Consequences for late papers/assignments?

[Tardis Girl]

I've been thinking about a thread on the college board about preparing seniors to follow a syllabus, etc. I *really* like this idea, and although we've done some things like that, it's never been quite as thorough as I would like. Now I'm really starting to see how we could do this, after listening to what some others have said.

 

BUT....

 

What kinds of consequences do you impose on your "college prep" students if they miss a deadline that was clearly stated on the syllabus? Ideally, this wouldn't happen, but let's be realistic. :) I'm thinking grade deduction would be one obvious option, or even grade omission depending on what it was. Other thoughts? What about daily homework (which wouldn't necessarily be submitted or checked in college)?

 

Of course, if a grading scale was included on the syllabus, that would help with all this. For example, hypothetically:

40% Essays

20% Final exam

15% Midterm exam

15% Semester Project

10% Quizzes

 

OK, so they turn in an essay late and they knew the date well in advance. What do you do?

[dragons in the flower bed]

:lurk5:

[Faithr]

I don't do anything grade-wise. I simply tell them that they can't use the car or some other dire consequence. Never had a late paper yet!

[Faithr]

Wait! I'm coming back to elaborate on the above post. I am not punitive usually at all with my teens. We are actually pretty relaxed around here. However, since we are all natural born procrastinators in this household (must be in the genes!) and because I do want certain things like papers to have a definitive deadline I do get very strict about them. So from the get go they know I'm serious about this particular issue. For my oldest dd, before she was driving, I told her she couldn't not go on a church related week long trip unless her papers where handed in by then. She got it done. I give them a week warning before the due date. No paper, no car keys, or . . . (fill in the blank). It motivates them and they get it done and then they are grateful to me for being so tough.

 

And fyi my dd's experience at college this year was very telling. A lot of homeschoolers attend her college. The homeschoolers were very good at getting papers in on time. The ones who went to school? Very, very sly about getting extensions from the teachers. So much for school preparing one for deadlines!

[TravelingChris]

I deduct a letter grade for each day an assignment is late unless previously arranged. Two kids who took my class this year had this happen to them.

[Hannah C.]

Are you trying to get your students ready for the college environment, or do you want your students to just turn in their papers when they're supposed to?

 

At the college I attend, late papers are either not accepted or have a letter grade deducted for every day they're late. Missed tests are usually not able to be made up. If there are extenuating circumstances (serious family crisis, serious illness, death, massive conflicting papers in different classes) these rules can be negotiated, but the student who sleeps in is out of luck. So, if you are trying to get students ready for college, I'd say follow guidelines like that.

 

If you just want to make sure your kids get stuff done, I like ideas posted by people like Faithr. :) I think they would definitely be effective!

[Faithr]

I don't believe taking off a grade for late papers is a smart idea in the homeschool world. Personally I think it punishes the parent more than the child! After all those of us homeschooling moms have the goal (99% anyway) that hopefully our child will get into college. Do we really want to limit their chances for college/scholarships because they couldn't make a deadline? A very common failing of many, many teens. Schools can be coldhearted about giving poor grades, but doing the same thing at home hurts everybody! A homeschooling family is not an institution and I think this is one of those areas where it shows.

 

So if the grades count towards college than you are sinking your own ship by deciding to tie grades to timeliness. There are other ways to go about it. Schools can't take away car keys, computer privileges, etc.

 

But what if grades don't really matter to the college? I suspect when coming from homeschools, they don't. I think colleges tend to rely on SAT scores, grades gotten from community college courses, and other outside verificaton of a student's ability to learn. Then bringing down the grade has no real consequence anyway. So it is a pretty empty gesture.

[FaithManor]

I always graded the assignment on its merits and then deducted a full letter grade for being late...one full grade for every two days late.

 

That said, like any good professor, I listened to reasonable requests for extensions based on extenuating circumstances and if my child made a good case, then I would give an appropriate extension without consequence. If the excuse was lame, well honey, you'd better get working because that 5:00 p.m. deadline is looming!

 

If dd was sick, I always gave her at least a couple of extra days after she had recovered and sometimes a whole week maybe even more. It just depended on what the illness was. When she passed the kidney stone and spent time in the ER getting pain meds and making sure it wasn't her appendix, well, she was given a lot of extra time but I am certain that my college professors would have been as generous. I never had trouble getting a serious extension when I had pneumonia in college.

 

Mostly, I required that she present a well-reasoned argument for needing more time. But, in cases where she procrastinated or did not judge her time wisely, the deadline was firm because I wanted to instill in her that need to meet deadlines. This is just so important for future employment. I am so glad that I did this because now that she is in paramedic school, it is serving her well. She is always the first to have home work done, the first to meet or exceed deadlines, and the first to have her patient paperwork and medical histories in to the office at the end of clinicals. She just doesn't leave anything hanging over her head and she is so much more relaxed than her fellow students who are always scrambling to get things done.

 

Dd was pretty great. She only needed just a few tough moments with late assignments and that cured her. She was always determined to have good grades.

 

Now, ds 13 may not care quite so much. So, dh has devised a plan that will really hit home with him. Ds loves to learn computer programming so dh is going to allow him to have this as an elective for credit every year of high school, but he will take away his computer access including all of his favorite games plus working on the game he'd like to sell, if he doesn't get his other work done first and in on time. That should hit him where it counts! Plus, a bad grade in computer science because he lost his computer privileges would really send a message because the computer stuff is where he tends to be very competitive.

 

Ds 11, I am not certain about him. But, he tends to just want to get his work done and over with and he isn't much of a procrastinator. So, it may not be a problem.

 

Ds 10 is the logical thinker. If it weren't for his terrific sense of humor, you'd think he was "Mr. Spock" of Star Trek fame. So, his philosophy is, there is a deadline, it is logical to meet the deadline, I will therefore meet the deadline. Period. For high school, I'll hand this one four years worth of syllabuses (sp) and he'll disappear into his room and reemerge in time to put his dress clothes on for commencement!

 

Faith

 

Faith

[Tardis Girl]

I am very appreciative of all of the comments here on this thread. Although there are several approaches mentioned, I have tried all of them at various times, with varying degrees of success. lol But somehow hearing someone else explain what they do seems different! I am going to work on creating a syllabus for one class first (then hopefully others), talk with my dh, and also my teens. They were just talking about how we need to "step it up" so this will go along nicely. Only TWO YEARS LEFT!! <gasp> I know I have not been as consistent with them since having more littles in the picture. I'm hoping the syllabus/consequences will help (although not cure) that situation.

 

Thank you so much for all the comments!