{"id":1744,"date":"2014-12-10T01:13:02","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T08:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2015-07-03T12:38:19","modified_gmt":"2015-07-03T18:38:19","slug":"a-way-to-grade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/a-way-to-grade\/","title":{"rendered":"A Way to Grade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"pen-162124_1280\"Here’s one mother’s clever way of motivating her children to do excellent work!<\/div>\n
\n

Contributed by Carol Johnson
\nGainesville, Florida<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

I had heard all the arguments for and against grading your children in homeschool, and had decided not to grade. Going along with the theory that they will learn better when something is interesting to them; I teach them until they understand, or until I completely lose their interest. I couldn\u2019t figure out how to use grades in this form of \u201cschool.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, like most people, my children weren\u2019t learning self-discipline without any consequences. They had been excellent students, but now they were developing bad school and study habits. As a result, I implemented a grading system that works in their four problem areas:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Attitude<\/strong>
\nThey complained and fussed about every assignment. Even the \u201cfun\u201d ones. This was getting difficult to deal with as a teacher.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Completion<\/strong>
\nIf I wasn\u2019t watching, my children would tuck the assignment away without finishing it. Most often, they would not complete their assignments unless I was standing over them. If I left, they put them down and did something else more interesting. I found myself constantly nagging them.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Speed<\/strong>
\nMy kids love to dawdle. Whether I was in the room or not, they took much too much time over each assignment. They loved the idea of time limits, this meant they didn\u2019t have to finish the page. When I assigned it as \u201chomework\u201d they would not do it without me nagging them (back to the second problem).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Accuracy<\/strong>
\n. . . However, when they rush, they tend to be less careful.<\/p>\n

Without grades, they had no feedback about how they were doing. With this grading system, they like knowing they\u2019re learning and able to do things \u201cright\u201d.<\/p>\n

Actually, I\u2019ve used this \u201csystem\u201d two different ways. When I started, I used this for every assignment they did. I have a simple little database set up on the computer, that I use as their student logs. At the end of each assignment, I would put in the grade as they watched. They could get anywhere from 1 to 4 points per assignment, and that averaged out for a daily grade. If they got a perfect 4 points for the entire week, we\u2019d give them some type of reward\u2014as a parent, not a teacher.<\/p>\n

This was very effective. After using this system for a few months, the kids had really gotten much better.<\/strong> After four months, they were doing so well, I stopped grading them. Ironically, they didn\u2019t like the change. At their request, I started it up again this year, but I only grade them per day. I no longer give them a treat for a perfect 4\u00ad\u2014 that\u2019s just expected.<\/p>\n

Life in our school is great these days\u2014 I am feeling a lot less frustrated! We do workbooks for math and language arts, but then we do unit studies for everything else. It has really worked well for us, and my children are excellent students. We all really enjoy school. We have a lot of fun\u2014that\u2019s probably why I think my kids weren\u2019t taking me serious enough. I do the logs for my benefit, more than theirs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"board-361516_1280\"
\nDo I Need to Test My Child?
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"susanna-wesley\"
\nOh, Susanna!
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"12808\"
\nFor the Love of Learning
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s one mother’s clever way of motivating her children to do excellent work! Contributed by Carol Johnson Gainesville, Florida I had heard all the arguments for and against grading your children in homeschool, and had decided not to grade. Going along with the theory that they will learn better when something is interesting to them; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[55,56],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-homeschool","category-homeschooling-method","tag-grades","tag-grading","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/pen-162124_1280.png?fit=1182%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-s8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1204,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/testing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":0},"title":"Do I Need to Test My Child?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: We need to know about testing. When? What materials? How often? Please help! Our son is in the 4th grade. Answer: As home school moms, we are trying to put information into our children's minds and hearts, not pull it out, which is what testing seems to be all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/board-361516_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C909&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1160,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/gifted-child\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":1},"title":"Gifted Child","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I homeschooled my son in kindergarten and then had to put him in public school for 1st grade. They of course tested him and he is \"gifted\". I am blessed to be able to homeschool him again next year. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on what I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Concerns"","block_context":{"text":"Concerns","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/how-to-homeschool\/homeschooling-concerns\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/3kidsonarock.jpg?fit=373%2C280&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1239,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/getting-kids-to-do-schoolwork\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":2},"title":"Getting Kids to Do Their Schoolwork","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, Moms. 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Here's how I teach writing! And it works\u2014one of my sons got a perfect score on the English portion of the ACT test for college. Journal Writing Each day I expect my students to write a journal entry. I use the number of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English: Writing"","block_context":{"text":"English: Writing","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/english-writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"emily_journals","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/emily_journals-234x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1040,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/facing-the-first-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":1744,"position":5},"title":"Facing the First Day","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s fall time\u2014back-to-school season\u2014and many mothers are facing the first day of homeschool for the very first time. Talking to a few of these mothers made me yearn to write to any mother who is in that wonderful and overwhelming position! 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