes, but eventually our kids may be graded by those same standards. It’s important to be somewhat familiar with how to figure grades.

Figuring Grades

In addition, understanding how the public-school world decides grading gives us reason to not follow them because we don’t have a classroom of 30 kids.

It’s a conundrum to somewhat follow a similar pattern of grading with widely acceptable ways of determining grades while meeting our unique circumstances at home.

Look at these tried-and-true tips and pointers.

  1. First, I didn’t realize that public school teachers aren’t really taught how to grade. Sure, there are some exceptions to this. But several public-school teachers turned homeschool mom who took my workshops revealed that they didn’t really learn how to grade. It’s a skill they’re supposed to pick up while in training. You can do the same while homeschooling.
  2. Second, grading needs to be purposeful. It’s one thing for me to show you various grading scales, but another for you to wield the tool of grading effectively.

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

Reasons to Grade

So, beyond your state requiring it, grades should give valuable feedback to your children.

Grades serve other reasons:

  • they communicate what your children have learned,
  • they give valuable feedback where your children are along the learning continuum, identify skills mastered and identify skills which need practice, 
  • and motivates students to grow and advance in proficiency.

Besides, if the grading tool is not created and wielded correctly, it can also have the reverse effect.

Homeschool Grades for Elementary Children

Once I realized balance was needed, I moved forward with these distinctions.

  • In the elementary grades, a check system like satisfactory or unsatisfactory is perfectly acceptable.
  • Trying to not follow public school standards in the early grades is important. Kids at that age are building their foundation of knowledge. To constantly test, quiz, and drill can be harmful to their confidence.

However, you may need a guide at this age.

Below I will give you various grading scales to use for both elementary and middle and high school students.

Be sure you’re following me on my YouTube channel How to Homeschool EZ for awesome tips.

Look at my video How to Gauge Your Homeschooled Child’s Progress.

In addition, high school is the time when grades become important.

A lot of states have relaxed laws which means you create your own high school transcript and grading system.

It’s important to become familiar now with easy ways to grade. I have a free editable transcript and helps for high school too at the bottom of this post.

Homeschool Grades for Middle and High School Teens

Next look at these two different, but easy ways to figure grades.

ONE.

Whatever subject your child is covering, convert all grades and numbers to 100. That system is understood by us because a lot of us were graded on this system.

It’s also an easy way to quickly create grading standards. Letter grades are converted to numerical value or percentages.

This system is based on the thought that 100% means all answers are correct.

Afterwards, decide how to grade assignments based on a 100 percent.

Two Easy Ways to Figure Grades For Different Subjects

Look at these various examples of how categories of assignments are divided to see what I’m talking about:

  • daily work 50%, quizzes 20%, projects 10%, and final test 10% = 100
  • assessments 75%, practice 20%, and extra practice 5% = 100
  • project 25%, quizzes 25%, test 50% = 100

From this you can tell grading is very subjective.

You can apply equal percentages to types of assignments or different percentages like above.

Too, if you want a guide of what to teach your kid when, you’ll love my online self-paced course Teaching the Stages of Homeschool. From PreK to High School, Learn at a Bird’s-Eye View of What Subjects to Teach & When to Teach Them.

I am your coach as I take you though the ages and stages of homeschooling.

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

Furthermore, your grading form can list under each category the objectives or assignments.

Look at this sample below where I used Assessments, Practice, and Extra Practice breakdown from above.

Assessments – 75%Practice – 20%Extra Practice – 5%
daily assignmentsdaily handwritingtyping
essayscreate a lapbookspelling game
book reportsscience experimentwatching videos

This is how I kept things easy. I decided what I wanted to grade (not grading everything) and which type of assignments or activities were more important to the subject we’re studying at the time.

It can feel a bit complicated in the beginning.

While some subjects are easier to grade than others, once you have the hang of it, just repeat the same percentages.

6 Easy Steps to Calculate Grades on Numbered Assignments

Also, look at my video How to Successfully Begin Homeschooling Middle & High School.

Additionally, some assignments are more straightforward to grade. Math is one type of subject which is easier to grade.

TWO.

Look below at these 6 easy steps to determine grades on numbered assignments like math. One of the best tips is to have a calculator handy or your phone calculator.

Here is how to easily grade an assignment like math which normally has a set number of problems like 20 or 30 problems.

  1. Correct any wrong answers on your child’s assignment.
  2. Look at the total number of problems on the assignment.
  3. Calculate the total number of problems correct.
  4. Divide the total number of correct answers by the total number of problems in the assignment.
  5. When you get that answer, multiply it by 100.
  6. Consult your grading scale to determine a letter grade if you want one. (I’ve shared grading scales below.)

Look at this real-life example from our math. The math assignment had 30 problems. My son missed 5 of the problems; he got 25 correct.

I divided 25 correct answers by 30 total number of problems which equals .83.

Next, multiply .83 x 100 or 83%. Finally, look for the percentage grading scale and find the corresponding letter grade if you’re keeping letter grades. Too, you’ll love this free EZ grader tool online tool.

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

As I mentioned, grading scales are subjective, but these are the two most common I’ve used in my homeschool. These grading scales can easily work for any grade level.

Easy Grading Scales For Homeschool

90–100% = A93–100% = A
80–89% = B86–92% = B
70–79% = C78–85% = C
60–69% = D70–77% = D
below 59% = Fbelow 69% = F

Noting the easy 6 steps above and based on my example about math, you can see that my student can make two different letter grades, namely a B or a C, depending on which grading scale I choose.

Now, let’s switch back to understanding the basics of percentages or the first method I mentioned.

In addition, look at my video How to Choose the BEST Middle School Literature for Your Homeschooled Child.

It’s important to understand how to categorize assignments using the 100 based system because some subjects or assignments especially like writing have very different objectives.

Grading essays is an art and is subjective.

In addition to the different genres of writing, there are many skills to learn as your student demonstrates writing.

Art is another subject that can be tough to grade.

Those types of assignments do not have a set number of problems.

Because you have specific goals for your children to meet, the best method to grade those types of subjects are percentage based.

Tina’s Time -Tested EASY Grade Figuring Tips

You can literally get overwhelmed with all this information and I’m going to keep it easy for you.

I have used these three easy grading tips and recommend them to you.

  1. choose one grading scale and stick to it
  2. use third percentages (more on this in a minute) on writing and other subjects which are hard to grade like art, writing, hands-on projects, and life skills.
  3. use both grading systems to keep grading uncomplicated.

My own opinion is that the grading scale of 90 to 100%= A is more reflective of a wider range of skills and it’s the one I’ve used more often.

Also, when grading essays, writing, or any other type of subjective assignment I keep my percentages divided by thirds only.

Having only 3 broad categories with assigned percentages kept grading easier for me.

Under each of those broad categories I created objectives.

Of course, you can use any combination of 100 to create your unique goals based on the needs of your children.

Back to mentioning thirds.

I understand that 100 can be divided different ways and it has great flexibility. Again, I prefer easy segmenting and having objectives within those sections.

For example, with the free form below for descriptive writing, I have 3 segments. One section is Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics 30%, Content and Style 35%, and Organization 35%.

However, you will notice I have objectives within each of those 3 categories.

Look below at my sample of the free form Middle School Descriptive Writing Grade Record which I created for you.

The grading record is for middle school, and it is to be used for a descriptive essay. Thank you to Kimberley, my follower, for allowing me to create it for her and for you.

Free Middle School Descriptive Writing Grade Record

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

The Middle School Descriptive Writing Grade Record is a subscriber only freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my Exclusive Subscriber’s Only Library which has this form in the library.

This is how you get access to this form quickly.
 1) Sign up on my list.
 2) Download the freebie.
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Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages

Rubric Versus Grading Scales

Another term which can make grading hard is understanding what is a rubric. A grading scale is a way to convert checkmarks to letter grades or to a number grade.

Although in the educational world now that has somewhat changed to a 1-to-4 point system. However, that still would have to convert to a letter grade for purposes of a report card. Don’t let me lose you.

A rubric is a term used more in the educational world and not as much in the homeschool world. A simpler term to understand is checklist.

Some homeschool evaluators with a teacher background prefer the term rubric. Whatever term you use checklist or rubric, it can be used different ways.

A rubric is a tool used by a student as a guide to view assignment expectations and objectives set by the teacher. It is a way to encourage students to self-check and can be used as a grading tool. Many rubrics exist on the internet and a lot of them are based on a 1-to-4 point system. Rubrics can be complex or simple.

Four is the highest and can mean achieve, accomplished, or even mastery. Three can be interpreted to mean proficient or practiced. Two can mean developing and one can signify incomplete.

Right away you see that a rubric or self-checking list may be more beneficial to a student of any age. We homeschool for mastery, not just a letter grade.

In addition, a checklist or rubric can encourage children to be challenged and show what they know instead of always measuring what they don’t know.

I think it’s important that if you use a rubric with young kids to assign positive terms to each number one through 4.

You’re encouraging growth at every age, but it’s especially important in the early grades that your children value practice and progress.

More Homeschool High School Teen Elective Resources

How to Calculate Homeschool Grades Using Rubrics

Here are a few more terms to describe each 1-to-4 point level; they can be mixed and matched based on the ages of your learners, subject type or project.

  • Needs Improvement, Satisfactory, Good and Well Done
  • Just Beginning, Getting There, Right On and Wow
  • Poor Effort, OK, Great, and Exceptional
  • Novice, Intermediate, Proficient and Distinguished
  • Beginning, Developing, Experienced and Exceptional
  • Beginning, Developing, Accomplished and Exemplary
  • Novice, Approaching, Proficient and Advanced Understanding
  • Not So Much, I Tried a Bit, I Did a Good Job and I Did My Best Ever is a cute one for art by Art Projects for Kids.

One thing I did when my children were teens was to show them my grading record, objectives, and goals. Can you see from that morphs a checklist or rubric?

A Homeschool Beginner’s Guide to Figuring Grades and Saving Time

Whether you use a checklist or orally convey your expectations to your children, I hope this information about figuring grades helps to simplify the process for you.

Look at these other helps.