Grades - Tests - and more?

[nov05mama]

So, this comes up a lot in one of our local homeschool groups...whether or not to give 'grades'.

 

The answers are all over the place, of course...obviously, grading is something that's 'needed' in public school, but doesn't make as much sense in homeschool b/c you are tailoring to their needs anyway? Right?

 

Same kinda goes for tests...do you actually give tests? Are they really needed when you are working on such an individual level with each child?

 

Obviously, there is no right or wrong...I am just wondering what the thoughts are across the board?

[FaithManor]

I give my children tests not because I need them to determine their educational progress, but because we just can't escape the "testing" mentality in this country.

 

I know someone who had cancer and died and her poor husband had to put her children in school. They were middle schoolers and had never had a test of any kind. Of course they were nervous, on top of losing their mother, and tested two grades back. That's where the school placed them because when the father tried to fight that decision, knowing his children would be bored stiff and have a significantly delayed graduation, he couldn't produce a grade book, or a meaningul portfolio. She had felt that she didn't need to maintain those things and was here in Michigan where there isn't any state regulation that requires testing or portfolios. This seemed to be a signal to the school that they hadn't actually done much academic work at home and they absolutely refused to put them in higher grades. Thankfully, after a couple of weeks, their teachers realized the children were much more advanced and produced proof so that the principal would bump them up to the right classes.

 

It was a hard situation and I decided that even thought these were not necessarily meaningful educational hoops for me to jump through, they were things I should do for dh and the children so that if I'm gone, the children's path into school would be much smoother. I did find that this made tests, portfolios, and grades a no brainer once dd hit high school. We were so used to it that it was easy to assemble, easy to keep up with the gradebook, easy to figure grades for the transcript, etc. I didn't have any of the panic that some homeschool moms have when they realize that they must now institute habits they haven't had.

 

Also, though issuing grades to children is not necessary, you'd be surprised what patterns show up to you the educator when you keep a gradebook. I once realized after looking through a months worth of grades that ds was actually consistently scoring low on one type of English assignment, but that hadn't jumped out at me during the course of everyday homeschool life. So, I was able to correct the problem. Occasionally, ds, who likes to do well and has a little bit of a competitive streak, will ask what his grade is in a certain subject and if it is below an A-, I will then see him poor on some study steam in order to bring that up. So, it's good preparation for high school when G.P.A.'s count and merit aid is based on transcripts and stupid standardized tests.

 

Faith

[FaithManor]

I would also like to add that it is a very bad thing, heard this from a homeschool mom who used to live here, to not keep records or give tests or organize portfolios and move from Michigan, the no one will every check up on you state, to Pennsylvania, the highly restricted and people will show up every year to review your progress state. She got herself into a world of hurting and was almost forced to enroll her children in PS. They moved mid-year and she just kept coasting along until about a week before the portfolio reviewer (who did not turn out to be a nice person by any stretch) showed up!

 

Faith

[kristinannie]

I am using Kolbe Academy because I feel that is where God is leading me at this time. They do require grades and keep a transcript for you. I was hesitant about this because of posts like yours and other comments I have seen on here (which I totally agree with by the way). I mean, wouldn't it seem that all of our kids would get A's because I would make them work on something until they mastered it. I was torn about that.

 

A few things have eased my mind. First of all, I am not planning on sharing the grades with my kids (at least that is my mentality for now, but we'll see when the time actually comes). Using Kolbe will meet the requirements for my state so I won't have to do that ridiculous child left behind test they require here for homeschoolers. Also, Kolbe is super easy to deal with. They don't make you use the programs they offer or even use the programs they offer in the way they intended you to use them. You can do what you want. You just have to send in proof of grades (one thing for each subject each quarter). They have tests included in their lesson plans. I haven't decided if I want to use them, especially for elementary. I am not opposed to giving junior high and high schoolers tests because they will need that practice for college (and for the SAT's).

 

OK, sorry to ramble for three years here. This is a really hard subject and there is no right answer IMHO. I am going to make a judgment call when it comes to testing with my kids once we actually get up and running here. I am doing a lot of CM for a lot of subjects so that obviously doesn't really lend itself to testing. I am really interested to see what other people say on here!

[Mommy22alyns]

Becca takes tests and quizzes in math and grammar. That's also the only time she gets a grade on anything (that she knows of). I give the girls grades online with their umbrella school and we keep notebooks and workbooks for work records.

[missmoe]

I start teaching how to take a test some time in middle school. Grades are for high school. Some of my kids have needed the motivation of grades a bit earlier--8th or 7th grade. ;)

 

I really think kids need to learn how to take test. Tests are part of our culture, and there really is a learned component to doing well on them.

[Greta]

Same kinda goes for tests...do you actually give tests? Are they really needed when you are working on such an individual level with each child?

 

Yes, because I have learned for my daughter, tests are not merely a way for me to evaluate what she has learned. Tests are a way for her to learn!

 

Testing is a great way to review and reinforce the material we are covering. She retains things so much better when she is tested on them.

[angela in ohio]

I start with where we are heading and work backwards. At some point, my dc will need to know how to take tests and be graded. So I decided to just do it all the time. I have seen too many dc traumatized by grading and testing when it was introduced to them too late. I didn't want to do that. So when my Ker would fill out an ETC page, I would "grade" it (mark the wrong answers and put a +# at the top.) I would use the little tests at the end of the book and make a big deal about how cool it was to have a test.

 

Now my dc have no problems with grades, and they things tests are fun. :D

 

I don't keep grades until junior high, other than the writing at the top of each paper.

[NittanyJen]

I keep tests low-key, and even back when my kids were in PS I taught them that tests are not the evil empire; they are a form of communication between the student and teacher, so that if you haven't done it yet, you can let your teacher know either how well you are doing, or what you don't understand yet. And the teacher lets you know, from all her chatter and assignments, which points she thought were important-- so that in the future, you can learn better how to figure out how she or he teaches and what to fiocus on.

 

My kids don't get why other kids get so worked up about a simple communication process, and generally do well on tests now. The phrase, "But it's a TEST" just makes no sense to them-- to them, test now sounds like opportunity.

 

Jen

http://hillandalefarmschool.blogspot.com/

[NanceXToo]

I do not give grades generally speaking (although our Teaching Textbooks math program does automatically grade all lessons and gives quizzes).

 

I do not generally give tests either- we do a spelling quiz each week but there's probably only been one or two times in 34 weeks so far that my daughter ever got a word wrong on one- she's a good speller and enjoys those "quizzes."

 

I see that OM5 does do a "final exam" for grammar skills that I'm supposed to give next week.

 

But that's really about it. For the most part, I don't find grades or tests necessary.

[LisaKinVA]

Ahhh, testing and grading. I've been in various places on the "map" with this one.

 

When my oldest was in lower elementary school, he took a lot more tests than my younger ones did (and more than my youngest two will ever take). He was also graded on everything.

 

I went through a period of time where I started questioning the usefulness of lots of tests (not all tests). Now, I look at my goals for the child and subject before I start throwing every test in there.

 

For example... we use Abeka's Phonics program. The Letters & Sounds tests are completely unnecessary. I *know* if my child comprehends, and retains the information we've been studying. In other subjects, like math, I feel that tests are a useful tool to look at overall retention (my child may do fine on all of the daily work... but I want to look at if they can still "do" the work at a later point in time.)

 

In history and science, I am not doing formal testing. Mainly, because my goal for these two subjects is exposure and not the regurgitation of various facts. In the grammar stage, I want my children to understand the timeline (we are using the VP cards/chants for this, and the chants help cement the timeline), as well as creating a timeline they can go back and look through at any time.

 

Grading... well everything gets graded to one extent or another. But, I don't give "formal grades" for a report card or something like that. Wrong answers need to be corrected, we strive for mastery.

 

Now, when they enter middle school (6th grade-ish), there is more testing and more grading, because the focus is changing. The goals for science become a bit "more." The goals for teaching them skills of self-checking, turning in their best work, etc. have grown (hopefully) to a point that they can begin to be held accountable for their work. Yes, they are still working towards mastery, but I also want them to "do it right the first time." This means my oldest *will* receive a grade on the work he turns in as "complete." He will still have to correct missed answers, but the "grade" sticks. I do have a caveat...if it is obvious that my son really didn't understand something (less than 80%), I will average the grade of the original assignment with the corrected version. I don't really give "extra credit" work -- so this is my way to allow a child to "bring up their grade" on the work assigned.

 

The grading in middle school is also a help for me... to prepare me for keeping grades/records/etc. I will need in high school. It gives me a few years to get used to it all, before it becomes a *have-to.*

 

So, here is how this works out:

 

Bible: Memory Work;Discussion.

Math: No "official" grades in elementary, but once they enter 6th, daily work, quizzez and tests are graded. Tests and quizzes may be given in all grades.

Grammar: No official grades in elementary. No official tests, etc.

Composition: No official grades in elementary. I do begin grading in middle school.

Spelling: No official grades.

Vocabulary: No official grades, no testing until middle-school

History: No official grades, narrations, memory work (chants), timeline work, and discussions serve as benchmarks. This changes in 7th.

Science: No official grades, no testing until they reach Physical Science (we do this in 7th). Narrations, projects suffice to show understanding until that point.

Literature: No official grades until middle school.

[boscopup]

I started out grading things, but then found it somewhat useless in our case, so I don't really do grades now (but will by middle school so we'll be ready for high school). Like PPs have mentioned, some subjects are meant for exposure, such as history and science. I don't expect retention and am not worried about testing for that in the grammar stage. I do narrations in those subjects, but no tests.

 

In math, I do tests to verify mastery of the subject. I also sometimes use them to see if we can skip a chapter. ;) I think math tests are useful for me as a teacher to see where we are and what, if anything, we might need to work on. The test makes sure that he really did master the things at the beginning of the chapter and hasn't forgotten them after moving on to the next topic. The end of year test makes sure he really mastered all topics taught that year.

 

I likewise plan to test in grammar when we switch back over to R&S.

 

I don't test in spelling, but we use dictation everyday which reviews the spelling words and helps me see where we are.

 

Funny thing is, my son was in school for K and half of first, and he LIKES tests. :lol: It took a long time to get him out of "Every Friday is test day" mode. He would happily let me know that it was Friday and that's test day, and I'd be like :001_huh:, because I had no tests lined up.

 

Though I don't test in most subjects, I do keep a portfolio, of sorts, of everything we've done during the year, or at least the most recent work we've done. I threw out the grade one math we did earlier in the semester, but have kept the grade 2 math and what we've started in grade 3 math so if something did happen to me, yes it's easily documented that we've done these things, and there are tests showing that he aced the material. ;) I won't keep more than a year's worth of work, but I do have at least the current year so it's obvious what we've been doing.

 

That is something I have sometimes thought about - what would happen to the kids if something happened to me? My oldest would probably go back to being bored in his original grade at school. :tongue_smilie: He couldn't handle the writing involved in a higher grade, and he fits better socially with the kids a year younger than his grade. Sigh.