Keeping grades in homeschool may seem a little silly. After all, you are their teacher. You know whether or not they are learning right? While this is true, it is also important to keep records and documentation while you homeschool.
Benefits of Keeping Grades
Keeping grades when your child is young will benefit you when your child enters high school. He will already be used to having grades, and you will be used to keeping them. Keeping grades will also help you if your homeschooling is ever questioned by the school system in which you reside.
What Should I Grade?
I do not recommend keeping grades in every subject when your children are small. In the early elementary grades, I would recommend keeping grades for Math, Grammar and Language Arts, and Spelling. Spelling tests can be given weekly and grades recorded easily. Most math curriculums come with Math quizzes and tests. Grammar and Language Arts programs may come with tests, worksheets, or another method of review.
As your child gets older you can expand what you grade to include subjects like History, Science, Geography and Foreign Language.
How do I record Grades?
There are many options out there for homeschool record keeping, including recording grades. I use the Well Planned Day Planner, and highly recommend it. There are also free printables out there that you can use in your homeschool to help with recording grades.
Grading scales are up to you, the homeschool parent. We use the 90/80/70 method for grades. Ninety percent or above is an A, 80 percent or above is a B, and so on. It is easy to remember and seems like a fair system.
Tips to Remember
Don’t put a lot of focus on a grade. Remind your child that grades are just to help you know what your child is learning, and what they need to work on. Mastery is key, and ultimately you want to know your child has mastered what you are teaching, not whether or not they get straight A’s. You want to see improvement and progress. Not stress them out over a letter grade on a paper.
Author Bio: Misty Bailey is the blogger behind Joy in the Journey and the podcaster behind Joyfully Homeschooling. Her goal in this online space is to encourage and inspire you on your homeschool journey by providing practical tips for real life homeschooling. Through real stories, real struggles, and real life, Misty encourages her blog readers and podcast listeners to embrace imperfection and strive for a more joyful homeschool.
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