How do I grade my child?
Grades are a necessary part of some homeschool programs. I’ve heard a lot of homeschool parents say that it’s so tedious, or even cruel to put a number to a child’s work or project. To a certain extent, I have to agree. I mean, how could you put a value to a hand-made popsicle maze that had all the glue and glitter to outshine Rudolph on a cold, starry night?
But grading your child doesn’t have to be something to dread. Video games always put a numerical value to any progress made. They just call it a “score” or a “level”. Kids who play video games are familiar with the concept. So when you think about it, putting a numerical value to something shouldn’t be cruel or cold.
As an art teacher, I’ve learned to put a value on a child’s artwork that was fair to me and my students. I use a rubric. It has two components: Expectations (criteria) and a number (grade).
If you are familiar with using a rubric, then you can skip this short explanation. But if you are unsure of what a rubric is, let me show you an example:
Sample Art Rubric
This is a simplified rubric to grade an artwork or art project. The first column are a list of your criteria for judging a project.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th columns are a description of whether a student/child met these criteria and in what manner. The row on top holds the numerical value equivalent to their effort. Average the results of their effort, and you have a numerical grade for the project!
You can use percentages on each criteria to create a final grade or tweak the numbers in the rubric, but for the purpose of this blog post, I’d like to share what I know of using a rubric and how I use it to grade a project or portfolio.
Making a rubric can be confusing at the start, but you get the hang of it when you keep practicing. There are links below for additional reading if you need more information.
Once you’ve tried making a rubric for yourself, the rest will be easy. You can create rubrics for projects, performances and and portfolios. Rubrics demystify the grading process and can really help put a numerical value to a child’s effort that isn’t a written test with right or wrong answers.
Make the rubric work for you
If your child is old enough to understand the criteria or the parameters to “get a high score” on a project, there will be some students who will balk at the thought and underperform. Other children will feel relieved to know the required expectations for the project and strive to reach them. Share the rubric with your child. Let them see what it takes to finish their work well. Measure their reactions and talk about the criteria. Maybe you can adjust or tweak the criteria together?
Either way, a rubric is a gentle way to talk about goals, persistence and grit when working on a project. In the end, you’ll have a concrete number that democratically quantifies a child’s effort. In fact, a child can grade themselves based on a rubric you both created!
we made a grading sheet and rubric for you
In our homeschool program, our grading sheet has a rubric for grades that need to be encoded each quarter. Please explore and try it out for yourself so you’ll feel comfortable using them. If you still feel overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we’d gladly help you out.
but there are different ways to quantify learning
If you use a pen and paper exam for grading your child’s knowledge on a subject, the numerical result of the exam will be the grade for their quarterly exam or quiz, whichever the case may be.
Please know that using a rubric is just one way of quantifying a person’s learning.
Grade your child the way you feel most comfortable using. We would encourage you to create projects or activities as a direct application of what they’ve learned. We believe that a true education is being able to apply what one learns and uses it in real life. A numerical grade is just a number on paper. The real value is in the satisfaction, the memories and self-worth gained by your child on a job well done.
Here are some links that might help inspire you:
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-create-a-rubric-4061367
https://www.7sistershomeschool.com/whats-rubric-homeschool-moms-use-one/
Try to create your own rubric online here- https://www.quickrubric.com/