Calculating course grades, are there any guidelines??

[Kelley]

I am trying to formulate how a grade will be comprised for each subject.:001_huh:

How do you weigh such things as Daily Work, Exams, Laboratory Experiences and other major projects?:confused:

For example: Algebra will have daily work, then exams.

Language Arts: Literature, Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar, and Writing

Science: daily work, experiments, exams, and lapbooks.

Geography: Daily work, mapping, notebooking for each continent.

Any guidance would be much appreciated...:)

Kelley

[periwinkle]

If you are homeschooling independently (not with an umbrella school or other organization), it is all up to you! Which means you are the boss. :D

In my school, I give a lot more weight to tests and quizzes than I do for daily work. Perhaps that is because it is much easier for me that way. ;)

[Kelley]

:lurk5: I hope you don't mind me popping this back up???

Kelley

[Heather in AL]

Are you looking for specifics? We're just starting high school, so I can only say what I'm planning to do.

Like the PP, I'm not giving much weight, if any, to daily grades/daily work, but emphasizing tests, quizzes, and reports.

What I did to get my % goals was to hit the websites of the local high school and see what the teachers there weighed various components. Some of them give a % of the grade for just showing up, so I did have to do some tweaking. For the most part, I found things like tests were 65% of the final grade, quizzes were 20%, homework was 15%. In science classes, there was a weight for labs and lab reports, etc. You'll just have to adjust for each class and what you are assigning, but those high school web pages are good places to start.

I hope this is what you were asking for. Hopefully someone who has actually BTDT will chime in, too. :001_smile:

[chpiper]

:lurk5:

[AnitaMcC]

I am trying to formulate how a grade will be comprised for each subject.:001_huh:

How do you weigh such things as Daily Work, Exams, Laboratory Experiences and other major projects?:confused:

Any guidance would be much appreciated...:)

Kelley

I will list what we are doing...

Language arts:
-- Composition: 46 homework assignments = 5pt each,
6 writing projects = 50 pts each
-- Grammar: 70 homework assignments = 5 pt each
9 quizzes = 10 pts each
-- Vocabulary: 46 homework assignmnets = 5 pt each,
12 tests = 10 pots each
-- Logic: Just got book we will use & haven't worked out the plan yet.

Algebra 2: 111 homework assignments = 1 pt each,
39 quizzes = 10 pts each
2 exams (cover chp 1-3, chp 7-9) = 50 pts each
midterm and final exams (chp 1-6, 7-12) = 100 pts each

World History to 1500 (2 units) and since 1500 (3 units)
12 assignments (5 short answer questions)= 15 pts each
12 on-line quizzes = 25 pts each
12 critical thinking essay = 15 pts each
2 exams (chp 1-5, 6-12) = 100 pts each
5 projects = 100 pts each

World Literature (5 units following World History units)
(they will read 3 books each unit. They pick 1 fiction, 1 non-
fiction, 1 biography or autobiography for each unit).
We grade literature from the world history projects they will be
doing. Their research paper has to tie their readings in with the
history they are learning from the text book.

Health: 83 homework assignments = 5 pts each
14 activities = 25 pts each
6 unit exams = 50 pts each
final project = 100 pts each

Chemistry we just received the books and haven't worked out the grading plan yet. But we will base grade on homework assignments, lab reports, quizzes, exams.

Homework pts are automatic if they complete the assignments. If assignments are not completed they get no points. Every thing else is based upon how well they do.

The electives are similar. They are graded on homework, quizzes, exams. Projects or research papers where appropriate.

[Laurie4b]

I am trying to formulate how a grade will be comprised for each subject.:001_huh:

How do you weigh such things as Daily Work, Exams, Laboratory Experiences and other major projects?:confused:

For example: Algebra will have daily work, then exams.

Language Arts: Literature, Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar, and Writing

Science: daily work, experiments, exams, and lapbooks.

Geography: Daily work, mapping, notebooking for each continent.

Any guidance would be much appreciated...:)

Kelley

No. Every teacher does it differently. Do it the way you want to. If your child does well on tests, you can save yourself time and just grade tests. If your child doesn't test well, you can grade a test the same as a homework assignment. It doesn't matter. It is totally up to the teacher. One cc teacher of my son's graded everything equally--from 5 question quizzes to a 5 page report. Personally, I thought that was weird; however, it illustrates that there is no standard whatsoever.

[Kelley]

Thanks so much for the insight and for taking the time to post a response.
Since there are no specific guidelines, that is probably why I was having a hard time with this aspect of allocation of what comprises the final grade:001_huh:. I guess I gotta ponder what my expectations are for each course.

Kelley

[avdelp]

I find this to be an intriguing question for homeschoolers. While my primary goal is mastery of a subject, I have to realize that the actual grade is what usually matters for a college admissions officer. If I choose to grade only the tests/exams, and my DD doesn't do well, it makes me wonder about the "fairness" of my final grade. When I consider all the homework "completion" grades, fluffy extra-credit work, and often mindless projects that bump up a student's grade in "real" school, I wonder how my child's grade looks in comparison. I think we have to think about what we really want our home school grades to reflect and let our conscience be our guide. From what I remember from high school, the teachers there are certainly not bound to any strict grading standards, I would hope that mine are higher (while still being fair).

[transientChris]

I have a different issue than the poster above. My dd doesn't think she deserves the grades she gets. Let me give an example, in chemistry she would get A's on the test and do great lab reports. However, she doesn't feel she "groks" chemistry so she doesn't think she deserves an A. I know that high schools don't care whether you are a genius or a dunce, they will give you an A if you do well on tests and work. I feel I should do the same and not grade her on her subjective feelings that she doesn't deserve an A.

[Karin]

For chemistry I'm grading 25 percent for text questions, 25 percent for weekly vocabulary quizzes, 25 percent for lab work and 25 percent for lab reports. I think this is a good way to grade this course with my particular dd because of what skills she needs to learn. She retains far more than she can express in words, hates to memorize and is great at remembering concepts, ideas, etc. This way she has to work on answering the textbook questions thoroughly (she's always balked at that), memorizing vocabulary within a deadline (I've always let her test on that when she feels she's mastered it in the past because we focused on mastery), working well in a lab group and doing the labs properly, the math involved, etc, and then in writing a lab report because she hates writing anything nonfiction.

For math it's on her work. I'm not sure yet about tests as LoF doesn't have any in Geometry. For Logic I haven't figured it out, but she'll have 2 exams at each half of the course, but I haven't yet decided how to weight it.

The rest I'm still working on. I can't grade any writing she does in German, but will mark her grammar once I get the answer key. I'm not sure what to do about the writing since I don't have the expertise to do that. She's going to write a monthly letter in German to my dad, but his German grammar (mostly genders of noun and remembering case rules) is rusty now that he doesn't get to use much it anymore. It's more to get her to write something as it's German 1. I don't even want to think about how to grade her second semester subjects yet. I hate, hate, hate this whole grading part of it even though I realize that it's important. Marking for mistakes, yet, but grading irks me.

[Laurie4b]

I find this to be an intriguing question for homeschoolers. While my primary goal is mastery of a subject, I have to realize that the actual grade is what usually matters for a college admissions officer. If I choose to grade only the tests/exams, and my DD doesn't do well, it makes me wonder about the "fairness" of my final grade. When I consider all the homework "completion" grades, fluffy extra-credit work, and often mindless projects that bump up a student's grade in "real" school, I wonder how my child's grade looks in comparison. I think we have to think about what we really want our home school grades to reflect and let our conscience be our guide. From what I remember from high school, the teachers there are certainly not bound to any strict grading standards, I would hope that mine are higher (while still being fair).

On the other hand, I've decided not to assign grades on our transcript. For one thing, I teach to mastery; for another, colleges don't value Mommy grades. I am thinking that I will assign an "M" for mastery and just explain that on the college transcript. I will record grades that they've taken from an outside teacher.

[MyThreeSons]

I teach geometry and Physics at our co-op. I count daily homework and lab reports as 35% of the final grade, Class Participation as 10%, and Tests as 55%.

At home, it's more like daily work 20%, projects 25%, and tests 55%.

HTH

[Julie in MN]

No. Every teacher does it differently. Do it the way you want to. If your child does well on tests, you can save yourself time and just grade tests. If your child doesn't test well, you can grade a test the same as a homework assignment. It doesn't matter. It is totally up to the teacher. One cc teacher of my son's graded everything equally--from 5 question quizzes to a 5 page report. Personally, I thought that was weird; however, it illustrates that there is no standard whatsoever.

:iagree:

If the child tested well and i feel it's a good representation of the child's knowledge, then I make my life easier & just use the tests for the grade.

If not, I go to plan B and make more work for myself :001_smile:

[LaMere Academy]

No. Every teacher does it differently. Do it the way you want to. If your child does well on tests, you can save yourself time and just grade tests. If your child doesn't test well, you can grade a test the same as a homework assignment. It doesn't matter. It is totally up to the teacher. One cc teacher of my son's graded everything equally--from 5 question quizzes to a 5 page report. Personally, I thought that was weird; however, it illustrates that there is no standard whatsoever.

I'm so glad to hear this myself!
I had been wondering. I personally count everything as the same. Especially since I've never been big on tests and quizzes, though they are starting to take them now that they are in high school.

[Karin]

I'm so glad to hear this myself!
I had been wondering. I personally count everything as the same. Especially since I've never been big on tests and quizzes, though they are starting to take them now that they are in high school.


Right. Plus, tests and quizzes, for the most part, rely on memory skills and don't say much about in depth understanding, theory, etc. I mean really applying theory. My favourite exam in university was one most Biology majors and minors dreaded (and I aced it). All it was was applying some theory we'd already used to a new situation. Students who aced tests simply by memorizing facts and cramming had a very, very hard time.

[Brindee]

I have a different issue than the poster above. My dd doesn't think she deserves the grades she gets. Let me give an example, in chemistry she would get A's on the test and do great lab reports. However, she doesn't feel she "groks" chemistry so she doesn't think she deserves an A. I know that high schools don't care whether you are a genius or a dunce, they will give you an A if you do well on tests and work. I feel I should do the same and not grade her on her subjective feelings that she doesn't deserve an A.My ds did the same thing! He told me he didn't think he understood it well enough to get an A- in Biology. I showed him his papers, tests and lab reports, which gave him the grade I put on his transcript. I think he was afraid he'd forgotten it, and when someone saw the grade, they'd expect him to remember everything! :001_huh::tongue_smilie:

[Karin]

My ds did the same thing! He told me he didn't think he understood it well enough to get an A- in Biology. I showed him his papers, tests and lab reports, which gave him the grade I put on his transcript. I think he was afraid he'd forgotten it, and when someone saw the grade, they'd expect him to remember everything! :001_huh::tongue_smilie:


I have the opposite at time; my dc will remember it well but not put the effort into their written work if I'm not careful. Also, my eldest thinks more in pictures and ideas, and has to work to put those into words.