Assigning Mommy grades

[Brilliant]

I graduated my oldest last year with a 4.0. That wasn't just mommy grades - she really is an excellent student, organized, bright, etc. She got an A in every class she took outside our home, in both a co-op and CC setting.

 

OK - enough bragging and on to student #2. He is equally as bright as his sister, but lacking in organization skills and motivation. He has had a few disastrous assignments this year. We are working on it! I'm doing a modified tomato-staking with his assignments until he can figure out how to stay on top of it on his own.

 

I want to give him the grade he deserves on his transcript. At the same time, I don't want to let those few disasters ruin his academic record. Do these grading practices seem fair?

 

1. If he gets an A in 2nd quarter, give him an A for the semester, even if the averaged grade only comes to B. I remember my physics teacher in a public high school did this so I'm not without precedent.

 

2. Allow him to re-do assignments which he did really poorly on. Actually, we are REQUIRING him to re-do those assignments, so my question is: Should I count the new grades? And if so, should I use them as a replacement, or average with the first grade? For example, if he got a 60% on an assignment and does it again with a 90% - do I give him a 60%, 75%, or 90% when I calculate the class grade?

 

I'd appreciate thoughts on this.

[beachnut]

I would say let him re-do the assignment, throw out the first grade he earned on the assignment and keep the second grade for the re-do. If his re-do grades were high enough the second time around, then this would legitimately allow him to earn an A in the first quarter if his grades warrant it. Also, if he's close to an A, maybe offer him the opportunity to do an extra-credit assignment as well that might nudge his grade up to an A. Public school does this all the time.

 

However, if his semester grade still only comes out to a B after all this, even if he earned an A in the second quarter, then I'd give him a B for the semester. It is what it is. A B won't ruin his academic career and might be the incentive he needs to work harder next semester. You both want to feel good about his grades, knowing he truly earned them.

 

FYI - I've got a 9th grade DS who sounds similar to your son. He's a really bright kid who is just struggling with time management, organization, prioritizing, etc. Because of these problems, he earned a zero in one history assignment that he completely forgot to do. (He is GREAT at history, too.) I could have extended the deadline (and I have in the past for an assignment or two), but he will never learn the importance of deadlines & planning if I keep making exceptions for him. The zero totally killed his grade for about 2 months -- brought him from an A to a D. He was devastated and literally BEGGED me for more grading opportunities, extra credit assignments, etc. Giving him a zero (which he deserved) was a great, but painful, learning experience for him.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Ds is taking Intermediate Algebra at CC. They have 4 online, open book quizzes and get 2 tries on each quiz. The lower score is dropped. I notice that ds doesn't bother to try too hard on the 1st try, imo, knowing that it'll be good practice for the 2nd try. Sigh. I would prefer him to apply himself more on the 1st try. Averaging the grades would give him more of an incentive, imo.

 

FWIW, I've never allowed ds to retake anything. We do go over everything he misses. He's had several outside teachers, though, who do allow do-overs.

 

I like the idea of extra credit.

[Starr]

I don't worry so much about what it takes for grades in high school since teacher do so many different things. But I do know many college professors that are tired of students asking for extra credit or a chance to retake an exam. It shouldn't be expected at the college level.

[Rhonda in TX]

I'm cutting my son some slack for 9th grade, but hope to be past this by the end of the year. I did give him an extra credit assignment for one class and counted a writing assignment as a test grade in another. Even with all this, I fully expect him to finish the year with at least one C on his transcript. Such is life.

 

I think we have to be very careful not to force grades into what we THINK our child should be accomplishing. Sometimes the best lesson is a bad grade. DS has been very motivated lately by the idea of spending next summer repeating Physical Science.

[choirfarm]

Umm.. but what if they are perfectly happy with the B from mom...or a C?? So far this is what we are looking at for grades:

 

APGovernment ( PA homeschoolers and I can't tell really) B or C

English B

Geometry C

Biology B

Spanish (cc) A

Racquetball (cc) A

 

That is probably what he will earn. This kid has no idea what he wants to do for college and no concept of transcript and how much it means. He only has piano for activities as well. This is also a kid that hates to do things only for appearance. So outside activities just for transcript or grades just for transcript are the ultimate hypocrisy. He has to want to do it to want to do it. He hates phonies. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but it is the way he is. He hates the way I do some things because of the way others will perceive them.

 

Christine

[beachnut]

Christine, my DS14 also lacks some internal motivation to do his best (i.e., he's capable of an A, but is just fine with a B.) He would be bothered by a C, tho, so he does want to do well....just not as well as he could if he put in more effort.

 

We've tried variations of the push/pull method of motivating, with some degree of success. To push him, we've said no video games (his one true love) if he doesn't have an A in the courses we know he can earn an A in. To pull him, we've dangled a reward if he earns an A in a course -- the privilege of playing video games during the school week, since he is currently only allowed to play on weekends. Since he lacks the drive to do his best in all things, then we'll provide the motivation (positive or negative) until his kicks in.

 

My husband and I have the following philosophy, which we've clearly communicated to our boys (6th & 9th grades): Dad's job is to do well at work & provide for our family. Mom's job is to give our kids the best education she can thru homeschooling. The kids' job is to do well in school -- regardless of what they plan to do after high school.

 

And by doing well, we mean to the best of THEIR ability. They are both capable of earning straight A's, but they usually don't. We're OK with that to a point -- if we see them really working hard at something but they best they can do is a B, then that's their best. But, if they get a B just by doing the bare minimum, that's not OK. They need to put in their best effort.

[Brilliant]

Thanks for the input. I guess the larger question is the one several of you brought up - what if he doesn't care about the A? It's disappointing because we know he could earn them if he applied himself.

 

Cs and Ds are not ok - ds will definitely lose computer privileges over that, and he knows it. But I have a hard time enforcing consequences for Bs. I've got to figure out a positive motivator to get him to an A in a couple of his classes. :confused:

[choirfarm]

Thanks for the input. I guess the larger question is the one several of you brought up - what if he doesn't care about the A? It's disappointing because we know he could earn them if he applied himself.

 

Cs and Ds are not ok - ds will definitely lose computer privileges over that, and he knows it. But I have a hard time enforcing consequences for Bs. I've got to figure out a positive motivator to get him to an A in a couple of his classes. :confused:

 

The hard part is also deciding which battles to fight!!! He thinks I am so silly about so many things: being on time, nagging him about getting ALL of his assignments done, etc. I feel like I nag him all the time!! He must take ownership. I'm trying to use humor like Creekland suggested and that definitely helps. He thinks I'm silly for making him do things ahead of time. "You are always nagging me and I always get it done, just not on your time table." Well, yes he does but the quality of it suffers!!! He could care less. It is done. It is hard for me to know where to draw the line!! He loses computer privileges regularly for disrespect and even lost his ipod for telling me to shut up. ( He apologized later but said he was tired of my nagging him.) He only gets to play computer on the weekends like your child. It is like he is trying to prove that my values are not his... so in a way I hate to push... I can still be a happy person and productive person and get B's. Who cares? I won't be like my brother anyway ( the perfect student).

 

Christine

[Ester Maria]

1. If he gets an A in 2nd quarter, give him an A for the semester, even if the averaged grade only comes to B. I remember my physics teacher in a public high school did this so I'm not without precedent.

.

No.

If his averaged calculated grade is a B, then you offer him a B.

If he refuses a final B, he may take an all-inclusive, whole-year exam at the end, which you schedule the way he cannot cram: if he refused a B in Monday, you schedule a whole-year exam that same Wednesday. Either he knows for an A or does not know for an A, two days of cramming cannot make it up.

2. Allow him to re-do assignments which he did really poorly on. Actually, we are REQUIRING him to re-do those assignments, so my question is: Should I count the new grades? And if so, should I use them as a replacement, or average with the first grade? For example, if he got a 60% on an assignment and does it again with a 90% - do I give him a 60%, 75%, or 90% when I calculate the class grade?

No, assignments which are a part of the regular class work are not redone. Final exam may be redone or requested if the child refuses the averaged grade - but then the final exam is 100% of the final grade: you refused the grade / criteria / whole year, so now this works like a complaint to school authorities, except that in a homeschool setting you do not have commission exams, so you assign a comprehensive exam and that is it. If he gets a C, it is a C, he cannot retake the B he refused. Refusing the grade always carries the risk.

 

Or you can simply spare yourself trouble and decide that you will apply old school university style: the final exam is 100% of the grade (whether written, oral or combined exam). He may get a B and then refuse and take another final exam. The grade is not "saved" for him meanwhile, if on the second try he gets a C, it is a C. Limit the number of times he can take the final exam.

 

Yes, I am mean. :lol: But this is the only way it makes sense to me, I am used to this.

[Gwen in VA]

Two things --

 

1) Maybe your son would do better with at least one or two outside classes where he MUST be responsible, take care of assignments, pass things in on time, etc. Particularly my boys but also my girls benefited from outside classes where the demands and expectations didn't come from mom.

 

2) I have NO IDEA how to grade my kids, so I give them a grade at the end of each class but I am up front with them that the grade may be changed depending on how they do in outside classes or tests in the area.

 

For example, I do math with my kids up through the end of pre-calculus. They have all scored well on the SAT2 math exam (sometimes level 1, sometimes level 2, sometimes both) and have done well in calculus at our local 4-year college, so I have no qualms about the A's I have given them earlier in high school.

[mims]

I always feel it is extremely important to communicate up front how you are going to grade and then hold them to it. None of your ideas are bad if they are communicated up front, you always follow through, and you are comfortable telling an admissions person (probably on your transcript) how you graded. We are doing are kids a disservice to change our grading midstream just to get them good grades.

[lauracolumbus]

I recently read a blog post by Lee Binz about this issue. She has no qualms giving her dss 4.0s across the board b/c she doesn't let them move on until they master the material. She also mentions having options for extra credit and presenting info in other ways, such as oral quizzes.

 

Seemed kind of suspect to me until I learned that our local STEM school has the same approach. Everyone gets a 4.0 b/c they can't move on to the next class until they've mastered the first. It doesn't seem to be an issue w/colleges (although there is that institutional reputation).

 

I agree w/the pp that outside classes help tremendously.

 

Laura

[elegantlion]

.

No.

If his averaged calculated grade is a B, then you offer him a B.

If he refuses a final B, he may take an all-inclusive, whole-year exam at the end, which you schedule the way he cannot cram: if he refused a B in Monday, you schedule a whole-year exam that same Wednesday. Either he knows for an A or does not know for an A, two days of cramming cannot make it up.

 

No, assignments which are a part of the regular class work are not redone. Final exam may be redone or requested if the child refuses the averaged grade - but then the final exam is 100% of the final grade: you refused the grade / criteria / whole year, so now this works like a complaint to school authorities, except that in a homeschool setting you do not have commission exams, so you assign a comprehensive exam and that is it. If he gets a C, it is a C, he cannot retake the B he refused. Refusing the grade always carries the risk.

 

Or you can simply spare yourself trouble and decide that you will apply old school university style: the final exam is 100% of the grade (whether written, oral or combined exam). He may get a B and then refuse and take another final exam. The grade is not "saved" for him meanwhile, if on the second try he gets a C, it is a C. Limit the number of times he can take the final exam.

 

Yes, I am mean. :lol: But this is the only way it makes sense to me, I am used to this.

 

 

I appreciate your input on this. I'm trying to solidify my grading this year in preparation for high school.

 

My son is a master negotiator, firm expectations will be important. These rules will show him I'm serious, but give him options. :D

 

Thank you.

[Ester Maria]

My son is a master negotiator, firm expectations will be important. These rules will show him I'm serious, but give him options. :D

I sympathize. ;)

 

In all honesty, I do strongly believe that children should have the right to refuse their grade - the same way that students who are institutionally schooled have some sort of mechanism of complaint if they believe they were wronged or, at the university level (in the system I am familiar with), if they simply wish to try one more time for whatever reason (not to ruin their GPA, they prepared 80% of the material very well and most of the question were on the remaining 20%, i.e. they got a bit unlucky and they think the grade does not reflect their actual knowledge, etc.). I believe such an opportunity has to formally exist.

 

On the other hand, such an opportunity should not be abused or viewed as a permission to mess around the whole year. It should be very clear that it entails a risk, and that the student should weigh whether the risk is worth it - because if you refuse the suggested grade, it is not magically "saved" for you. If you refuse criteria which include something other than your actual knowledge (most people weigh in homework, partecipation, etc.), you cannot get "reassessed" on that, your new grade will have to be based exclusively on your knowledge, and on a thorough exam. Even if you wish to redo an exam in a situation where the final exam is 100% of the grade, you need to estimate very well whether you simply got unlucky / had a bad day, or it is not worth it because the grade does reflect you do not know all.

 

That is why I believe that such a system is a good one because it allows for possible amends when the student had a bad day / semester / whatever, but is a smart student who should not be punished for it, BUT it is also not exactly the kind of system students would feel they can freely exploit. I am glad if you like it or find it helpful, I really think it is reasonable. :)

[Rhonda in TX]

My biggest problem is that eventually you get to a situation where you don't get the opportunity to master it before moving on. Is your college professor going to care? Is your boss? That's doubtful. I'd rather prepare my child in high school for this eventuality.

[cupajoe]

My oldest dd has taken most of her AP classes through Florida Virtual School. The way they handle grades is they allow assignments to be reworked for new grades. Tests, quizzes, and oral evaluations, however, are not allowed to be retaken...one submission only. I think this is rather fair, as the assignments are the very tools to lead to mastery in a subject.

I've tried to implement this system in all of the courses in our homeschool resulting in "mommy grades" as well. My kiddos are alllowed to rework assignments several times, if necessary. The goal is mastery. However, when it comes to tests and quizzes, I allow one attempt only.

Also, tests and quizzes are worth a lot more, percentage wise, than assignments when calculating the final grade.

Edited October 28, 2011 by cupajoe

[BlsdMama]

Quote:

 

So outside activities just for transcript or grades just for transcript are the ultimate hypocrisy. He hates phonies. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but it is the way he is. He hates the way I do some things because of the way others will perceive them

 

Christine

 

Christine,

Frankly I think I'd tell the child that you resent his half hearted effort to your willingness to homeschool. ;) Afterall due to his willingness at assignments and his procrastination, you PERCEIVE that he lacks respect for your efforts. In an effort for him to live what he believes to be true he must put forth the effort that is equal to his ABILITY else the grades will not reflect who he truly is... A little "hypocritical" on his part, eh? (I am SO seeing this being my second d child as well.)