Do you do grade cards for your kids?

[Tree House Academy]

If so, how do you do it? Are you rigorous and give tests and keep scores and such or do you estimate based on the work they have given you and how well you think they are doing in that subject (since you grade it daily and are with them most of the time when they work on it).

 

When we were using Calvert, grading was easy because there was always something that you could grade. With the curriculum I have created, it is not so easy. I don't give a lot of tests, other than spelling. I am with the kids every single day and I know their struggles and their abilities. I grade as much on effort and retention as I would actual "scores."

 

The issue is that we belong to an umbrella school that requires grades be sent in at the end of each semester. Blah! Should I figure out a way to figure grades and report or should I just give a fair score based on my one on one assessment?

[Sunshine State Sue]

I have created report cards for ds since the orthodontist gives brownie points for a good report card and now he's playing basketball at the local middle school and must show a 2.0 grade average. I found a link to report cards on this forum:

http://www.geocities.com/gpielstick/Homeschooling_Forms.html

 

I just estimate based on his understanding, effort, and quality of the work.

Edited December 8, 2008 by Sue in St Pete

[Haiku]

My kids are in K and first. I do not do grade cards. My kids know when they are doing well and when they are struggling. I don't feel the need to remind them of this with a report card. I think it would, in particular, discourage my son if he didn't have "straight As." But beyond that, I don't see education as the pursuit of a grade or a score. I don't see it as a finish line that you get to either really well (A) or poorly (D). In our home, we keep working at something until it's accomplished/mastered, so we don't need grades to tell us how we are doing.

 

That said, were my kids to need a "report card" for something, I would probably write up a summary of what they have been doing, with heavy emphasis on the effort they have displayed. For an umbrella school that required grades, I would assign them based on my child's effort.

 

Tara

[AnnetteB]

No grades here during the early years, but ds had to have a high school transcript for college. I had to assign him grades retroactively. He is very bright and I was a little nervous giving him all those A's and a couple of B's, but his college GPA for the four years is about 3.9 so I think I had him fairly "graded."

[Tree House Academy]

That is what I did - I just went on the site and gave him grades based on effort, cooperation, and overall improvements. He got all A's. LOL I HATE assigning grades. It is not like I need to communicate to the parent how the child is doing! UGH! I really wish it wasn't required...and more than that, I really hope no one ever asks to see how I arrived at that grade! LOL

[charlotteb]

I have not done report cards yet. I know how the kids are doing and what they need improvement in. And also, if they make mistakes on their daily work, we fix it! However, I will do them for high school because they'll need them for their college transcripts.

[Ellie]

Do your grades have to be letter grades? Can you do your own thing, or do you have to do the same kind of grading that other families do?

 

For children as young as yours, I would tend to do something like this (unless required to do otherwise): Grades 1–3: S=Satisfactory; U=Unsatisfactory; O=Outstanding; /= In progress or not evaluated; Grades 4-6: A=Excellent; B=Good; C=Satisfactory; D=Below Average. This way you can base your grades on your own assessments.

[Chris in VA]

I gave my dd a report card when she was in first grade, but after I realized she was getting all A's, I said Forget it! The only part of her curriculum with tests was Saxon Math. It was just subjective otherwise, so I thought I wouldn't bother. Now at school, she gets O, G, S and N (Outstanding, Good, Satisfactory, and Needs Improvement). It drives me nuts! It's so very subjective. After all, most of us need improvement! lol

 

Now, I do give grades for high school. There are enough papers, tests, and study guides to provide percentage grades, which I later convert to letter grades.

 

In your case, I'd ask if the grades have to be representative of a certain percentage. If so, you will have to figure out how discussion, narrations, copywork, tests (if you do any) and whatnot can fit into that structure. If not, go with your gut and just put down whatever grade you think is right.