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When do y'all do grading and how? Do your students know their grades? The other day someone asked my 12-year-old how she was doing in school and she looked at me and shrugged. Since I don't make a big deal about the actual grade/score, except on end-of-chapter tests, they just do the work.

 

I do most of my grading on Saturday when my hubby has charge of the twins, but I need to figure out a way to do more during the week so I can correct problems when they happen.

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I do belong to an oversight academy, so grades have always been required for us, but I would do them anyway, even if they were not required.

 

I think it helps my ds to have a sense of pride in his accomplishments and helps him to feel more "normal" as far as school goes. He is motivated by grades and it really helps him to know where he stands too. He gets very upset with himself if he doesn't do well on a test or assignment and then he jumps in and does better.

 

I also think that because I've always graded him, it helped him to be prepared for outside courses that are graded by someone other than me.

 

As for when I do it, I try to keep up with daily stuff, but often fail at it. I catch up on the weekends if I need to. I used to have to file quarterly grade reports, up through the end of 8th grade, but now that he's in high school they only require semester grades. However, we do have to provide a monthly summary of what we've done for accountability with our oversight. All of the deadlines help me tremendously....I'd probably procrastinate way to much with out them.

 

As a matter of fact, I'm avoiding grading labs for four kids right now...;) Well, I'd better get to work.

 

By the way, I don't think you need to grade everything they do, either....just enough to have a good sense of where they stand.

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I try to check all the schoolwork daily. I don't always succeed with that, but that's my goal.

 

I always manage to check my 9yo's work because I work with her all the time.

 

I nearly always manage to check my 12yo's work during her one-on-one time.

 

I don't always get to my 14yo's history questions, but I do get to her geometry and biology every day. I don't always get to her writing assignments either.

 

The only things that I actually put grades on are tests.

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The only thing I really graded before high school was math tests, and yes, he did know what his grades were. For other subjects, I did check written work, like math problems, and made him correct the ones that were wrong, but I didn't give a grade. My rationale was that I wanted to make sure he knew the material, but I didn't want to overly bog him down with grades on his daily work. I also wanted to teach him to be extra careful to thoroughly check his work when he's doing a test. I also helped him edit and improve his writing, but I didn't grade that either.

 

Once high school came around, I had to figure out a way to grade each course. I was able to find a rubric for grading essays in the "Teaching the Essay" book from Analytical Grammar. IEW also has a sort of grading sheet that one uses with their curriculum. Once I saw these, I was able to make up my own grading rubric for subjects that required writing depending on what I expected from a particular course. I make sure that I give my son copies of the grading rubric before he begins the assignment so he knows what to expect.

 

I've also purchased test books from the book publisher to use for grades if a particular publisher has a test book. When ds was in 9th grade, I got several month behind grading some of his work. I had to work like crazy to catch up, and I learned my lesson. Now I try to grade math and science tests the same day, and I try not to get more than a week or two behind grading essays.

 

Brenda

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I also use rubrics for grading writing of any type and provide the rubric to my student(s).

 

For example, I am also working with 3 other boys for a physics lab. I gave them copies of the type of lab write-up I wanted, a detailed complete example of a lab report and a grading rubric that told how any points I would give for various things. I also gave them the opportunity, for the 1st semester only, that I'd give them a pre-grading critique if they were willing to turn in a draft 5 days in advance of the final due date (especially important for two of the boys who had never had to write a lab report before). Now that the 1st semester is over, they will have to do it on their own, but they have ample examples of exactly what I expect from them. It's pretty demanding, but very fair.

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That's a good idea (using a rubric for grading). I'll have to try that again. I sort of had one for book reports when the girls were younger but they were resistant and I was lazy so I let it drop.

 

Ok, gotta figure out how to grade daily, I think.

 

Thanks!

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I grade while they work. Goal one in grading here is to always have it done before they begin the next day. I can't stand letting it pile up.

 

Qualifier...We were required in our former state to turn in grades and that helped me develop the grading habit. Although, I don't love it getting it done feels better than dreading it.

 

I also love using rubrics for written assignments.:rolleyes:

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Once high school came around, I had to figure out a way to grade each course. I was able to find a rubric for grading essays in the "Teaching the Essay" book from Analytical Grammar. IEW also has a sort of grading sheet that one uses with their curriculum. Once I saw these, I was able to make up my own grading rubric for subjects that required writing depending on what I expected from a particular course. I make sure that I give my son copies of the grading rubric before he begins the assignment so he knows what to expect.

 

Thank you so much for this information. I've had a hard time grading my son's writing assignments -- and there are *so* many of them! I have "Teaching the Essay" but we haven't used it yet (he's had so much other work to do) but this gives me a starting point.

 

We use Home School Tracker, so up to now I've just been marking his writing assignments as completed because I didn't want to assign grades that were too high or too low. So now I have quite a bit to go back through and actually grade. :)

 

Thanks again for posting this.

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Thank you so much for this information. I've had a hard time grading my son's writing assignments -- and there are *so* many of them! I have "Teaching the Essay" but we haven't used it yet (he's had so much other work to do) but this gives me a starting point.

 

Kris -- One note about the "Teaching the Essay" rubric -- it gives grades for things like "number of sentences" in the essay. I, personally, don't require a specific number of sentences in the essay, so I disregard that requirement. I use the rest of the requirements from that rubric fairly loosely, too. I do look for three separate sub-topics, one in each of the body paragraphs. I also expect quotes from the book to support the arguments, transitions to smooth the flow, and relevant concluding sentences for each paragraph.

 

I was a little afraid of grading the written assignments once we hit 9th grade, and it took me a few months to get a good system in place. However, once I got the rubrics developed and made sure my son had copies before he started the assignments, things went much more smoothly.

 

Brenda

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on their transcripts.

I have given dd grades since we started homeschooling. Only in the last few years has she cared what they are. She gets this big grin on her face when she gets A's and B's in math.

If the child wants to know tell them, or start giving them grades.

 

on Grading we have told dd that with math and science she has to get at least a B. If not she does it over and it has helped her be come aware of what she is getting wrong in the first place.

 

HTH

Linda

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Kris -- One note about the "Teaching the Essay" rubric -- it gives grades for things like "number of sentences" in the essay. I, personally, don't require a specific number of sentences in the essay, so I disregard that requirement. I use the rest of the requirements from that rubric fairly loosely, too. I do look for three separate sub-topics, one in each of the body paragraphs. I also expect quotes from the book to support the arguments, transitions to smooth the flow, and relevant concluding sentences for each paragraph.

 

I was a little afraid of grading the written assignments once we hit 9th grade, and it took me a few months to get a good system in place. However, once I got the rubrics developed and made sure my son had copies before he started the assignments, things went much more smoothly.

 

Thanks for these pointers, Brenda. I really appreciate the help.

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