profmom Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 What is your method for keeping up with grading assignments like math, grammar, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) For my little people, I basically check as we go. For my older kiddoes (grades 6 & 10) I have a hanging file thingy on the wall with a folder for each child. When they finish their work it goes in the file. In my plan book, I put a circle next to the assignment when I assign it. Then I place a check mark in the circle when I check it. If it needs to be corrected, I give it back to said child by means of their school box. When it is complete, I highlight the assignment in the plan book. When they give me back a corrected assignment...i highlight it in my planbook. As I write out their assignments for the next day, I put the circle in my planbook and start over... Oh...I record all grades into my planbook and then when we finish 9 weeks, I average them. I use a cheapo $5 Target planbook with boxes...and then instead of using days,(I cross them off and number the days.) I just plan out 160 lessons (to be covered in 180 days) for each subject we want to cover. Technical ...huh?? Can you tell I started homeschooling pre-computer or even internet?? LOL!!! ~~Faithe Edited October 3, 2009 by Mommyfaithe added infor.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpupg Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 What is your method for keeping up with grading assignments like math, grammar, etc.? This is my first year of keeping grades on everything for ds14. I print out a two-week assignment sheet -- one copy for him and one for me. As he turns in assignments, I note the date and grade on the assignment sheet. At some point, I will have to punch all this data into excel and run some averages. I am thinking I should get that file set up this weekend. I should calculate quarterly grades in ... maybe 3 weeks ... gotta go look up and set a firm date for that. I am anticipating a real pain in the patootie and doing lots of avoidance LOL. No doubt I should be typing the grades in weekly or bi-weekly ... well, I will get my payback on that, I am sure. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) Technical ...huh?? Can you tell I started homeschooling pre-computer or even internet?? LOL!!! ~~Faithe Thanks, Faithe! Don't feel badly! I've tried a couple of different software programs for lesson plans and grades (multiple times), and I'm generally computerized in other areas (LOL). However, handwritten (or Excel) seems to be the most efficient and simple way for me to handle lesson plans (for now, at least)! Even though I have a system for lessons plans, I actually kind of like the idea of the cheap planner from Target. :) Do you have one per child per year? Maybe with stick-on tabs where each subject starts in the planning book? One thing I'm currently working on is WHEN to grade everything. Do you have a set time in your day that you grade or do you just stop anytime you see something in your kids' folders? Also, do they just check their school boxes and make sure they've made all their corrections for the day? Edited October 3, 2009 by profmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks, Karen! Do you have a set time in your day when you grade his work? Do you let him check some of his work with the answer keys? Do you have a system that assures that his corrections are made daily or timely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 (edited) My littles I grade as we work. For the subjects the 9, 8 and 6 graders are combined in, I have them switch books and correct each others work as I call out the answers. The other subjects, I either correct or they ask another child to correct it. Anything such as writing I correct. Edited October 3, 2009 by Quiver0f10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 I'm reading the tread/poll on biggest homeschooling headaches and see that others are listing "staying on top of checking the kids' work" too! So, please post if you have a good system for this at your house! (I'm "this close," but would love to hear what is working for others for more ideas!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 This is the first year I'm actually keeping up with the grading. Dd7 (3rd grade) gets her math and spelling graded as she gets it done. Most everything else is pass/fail for her. If it isn't done well enough (like handwriting or her music practice) she has to do it again. It is very rare that she has to do it again. Ds12 (7th grade), I am grading strictly this year. My rule for myself is that I have to get his stuff graded by the end of the day. Sometimes the end of my day is 11:30 at night as I don't get finished with the grading by then (sigh). But on most days, I get a bit done during the day (in between working with dd7). Then what is left-over will be worked on after the kids have gone to bed. I actually count up how many points possible and how many correct and then do a percentage of that. A couple of his subjects are pass/fail too (music, handwriting, assignments like reading for history). On evenings where dd7 has gymnastics, I bring my grading and do it at the tables they have provided for the parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
profmom Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 My rule for myself is that I have to get his stuff graded by the end of the day. Good advice -- as simple as it sounds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpupg Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks, Karen! Do you have a set time in your day when you grade his work? Do you let him check some of his work with the answer keys? Do you have a system that assures that his corrections are made daily or timely? I usually puts his completed work on the kitchen table and I get to it as I can. I try to finish by the end of the day. Currently, I do not have him checking his own work; I think that would work only for math for him. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhM Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 This was a huge problem for me when I started homeschooling. After a few months, I realized I was doing the same thing I hated when dds' teachers did it at PS - giving feedback on a topic that was several days (or even weeks!) old, after we'd moved past it, and when it was difficult, if not too later altogether to revisit it. After that revelation, we started a system of correcting papers together at the start of the next lesson. So before starting today's grammar, we'd go over yesterday's work together and correct mistakes. Sometimes we'd decide to review that lesson rather than move on. It's made a huge difference in catching comprehension problems and with dds' retention of topics. It also makes a difference for dds to be involved in the grading. Then it's not me telling them that they're wrong (or even worse - a completely abstract "grade" at the top of the paper). They're able to see mistakes, and address them immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 TAfter a few months, I realized I was doing the same thing I hated when dds' teachers did it at PS - giving feedback on a topic that was several days (or even weeks!) old, after we'd moved past it, and when it was difficult, if not too later altogether to revisit it. This was me the last couple of years. It was a problem, esp. in math, because he was practicing some things wrong for a week before I saw that he was doing it wrong. This is the main reason I get it done every single day. The days when I'm tired, and just don't want to, I remember how awful it was when I was so behind. The first 2 or 3 min. of our "class" is spent looking at the work from the day before. Most of his stuff this year, I'm not having him re-do. He has another opportunity to practice it because almost everything we do this year is cumulative. If it isn't, like for a history report, I have a first draft, redo, final draft system in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Good advice -- as simple as it sounds! Me too...if it isn't graded, they won't move on to the next assignment. MUST....GET.....GRADING....DONE.... Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funschooler5 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 This is the first year I've kept track of grading (other than circling what was wrong in their workbooks). I have Homeschool Tracker Plus, and now that I've figured out how to use it, it's going very smoothly. Math and grammar are the two main subjects that I have to calculate grades for (the others, like history, writing, etc, I go by how much information I think they've learned, sort of an abstract thing). We use Teaching Textbooks for math, and that has its own gradebook built in, so I just copy the info from that into Homeschool Tracker. For grammar, I mark on their workbooks each day, but I don't enter anything in the computer till the end of the week (I do that for every subject). Sometimes I enter stuff as I go, but my main record-keeping is done on Friday. It's just easier for me to do it all at once, when I'm in grading mode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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