heartofdakota.com

Hi all!

Our year has been going great so far! I have 3 girls and they are all in their own guide this year. My older to are in K and 2nd grade, and are in Little Hearts and Beyond, respectively. Our state does not require that I keep any form of records or participate in testing. They don't even require that we register our kids with the state. This being said, if we were to move or something were to happen and the girls would need to be put in school I am concerned that I should have some record of grades. I think "grading" as a homeschooler is difficult because the amount of work done independently, at this age, is small. I have been having my 2nd grader write out the answers to the questions for the Reading portion of the Emergent reader since we are not yet doing "Drawn into Reading." Should I be "grading" these? I was also thinking it would be easy to keep track of Spelling tests, Math WB (although there are several pages not done "independently", but as practice w/ help and there are no tests). The Social studies and Science are all project based- which is difficult to "grade."
I would love your thoughts on how to "grade" in K and 2nd grade! I know many people are "against" grading, but I also think it would be encouraging to my girls to see how well they are doing! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

Sarah Anderson

Most homeschoolers don't assign grades until middle or high school. Instead, we just keep records. Grades can be so arbitrary anyways, that I don't think they really have much meaning. Instead, keep some sort of record of what they have completed (if you do the guides as written, just mark when you start and finish the guide). Then keep some samples of their work from throughout the year for each of the key subjects. That will be enough for most schools. Also, I know at least in our area, the public schools will test the students over the first week of school if they are moving in from another area anyways.

The math we are using (Horizons) has tests in it. And my daughter does them, but they grades mean nothing to her. She doesn't understand what a letter grade or even what a percentage grade (like a 85) is. She is in 1st too. I do tell her how many she missed, "great job," and things like that though to help encourage her. At this point, her motivation is completing books.

That makes sense. I have been keeping lots of samples of their work (probably too much!!!). I just want to make sure I am prepared in case I need to put them in school- I am not planning on it at this point, but you never know what the Lord has in store! I also have a degree in elementary education, so to not ever keep grades makes me feel like I am being lazy! Thanks for the words of advice!

Sometimes I am glad I don't have a background in education (though usually not). Grades really aren't necessary. You are with your child for everything and you know whether or not they have mastered the material, you know whether they understand, and you know what level they are at. The school would never not take them, or question their level unless they were the wrong age or were struggling.

When they are actually doing independent work then you grade it, but only to give them feedback and show them how to improve. If you move to another state where regulations regarding homeschooling are different, then I think you would only really need to keep records for that state for the years you reside there. The HOD guide is a great record anyway, along with the samples of their work (just create a good filing system for them, they can take over). It states exactly what you have done.