Grading your childs work

[suecsue]

Hi,
My name is Sue and I am new to HOD. I used LHTH with my DD6 and DD4 for KIndergarten/Pre-K. We all loved it! I just started school with LHFHG on July 1st! Yes...July 1st! They couldn't wait so I decided to do 2 days one week and 3 the next until we get into a routine! Again, we love HOD!!! It is a fun way to learn! My question is about grading your childs work. Does anyone have a system of grading or do you not grade your childs work. My DD6 is just starting 1st grade. Just curious.

[rainbowacreshs]

I think if I could have gone back and re-do my oldest dd's early years I would not have focused on grades so much until she hit the 5th grade.
However, I also think that whether or not you "grade" may depend on your state's requirements and or homeschool association requirements.
My state encourages a form of recording documented progress..(I hate vague thoughts lol), therefore I do try to keep grades. I don't try to grade every thing that she does that gets very tedious (I used to do this and ended up w/ so much paper filed that it took me 2 months to cull it all down). With my dd, I grade only her math tests, the geography reviews/quizzes, grammar tests, choosen writing projects (which are from either her history and or language arts writing), and science--over all notebook and extra projects like lapbooks. On the whole she's mainted a B+ average.
Hope that helps some.. I know the other ladies will chime in on this one too.

[inHistiming]

The only thing I actually put a 'grade' on is their math tests...but it's really just for us. It helps me to see how many they miss and what grade that equates to....then I know if it is 'passing' or not. I do go over any workbook pages or work from their English and math books....my youngest ds uses Explode the Code and a couple of other workbooks a few days a week so I check those to make sure he's understanding it all. We review together anything that they missed on any of their work before moving on. History and science do not get grades, just looked over to make sure they followed directions, etc. HTH

[mamayi]

We don't keep grades as my dc are young (just finished K and 2nd) and I like to "evaluate" their work rather than "grade" it. My goal is to see if they're learning the concepts they are supposed to be learning. I am not concerned about giving a percentage score or letter grade. I do like to show my dc the progress they've made in certain areas by comparing work done the previous year (or even just the previous month) for evaluation purposes. I guess our family likes to focus on the continued growth in learning rather than a particular grade.
Good question. It'll be interesting to hear what mom's with older children have to say.

[momtofive]

We began our homeschooling journey with A Beka. The A Beka way, is to grade pretty much everything. A LOT like public school, in it's feel. I went to public school all the way to graduation, so I know what that was like. With that system we were to have a letter grade or number on almost everything. It was very frustrating, because even if your child was doing very well in a subject, but the test was very vague or not designed well, they might do poorly on it and feel awful getting a low grade.

I am looking forward to this coming year with HOD. It will be our first year, and it will be a refreshing change. . . . . .for the better! I don't anticipate needing to keep too many grades recorded. I will most likely just record whatever grades they receive from any tests or quizzes and every so often I could record a grade, kind of like a progress report, of how I think they are doing/progressing in a subject. The Charlotte Mason philosophy doesn't really put a lot of emphasis on this type of system. The "gentle art of learning" isn't one that depends on a letter or number to tell you if a child is really learning. This concept is so freeing to me, as their teacher. We can now focus on learning in such a beautiful and wholesome way, and not worry so much about studying for a test and seeing the kids get all tense and nervous about it. That just doesn't seem natural to me. I just love everything I'm learning about Charlotte Mason and her philosophies.

HOD does a very fine job of incorporating her ideals on education in a very special way. I've not found anything at all like it. It's because the Lord has enabled Carrie to have a heart for children, families, and learning, and most of all for HIM! That definitely sets this curriculum apart!

I guess, my advice to you, would be to check out what's required in your state for record keeping, and adapt your grading to what is required. I hope I could help in some way!

In Christ,

Lisa

[MamaPajama]

Funny you should ask this. I just read about this in Karen Andreola's Charlotte Mason Companion yesterday. Basically what she says is that with narration there is no need for grading. She does say that you should drill your children on important facts, dates, etc., but that by putting things in their own words children will retain information much better than when they are being tested or graded.

That said, I do "grade" my son's math tests because math is not left up to the students' interpretation. I have him go through the answers with me and mark his problems correct or incorrect, and then I have him correct his work himself.

[Mommamo]

My kiddos are still little (the oldest is about to be 7) and thus far I haven't graded anything. With math, I sit with her as she does it, and I expect her to think through it until she finds the right answer. There just hasn't been the need to grade, and I really don't like the focus on "grades," which is largely why we are homeschooling in the first place. I've seen some children become so focused on getting a good "grade" that they don't really enjoy learning just for the sake of learning. Right now my children have that joy and I'd love for them to keep it. That being said, if we were in a state that required some form of grading system (thank goodness we're not) I of course would do it. I might just keep it for my own records though and never really show my children. I think grades are useful in a classroom situation where you have a lot of kids to keep track of, but we often talk about topics from "school" throughout our day, and I feel like for us that's a much better evalutation method. However, if you feel more comfortable with keeping grades, I think HOD is flexible enough that you can, I just personally don't feel it's necessary for little ones.

[my3sons]

Hi Sue, and welcome to the HOD Board! Here are a few past posts about grading that may be helpful:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4822&p=35507
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5907&p=43450

We opt for the portfolio approach. I wondered if it would effect how my ds does on standardized testing, but my ds has done very well! So, no worries there.

In Christ,
Julie

[suecsue]

Thank you all! I enjoyed reading your posts! I think all I need to do is report in the form of a portfolio or progress report here. Thank you again for your input on this!