homeschoolgrades

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

March 28, 2022 | 2 Comments
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.

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.
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.

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 assignments	daily handwriting	typing
essays	create a lapbook	spelling game
book reports	science experiment	watching 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.

Correct any wrong answers on your child’s assignment.
Look at the total number of problems on the assignment.
Calculate the total number of problems correct.
Divide the total number of correct answers by the total number of problems in the assignment.
When you get that answer, multiply it by 100.
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.

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% = A	93–100% = A
80–89% = B	86–92% = B
70–79% = C	78–85% = C
60–69% = D	70–77% = D
below 59% = F	below 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.

choose one grading scale and stick to it
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.
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

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.
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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?

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.

How to Grade Hands-on Homeschool Activities and Projects (Free Rubric for Grading)

August 23, 2018 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether to grade papers or not for your kids can be quite easy to decide. If it causes unnecessary stress or increased motivation for your kids, you know. However, how to grade hands-on homeschool activities and projects fits into another category.

If you use unit studies which is mastery-based learning, do unschooling, or relaxed learning which all fit this same slant of mastery-based learning, you know it can be a conundrum on how to grade projects.

Looking back and analyzing what I did for each of my kids, I was able to come up with some guidelines I’ve used.

Hands-on Activities: Mundane or Monumental

Before I share these guidelines which will be of great help to you, let me remind you of two significant things of the superiority of hands-on projects over paperwork.

Don’t pass up valuable hands-on activities because you may not have a starting point for grades.

Grades really do matter when you live in a state that requires them or when you need to put something on a high school transcript like I’ve had to do three times.

It’s not as important to grade projects when kids are younger unless they need the motivation. However, to add them to a high school transcript becomes important so that you’re highlighting your child’s strengths and uniqueness.

Hands-on ideas and projects can be a superior way to grading because standards are self-imposed. This is opposite of how paperwork is graded.

Projects are not based on comparison to others like the present paperwork grading system. When a grade is given on paperwork it is in comparison to others the same age or the same grade.

We fight our whole homeschool journey avoiding comparison traps; implementing projects is an excellent way to challenge your kids and make them self-aware.

Basing grading on self-imposed standards creates critical thinkers who are testing and improving self and not in comparison to others.

Grading Hands-on Activities or Projects: The 6 Cs

I remind myself that with hands-on projects kids can progress at their own pace meaning they are more engaged and challenged or they can slow down and relax when a subject is tough.

Next, I set up standards for grading because we did not give up hands-on projects in the middle or high school years. A grade is needed for a transcript.

When I grade hands-on activities for my older kids, they all seem to fall under these six concepts which I use as standards.

1. Content

Content is probably one of the areas I spend the longest time grading. I look specifically for topics that I laid out for my sons to cover.

Although hands-on projects are about free exploration, it’s not always if you have specific objectives that need to be met.

For example, when we did our Amazon Rain Forest unit study, my then high school teen had to focus on not only the science of the rain forest, but the devastating effects of stripping the earth of the trees. Deforestation and the rippling effects globally was something I wanted highlighted.

Looking over his completed project of lapbook, writing assignment, and hands-on activities I checked for my objectives too.From there, I moved to what other concepts he included in his content. How unique was it? How detailed did he get? Did he look at the global picture? Are his thoughts illustrated or written in a way that is appropriate for his level?

Again, I’m looking at ways he challenged himself. Not ways to compare him to others his age.

2. Creativity

I use to shriek at the word creativity because I thought it was kin to craft activities. My boys are not the crafty loving kind of kids. Hands-on yes, but coloring and glitter no.

However, like you and I know creativity goes far beyond artistry or crafts.

Creativity is being able to use the imagination to be original. Hey, that is why I’m homeschooling. I’m original, my kids are original although they may not feel like it.

So I look for ways my kids were original in their projects. Did they come up with their ideas and rabbit trails or did they just follow what I asked them to do? When kids are little, this is okay. You’re teaching them to stretch outside of their comfort zone.

However, as kids get older, they need to prove that they are being self-taught, not just taking the guided tour from you. Creativity and initiative go hand and hand for hands-on projects.

3. Completeness

Completeness is another area I grade.

This may seem subjective, but again each mastery-based assignment has a purpose for that student. By not comparing him to others I look for ways he put forth effort to make the project a whole learning experience and yet individualistic.

How vast is his knowledge of it depends on how deep or complete he decided to explore.

For example, we did a FBI unit study for my teens. Using a large oatmeal box, my sons under the direction of the Mr. made crystal radios which is a homemade radio for picking up am stations.I thought that was it for the depth of understanding it. However, one of my teens pursued the subject of how sound is made without power and understanding the basics of reading a schematic.

In addition, the use of the radio and other ways of espionage led to an investigation of communism and Russia.

My objective or standard for this unit study was to focus on how the government interacts with other investigative branches. Clearly, my high school teen went beyond the objectives to get a more complete view of how the American government interacts with other agencies.

He was given a grade for his level of completeness based on his abilities.

4. Collaboration

Collaboration is an essential skill in both a career or college track. Real world learning is at its best with hands-on activities in a group setting.

How best to teach it? At home with siblings of different ages or at a co-op with others who have different abilities.

For example, I graded my teen on collaboration when he did a unit study on the country of Turkey. He chose the topic for our geography co-op class where a presentation was required by our kids.

My then high school teen was the one in charge of the project, assigning the parts of the unit study to investigate, presentation of the visual poster board, completing it, and guiding his siblings to finishing their parts.

It’s one thing to have an idea and quite another to get a group who do not share your same experience to work together for a harmonious theme.

It was challenging to say the least as he had to answer his siblings’ questions, entertain their different ideas, and agree on another way to work out the assignment.

There is no way such a vital skill can be show on a paper. It has to be experienced. Then, there has to be a way to give that skill a grade.

5. Challenging

Another facet I look at when looking over a project or hands-on activity is to see if my kids challenged themselves. You and I know that nobody else knows our kids as well as we do. You know when they’re motivated and when they’re not.

I can use art as an example. How can a student challenge himself?

Depending on his skill level, just deciding that he would take on the project can be challenging for an art phobic student. I have a couple of kids that don’t feel they’re good artists. On the other hand for my son who has more natural ability I would expect him to go above it to challenge himself for a higher grade.

How to Grade Hands-on Homeschool Activities and Projects (Free Rubric for Grading)

Did either student challenge himself with his presentation or did he stay at a comfortable zone with his skill level? Again, not in comparison to others his age or grade.Is the process sophisticated or complex as a whole? How much time my kids spend on a project can be a good gauge. Was the project a one day project or did it take weeks to complete?

If it took weeks, did he dawdle or was he engrossed in a way to figure out a different way to approach the task? Those are questions I ask myself when I look over their projects.

6. Critical Thinking Skills

Depending on the project, another area I look at is the level of critical thinking skills. Choosing unit studies as our preferred way of teaching was my choice because of how my children learned. They’re ready to pursue each topic in-depth instead of piece meal.

They want unbridled learning and I have fed that through the years. However, a higher level of learning requires that my kids know how to process and sort through information. Otherwise all of that information can be a runny mess.

Things just as poor reasoning, logic, quantified statements, brainstorming, analyzing sources are all part of critical thinking skills.

Depending on your child’s age, you can target the skills your child displays in his hands-on activity.

Hands-on Activity Rubric

How to Grade Hands-on Homeschool Activities and Projects (Free Rubric for Grading). Don’t shy away from having fun in your homeschool or including needed hands-on activities because you’re afraid you won’t be able to grade them. Grab the tips here AND grab a free rubric for grading hands-on homeschool activities. CLICK HERE!

Grading hands-on projects doesn’t have to be stressful. Don’t give up hands-on activity because you think they’re too hard to grade.

I’m so excited because today I’ve created a new form which will help you to grade hands-on projects.

As I explained above, I analyzed how I’ve created our numerous hands-on projects we’ve done through the years and I’ve reduced the standards to a printable form.

Not only did I create this newest form, but here I explain how to use it.

The top part of the form gives you place to jot down the activity, date you planned it for, and a box I like to use to match it to a unit study theme.

If you don’t do unit studies, then use the box to jot down your lesson plan number to pair it with the hands-on activity idea.

The bottom part of the form you’ll love because it gives you a place to check subjects which the hands-on project meets.

Yes, hands-on crafts may take more time to do, but you’ll notice how they also span way more subjects.

Then of course, there is a place to mark for the grade. I don’t believe in Fs.

If your child refused to do it, you know that before you start. This form is to help you and your kids both to make hands-on activities more engaging.

I know you’ll love this newest form to add to the growing list of forms for my 7 Step Homeschool Planner.

What do you think? Will this make it easier for you to grade hands-on activities or better yet include more of them in your homeschool?

How to Get the Free Homeschool Forms

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

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

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You’ll love these other tips:

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

October 22, 2016 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m showing you how to grade a homeschool unit study for an older child. Also, look at my free Homeschool Planner page for more forms.

I didn’t choose to do homeschool unit studies because I felt I was creative or liked flying by the seat of pants.

What I do like about homeschool unit studies is the unbridled time for learning topics that interests my kids. Later on I would learn that is called mastery learning.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment)

Choosing to move away from laid out curriculum to mastery learning can bring a unique set of challenges for an older child.

And doing homeschool unit studies, with an older child looks very different than the themed learning I did with my boys in prek and Kindergarten. That is another topic to tell you about.

Today, I am sharing with you what I have been working on for several months; it is a unit study assessment for an older child and it works for high school too.

Grade a Homeschool Unit Study

I wished I have done it sooner, but you know I’m always slow about my homeschool forms because I need them to work.

It took me a while to wrap my mind around how to do an assessment as I was writing my notes for my older two sons.

The bottom line is that I won’t give up our passion for mastery learning so that I can put grades on a transcript.

However, knowing in high school, that you do need more conformity, I created my own unique assessment.

Now with son number three, I have been able to put on one page what I’m looking for when doing a unit study with an older child, even a high school teen.

Let’s just face it, too. There is a lot out there for younger kids, but not a lot of specifics for older kids.

And because I deal in specifics and know generalities won’t help you or me either one, I prepared a detailed unit study assessment.

3 Smart Tips for Assessing Work for an Older Student

I will share the specifics about the assessment in a minute, but look at these other ways to record keep, grade and assess.

Keep in mind this is mastery learning or project-oriented type of learning. Think about assessing each part of the unit study using general marks like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair. Don’t get hung up on grades during the year because you can still assess one at the end of the year or unit study.
When it comes to language arts use a simple column method. I listed books and other sources my kids read, topics they wrote about and things they learned in grammar. Those things fall easily under the category of English in high school. I gave an assessment on those areas like Distinguished, Satisfactory and Fair when I graded them, but on the transcript I made them an A or B. We followed different writing programs through the years and I used the concepts they were teaching, but took the topics from the current unit study. Having a few teacher’s notes from the writing program gave me guidance on grading their writing, but I didn’t let it consume me.
Also,I wrote down the subtopics we studied. Even though we don’t have to record keep in Texas, I wanted to keep them for high school. However, if you’re in a an area that requires record keeping, then writing down what you have done is a perfectly acceptable way to show progress.

Another reason to record keep is that normally an older child needs feedback. I wanted my sons to know what I thought of their work.

It’s not only important to self-evaluate for an older child, but they need to learn how to handle feedback from me. This is part of adult life when others evaluate you.

unit-study-general-assessment-high-school-tinas-dynamic-homeschool-plus

About this DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Look at how I created this unit study assessment, which can be used for an older child or high school.

It is a general evaluation of mastery.
Because there is no way I could cover every objective I have on my unit study unless I prepared an assessment for each one, I wanted one assessment that was unique. It is not about all grades and no benchmarks and vice versa. It has both a grade and assessments like I mentioned earlier.
I took each subject and highlighted two general benchmarks that I’m looking for at the high school level.
Also, unlike high school assessments, I created part of this assessment like a vocation adult mastery class because unit studies are about mastery. It’s important to treat my older children like they will be in the adult world of college and career. Each part of the assessment does not fit perfectly into a canned grading system. I’m not looking to fit each benchmark in my unit studies, but to have a general rule of thumb when grading.
The first section is the most important part to me because it deals with motivation and attitude, which are of more value to me.
The rest of the sections are about aptitude because there has to be some way to grade or assess older kids in each subject.
The last section is also of value to me because it is the very heart of mastery learning, which are projects. Projects are really self-evaluations for students because they demonstrate what they know and students will pick projects that fit their learning style.
Lastly, I can assign a grade at the very bottom if I need to. By not putting a grading scale, you can use your own.

DETAILED Unit Study Assessment

Creating something unique that is both a mastery learning assessment and a grading system, I am excited to put this to good use.

Also, I love it because it makes a great add to my Ultimate Unit Study Planner.

Ultimate Unit Study Planner Store @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus 600x

2. Ultimate DIY Homeschool Unit Study Planner
$5.99 Add to cart

I think it’s true when they say three times is a charm because with my third highschooler, I now have a super unique way to assess his efforts.

How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment) @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus Blog

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Should we Give Grades to Our Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids

May 12, 2015 | 8 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It made perfect sense to me because I was modeling a public school by grading papers. I thought grades were needed then. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school and how to homeschool high school page for more fun tips

My thinking has changed and been tweaked quite a bit since my start up in homeschooling.

I had to rethink the whole purpose of grades and grading. Why was I just following what public school did?

Who were the grades for anyway?

Homeschool Grading versus Homeschool Grades.

Mr. Senior 2013 was wanting some way to measure his understanding of the papers and that is very normal.

Too, he wanted my approval and to know that he was doing things correct. Again, that makes sense and it is a natural way to make progress.

Taking a closer look at my feelings and experience so far, I understood then that there is a fine, but significant difference between grading and giving a grade. The two concepts have to be separated.

For example, in elementary grades, I would mark the papers with how many answers were correct.

If there were 20 math questions, and Mr. Senior 2013 got 3 wrong, I would mark 17/20. He would know he got 3 wrong and would look to correct those answers.

This method very much satisfied his need for wanting to be sure things were right and gave us an informal way of grading.

Too, it fit the purpose of what I think grading is all about in the early grades, which is making progress and having quality work.

When the boys started the middle school years, grades became more important.

They were interested in how they measured up against others who were doing the same thing.

As homeschool parents we know we are not comparing our kids to each other, but kids want to know how they would measure up in a formal setting to others their same age.

Realizing too that if I wanted to start seeing more independence at this age, my sons needed some way to chart what they knew versus what needed to be improved.

Should We Give Grades to our Middle and High School Homeschooled Kids @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I came up with yet another system during the middle school time.

I just graded math, quizzes, tests and essays.

This system was not only doable, but it gave my boys something to measure by so they could improve their skills. At this point, they wanted a letter grade.

Too, I realized there was no need to give grades daily because I expected them to check their work each day against the teacher’s manual.

The quizzes, tests, reviews and essays were all done without the answers keys or teacher’s manual. Too, I do oral evaluations with them and this is part of my grading system.

This is much like narration. If they can’t tell me back what they know without looking in the book did they really learn it?

As the high school years crept in, I had to think again about the importance of letter grades because high school is a time to prepare my kids for more formal learning.

After wrestling with many different systems, when the boys entered high school, grade keeping was easier but still needed to be finely tuned.

When Mr. Senior 2013 entered high school, I started off grading all assignments. It made me flash back to my early days of grading in elementary school.

Soon, I realized that there was no way I could keep this pace up as I had other children to teach and I realize it was my fear of homeschooling high school that made me go a bit overboard.

Again, I had to rethink why I was grading each day. I knew high school was the important stage to keep grades for his transcript, but again, I had to come up with another system.

I started grading weekly instead of daily for three reasons:

It saved time because there was no need to grade daily work that he was learning;
It gave me a better look at what he was doing for the week by glancing at it for a week because then I was able to judge mastery more critically; and
It was a much better and simpler way to record keep in high school when I only had 4 grades (4 weeks) to average and give him a grade for the month instead of 30 grades (30 days).

Pretty easy uh?

When homeschooling high school, you don’t want record keeping or grading to get away from you and I have learned it is much better to keep up with as you plod along.

I know some homeschoolers who scrambled for grades for their high schooler at the end of four years, but I can’t imagine that would be easier or even accurate.

The key is developing a system for the needs of your kids, your needs and what your children will need in the future.

How to Reassess A Homeschool Grading System EACH Year.

Look at these questions that will help you determine an easy system for charting progress at whatever level you are at in your homeschool journey.

At this time do I just need grading or grades?
After my child has had time to decompress from being at public school, is he the the type of child that needs some feedback? If he needs feedback, what form is best for him? According to his age, will a smiley face suffice? Will an E for Excellent, S for Satisfied and N for Needs improvement be sufficient? Does he need a letter grade for accurate measuring?
What is my reason for grades?
Do I want to reward for good grades or just expect my kids to do their best?
How do my children view grades? Do they stress out on a quiz or test knowing that I will grade it?
Do my kids understand that there is no way we can accurately gauge everything we know but that grades are measuring sticks only?

What do you give grades for in homeschool and in which grade do you start keeping grades?

Hugs and love ya,