Grading in homeschooling

Grading in homeschooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most
of the cases, this means mom! In this situation, grading can get a 
bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own 
child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your 
child's performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of 
how well other children are doing. So, obviously the traditional 
method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.

When grading a child undergoing homeschooling, it is more 
important to assess whether the child has understood the subject 
that is being taught. Inherent in this is the fact that if the 
child has not understood something, you will go over it again. 
This will work in your child's favor in 2 ways. Firstly, the child 
knows that if he or she fails to catch on, the topic will be 
repeated till it is mastered. Secondly, the child also knows that 
once the topic has been mastered, he or she will get full credit 
for his hard work. Getting full reward for the hard work put in is 
a great motivational factor, especially for kids. 

When assessing your child's abilities, do not allow emotions to 
overcrowd your rationale. Do not yield to the cries and tears of 
your child if he or she resists certain topics or subjects. If 
mastering these skills is necessary, then you as the teacher (and 
not as the parent alone) have to go over the topic over and over 
till it sinks in. When dealing with tougher concepts, the child 
may get restless and may even show frustration or belligerence. 
When the child is still young and unable to understand the 
importance of his lessons, it is your responsibility to see to it 
that the child develops the skill set necessary for future growth. 

In case you belong to a state that requires yearly tests, this 
will help you to judge your child's ability vis-à-vis his peers. 
Even if it is not mandatory, you may want to test your child every 
year. These tests will reveal the variations in the child's 
learning pattern. It may show up unexpected areas of strength and 
hitherto unknown areas of weakness. This enables you to structure 
your teaching to cover the areas that are weak, and build upon the 
areas that are strong. 

In case your state requires a homeschool report card, keep a 
record of the yearly development and scores of your child. Include 
pertinent areas like punctuality, discipline etc in the report. 
You may also need to keep a record of the number of working days 
and attendance schedules. 

While grading your child, make sure that you use as many external
tests as possible. There are several websites that deal with the 
various age groups, and allow free downloading of question papers. 
This is an excellent and cost-effective method to assess your 
child. Homeschooling, if done in the proper manner, will boost the 
child's confidence because he will be studying to satisfy his 
natural curiosity. The scores therefore will reflect his true 
intelligence. 

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