Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Part of the homeschool journey is grading. I’m sure there are parents who grade their children’s schoolwork and then question whether they did it right or not. Lesha, is there any right way or wrong way to grade?

Lesha Myers:
There’s no wrong way to grade. Absolutely none. There are so many different options, and that is a good thing. Sometimes, we feel like we have to grade a certain way, usually the way we were evaluated when we were in school, and that’s an option, but it’s only one option. There are as many different ways to evaluate our children as there are teaching methods and curriculum. I get this question all the time, and sometimes parents explain how they plan to grade their children, and then come to me and say, “Is that okay?” And so, let me answer right now: yes, it’s completely okay. Any plan that lets your children know what you want them to do, what you want them to learn, is totally fine.

As to when to grade, I think that grades are beneficial by upper elementary, but they are essential by high school. Colleges, vocational schools, even insurance companies, for that Good Drivers discount—they all want to see transcripts. And grading takes our unique homeschooling experience and translates it into a format that others are familiar with. So, if we don’t have them, if we don’t have the transcripts, we may be limiting our children’s post-homeschooling options.

Mike:
Well, thank you, Lesha. Those are tremendous ideas on grading. And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.