Nan in Mass Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 One thing I do that I find really helps me relax and let go a great deal more is I spend about $5.00 per subject to buy those laminated quick study (barcharts). Those and a TOC from a text I am comfortable with give me a sense of we want to cover within a subject in the time available. The more secure I am in that arena, the easier it is to let go. I found those comforting, too. Nan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted March 12, 2013 Share Posted March 12, 2013 lurking I'm quiet here these days, but lurking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan in GE Posted March 13, 2013 Share Posted March 13, 2013 Just wanted to say what we do about grading and 'tests' - this is like opening a can of worms....I used to try to make tests for subjects or parts of subjects where they weren't provided - but that was like a 'black hole'. It was so hard to know what was fair that I finally gave up. So now we only have 'tests' for subjects like math and science, parts of subjects like grammar, and parts of American Gov (because when we're not using a text, we're doing living books that don't have a test)....Well, online German and AP HG have their own grading. And French will have end of the year Swiss and AP exams. Caveat - for a chapter of math and science where the grade was bad, we did go back and redo all the material and then do a new test (which I did have to make up). If that happened for every chapter, then I'd probably change programs or completely change the speed, review, etc... I realized that for history, literature, life skills (though I have some health tests but that's not all we do", and parts of Amer Gov, the most essential thing is that dd is thinking and analyzing - not just regurgitating facts. So I haven't given grades yet for these subjects this year. We don't have to report semester grades, so she'll get an end of the year grade which will be based on the quality of her thinking and discussing which is completely arbitrary I realize. But when I look back at my high school papers, which I just found this past summer, I look at the grades I got and the questions that were asked and had to have a big laugh ! Grading can be so completely arbitrary and related to time and place... Work ethic, integrity, and thinking skills are the most important things in my mind... Joan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted March 13, 2013 Author Share Posted March 13, 2013 Just wanted to say what we do about grading and 'tests' - this is like opening a can of worms....I used to try to make tests for subjects or parts of subjects where they weren't provided - but that was like a 'black hole'. It was so hard to know what was fair that I finally gave up. So now we only have 'tests' for subjects like math and science, parts of subjects like grammar, and parts of American Gov (because when we're not using a text, we're doing living books that don't have a test)....Well, online German and AP HG have their own grading. And French will have end of the year Swiss and AP exams. Caveat - for a chapter of math and science where the grade was bad, we did go back and redo all the material and then do a new test (which I did have to make up). If that happened for every chapter, then I'd probably change programs or completely change the speed, review, etc... I realized that for history, literature, life skills (though I have some health tests but that's not all we do", and parts of Amer Gov, the most essential thing is that dd is thinking and analyzing - not just regurgitating facts. So I haven't given grades yet for these subjects this year. We don't have to report semester grades, so she'll get an end of the year grade which will be based on the quality of her thinking and discussing which is completely arbitrary I realize. But when I look back at my high school papers, which I just found this past summer, I look at the grades I got and the questions that were asked and had to have a big laugh ! Grading can be so completely arbitrary and related to time and place... Work ethic, integrity, and thinking skills are the most important things in my mind... Joan You are very brave. I'm avoiding any high school papers I might have saved. I don't think I want to see them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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