Questions about homeschooling.?

Question

I have been looking at several different sites and I still don't know about the grading system. How do you record your homeschoolers grades? Do they pass from grade to grade like public schoolers or is it all freestyle? Do you report to anyone? Can children still participate in school sports or clubs in their district? Thank you.

Answer 1

Look up your state's homeschool laws to find out if you have to do any reporting or submit any standardized t est scores in order to continue or pass from grade to grade. Some require it, some don't, some make it optional.

As for grading system...that's up to you and your child(ren). We started off with a grading system similar to that of the public school, but decided that it defeated the purpose of homeschooling. Now, unless I've reached full competency and understanding or a particular skill or topic, I don't move on. So in public school speak, I work at a topic, unit, chapter, etc until I have a 100% A in that area. Then and only then do I move on.

Answer 2

We don't use a grading system.  The point of our home-school is to study for excellence.  So, everything would become an A.  For example -- the math lesson is not considered complete until every equation is worked, checked, reworked, and thoroughly understood.  When the lesson is finished with a rate of 95% accuracy (missing one or two at the most) then the student can move into the next lesson.  BUT the goal is to have 100% on all lessons.  My children prefer to keep working on each until they are perfect.  It makes it easier to understand the next lesson and the next....

Writing is something that has to be done every day.  One full page -- it needs to be legible and coherent.  Once spelling and grammar is corrected the paper is finished.  Again, when it is perfect it would get an A if we did grades.

Reading happens every day for 2-4 hours.  If the child is reading and comprehending the material they just keep going from page to page and from book to book. They do take time to add in vocabulary study too.

Diligence in all areas is required.  No slacking.  And seriously, this has never been a problem.  The children love to study this way.

Grade to grade passing isn't really necessary when a student is studying at their own pace.  Some may be at a lower level in math but at a higher level in reading.... and vice-versa.  It never matters as long as they are continuously doing the work.

No we never have to report to anyone.  As parents we are in charge.  Public school teachers have to report to parents.... so, maybe we should too.  I could set up a parent/teacher conference and have a long talk with.... myself!  ;-)

Yes, children are allowed by the schools to participate in sports and clubs.  I'm not sure about other areas but in ours it is this way.  My daughters were both on the local p.s. Equestrian Team (one was captain!), my son played baseball in little league... not school though.  We have a really great home-school base-ball league and didn't need the p.s. program.  All of my children have been in 4-H clubs for various activities.  They participate on an equal basis with the other kids -- and for that matter nobody seems to even care where they go to school.  My son is the president of his club -- all of the other kids are from public school.  They all get along with him and each other just fine.

There are so many activities springing up for home-school kids that if my children were all young again we would be so busy with the homeschool stuff that we would not have time for other p.s. things.

We have clubs and groups for Debate, Speech, Drama, Choir, Sewing, Ultimate (frisbee), Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Paintball, Airsoft, Swimming, Chess, Legislative Lobby, etc.... good-golly-molly I get dizzy just thinking about all of the stuff.

I'm the editor for our local home-school newsletter and I receive articles every month about events that are happening.  It's mind boggling.

Answer 3

Please dont homeschool your kids. They may get a better education but they will be emotionally stunted.

EDIT: yes i do have evidence. my 3 siblings and I were all home schooled. My older brother for only a few years but the rest of us were homeschooled after kindergarden. I was socially stunted, i really believe my bad social graces lead directly to me going to jail for a year. my older sister has turned into an alcoholic, my yonger sister moved to the country and talks to noone, my brother is the only one of us that is semi- normal.

Answer 4

Here in the sunny state of Florida, we don't have to really worry about 'grades' although when my daughter gets things right I will give her an 'A'(for 100%-89%) and so forth, but only because it makes her happy and yes I have given her an 'F'.

As for when she goes into the next 'grade level' that is pretty much left up to me. The only thing that we can't do is 'skip' a grade level (paperwork problems and so forth). So for the sake of arguement (say we argued but we didn't) she's in 3rd grade but working at a 4th grade level.

You learn how to work your way around and thru the system (smile, nod your head, agree to everything, walk out the door and make a rude gesture where noone but you sees it and walk away).

As long as the child shows progress they can't tell you squat...they can suggest but that's about it.

My child has medical issues so sports is not a  big option for us. Besides she has plenty of other stuff to keep her busy.

Answer 5

I bought a grade book and one of those slide graders at the beginning because I was obsessed with what her grades were. After about 3 months I realized I don't need to be doing grades because i know what she does and doesn't understand. That was a liberating thought for us. We don't need them!

The public schools use grades to help keep track of 30 kids. Do you have 30 kids? Then why do you need to keep track of the few you have like that. It's a way of saying your doing well of your doing poorly and need to do better.

They pass to the next grade if and when I say they are ready. My fourth grader doesn't need to know that she is in fourth grade but still doing third grade math for us it's usually the beginning of the school year that she "formally" enters the next grade and she knows that she is behind in math (thanks to almost 3 years in public school) but she also knows that to understand the harder stuff she needs the basics so there is no problem with her learning multiplication next year. It can be pretty freestyle even with a boxed curriculum.

The only reporting I have to do is to report that we are home schooling 1 child of compulsory age (until the 2 others become 7 years old). Nothing else is required under Louisiana Home School Law Option 2.

Here we have a huge HEA group and a ton of local activities so the schools haven't opened up to home schoolers who would like to participate in sports. I would like to see that happen especially with the JROTC groups. I think opening that to the home schoolers would be great for them if they wanted to participate.

Answer 6

Grades are for meat and eggs, not children.

Answer 7

What you do really depends on your state.  Some states have rather rigid requirements, while others have few or none.

We don't go by grade, nor do we grade our child's work.

Answer 8

In my state I may use whatever grading system I prefer.

Answer 9

You, as the parent-teacher, assign both grades on work (or not) and assign the academic grade level (not necessary when HS'ing).

Sometimes my son, age 10, is a 4th grader, sometimes he's a 5th grader, and other times he's a high schooler - depending on the activity and the course.

I keep track of grades (b/c I'm a datahead) in MS Excel.  My curriculum also has an online tracking system.  We use a mastery-based curriculum, so there really are not grades.  It's more of a pass/fail thing.  The grade is not important - whether the child met the lesson objectives is what is important.

Unless your state requires reporting, no you don't have to.  I've been HS'in in two states and didn't have to report to either.  They didn't even know I was HS'ing - it's not needed.

In some states HS'ed students can participate in sports.

Answer 10

"How do you record your homeschoolers grades? "

I don't. A math sheet or something like that might get graded if that particular child likes having grades (like my daughter), but other than that... If she hasn't mastered something well, it means she needs more work on it. We either work on it right away or I make not of needing to work on that again in the future. There's no A, B, C or anything like that. She doesn't get final grades and a report card per subject.

Now, if you live in place that you have to do that, or you just want to do it, I'd recommend checking out Homeschool Tracker. It's great, easy to use, EXCELLENT support and online forums for even additional support and tips. Fantastic program.

"Do they pass from grade to grade like public schoolers or is it all freestyle? "

That'll depend a bit on your preference and/or where you live. We have to register and our kids are registered as Year ____, with the number being the number of years in school. It doesn't necessarily reflect what grade level of work they are doing. We just use that number to answer easily questions about, "What grade are you in?" but they aren't limited to typical grade-level work.

"Do you report to anyone? "

This, too, depends on where you live. Where I live (Alberta), yes, we have to report.

"Can children still participate in school sports or clubs in their district?"

Where I live, not usually, although some exceptions have been made for jr. high and up IF the student is registered with that school board and not attending a different school part-time. What I mean is, say a student is doing part-time homeschooling, part-time in-school. They can't go to any old school to participate in clubs and sports; they'd have to do it through the school they are registered with. If they are full-time homeschoolers, it's completely up to the principal to decide.

However, the only thing I've actually ever heard of a homeschooler participating in here is band. Since then, there have been 2 homeschooling bands created, as well as a choir. There are drama programs and more. Even for sports, there are community sports programs galore--no need for school participation.

Answer 11

i home school my son and i give him thing like this if we had 12 problems and he missed 6  they do andvance  i had to fill out apaper form the state telling them that i was home schooling them  it depends onthe scholl system if they will let home schooled kidsin sport  because of insurane i fell tht home school is a good way to go when the chil has trouble in reg school settings i have one in reg and on in home school there are also virtual schools to

Answer 12

We're not required to keep records in my state so I don't use a gradin system.  

For outside activities, I place my son on the grade level that correlates with his age.  When purchasing curricula, I buy according to his academic needs.

Whether or not your child can participate in public school activities depends on the state/school district.  However, there are many other options available.  Here's some information on homeschool actvities:

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Hope this helps!