About grading school work in Grammar Stage.

[bluejay]

How do you grade your kids' lessons in the grammar stage?  Do many of you find it (un)necessary to grade in the first grade year?  How do you do it?  I can see how you can figure out the score for subjects like math, drawing and spelling.  But do you also grade history and science?  I can't think of a way to do that unless you're giving a test quiz.  Any advice?

 

Do you grade EVERY lesson?  Once a year?  Twice a year?  Every month?

 

Also is it better NOT to grade?  Is it okay?  What if the child becomes obsessed with getting perfect scores no matter what?  

Edited May 3, 2016 by bluejay

[JenneinCA]

I don't grade anything until high school. I do correct work to see if it is understood, but I find grades meaningless at those ages.

 

There is entirely too much variation in what is covered in any grade before high school. Even then there is a lot of variation but at least I have some idea of what is expected to be in a high school class. There is no telling what might be covered in third grade science or fourth grade history.

[SilverMoon]

I mark mistakes and require them to fix them. No real grades to speak of.

 

Somewhere around middle school most of them were interested in the percent they had correct. Occasionally they ask what letter grade that would be. I just write this at the top of their page and don't record it until high school. They're still required to correct mistakes.

[Kiara.I]

I mark mistakes and have them correct then also. I don't think giving grades is particularly helpful at younger ages. I haven't dealt with high school yet.

 

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[Jackie]

I have a perfectionist. I skim through independent work. If she was getting about 90%+, then I know she understood the concept and I don't correct mistakes. Those corrections would make her believe she was a complete failure even if she got almost everything correct. Between her ADHD and her perfectionism, correcting a generally good paper is a disaster.

 

For non-independent work, we discuss. If she understands the concept, we move on. If she doesn't understand it, we plug on. I've never considered even thinking of these in grades.

[Ausmumof3]

I don't grade. I get best results when I watch the kids and correct before the mistake is even made as it prevents sloppy habits from forming.

[HomeAgain]

The point of grades is to show levels of mastery. 
The point of homeschooling is to allow enough time and attention to be able to master the material.

 

Grades become unnecessary.  There is a different system in our house: "known", "working on", and "not introduced".

[kristin0713]

I only grade spelling tests. We are in NJ and not required to report anything to anyone.

[mamamoose]

I don't grade. My kids were in public school and my daughter wishes I would grade because it's easier to get an B than to have to correct everything. 😂 But knowing the material is most important, so they have to correct until they get it right.

[ikslo]

Same here. Corrections as the mistakes happen with further explanation if necessary, no grades.

[boscopup]

If the curriculum I'm using has a test, I'll put a grade on it, but they still have to correct everything missed, so... :lol:

 

My cover school requires "grades" be kept, but I will often just put "A" if the subject doesn't have anything really gradeable (and it often doesn't). It's not like the "grades" really matter in elementary school. The only time they're needed is for figuring out a GPA in high school (and I'm sure there is some way around that as well - would love to hear how Kinsa handles that!).

 

Grades are typically used in schools to compare to their peers in the same class. My kids aren't competing against anyone else. They're just learning. We move on when they've mastered the material. If the kid got a 70 on a test in school, they'd move on and keep going. At home, the kids get a 70, and they correct the work or even redo a chapter to make sure the material is learned. So don't worry about grades, especially in 1st grade. Also don't worry about levels of material. My kids are all over the place and often don't have any material the level that equals their age-based grade level. We start new levels in the middle of the school year all the time. Just meet them where they are. If they jump ahead, great - let them! If they need to park for a bit, that's fine too!

[shinyhappypeople]

I don't give grades.  I mark mistakes for my own information (so I can see if they're understanding or not) but, unless there are a lot of mistakes in a particular area, I don't make them correct them.  I'm fighting back against my own perfectionism by not requiring that my kids' work be perfect.  Good enough is good enough. 

[MerryAtHope]

I "correct" work (and have them go back and correct mistakes" but I don't give grades for any classes in elementary. I do put letter grades on tests (usually math, but we had occasional tests in some other subjects in upper elementary), so I would grade those to help them get used to "grades." We didn't have a need for report cards, so I didn't grade classes until high school.

[UCF612]

I don't give grades. I correct work each day as soon as they've finished the subject for the day or I sit beside them and correct as they go. I couldn't care less about grades, I want to see understanding of the subject matter. If that is lacking I reteach then and there or we work through a few problems together before letting them try again alone. I only have 2 kids so I can do that more easily than someone with more kids!

Edited May 3, 2016 by UCF612

[Caviar]

I don't grade anything, but I do have them correct mistakes, especially in math and spelling.  I do put grades on their math tests (but don't have them correct mistakes on their tests), but they don't mean anything for homeschool.  It's just for records in case I ever need to produce records!  In our state we don't need to have grades or records until high school, but if we move to another state laws might be different.