Comments for At Home & School

Comment on Should homeschoolers award percentage or letter grades? Or give grades at all? by Susan Raber

Susan Raber — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:09:36 +0000

Thanks, Jackie. It is difficult sometimes to deschool ourselves and our kids. So many elements of the traditional classroom are for keeping order and reporting to the powers-that-be, and these things are simply not needed in a homeschool situation.

The only caveat is if the student expects to eventually transition to a classroom situation later on, and may want to understand how a typical grading system works.

Comment on Should homeschoolers award percentage or letter grades? Or give grades at all? by Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:28:35 +0000

You hit the nail on the head with this post! I am a former public and private school teacher, but when I started homeschooling my daughter I did away with grades totally.

I know where my daughter stands academically because I work with her on a daily basis. I don’t need grades to tell me what she knows. When she was in elementary and junior high we used Time4Learning and they kept grades for me, but we didn’t focus on them at all. Many times I did not even have her take the tests (she is not a test taker and also panics over tests, so they wouldn’t gauge her learning accurately anyway). You can learn much about your student’s knowledge by interacting with them and watching them apply what they know in everyday life situations.

Thanks for validating my “NO GRADES” stance.

Joyfully,
Jackie

Comment on Four qualities of homeschool mentors by When support groups ARE supportive, and how you can help | At Home & School

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:20:46 +0000

[…] support group can give us a chance to model these virtues to our children. Both men and women have a tremendous opportunity to mentor younger/less experienced parents, as well as the young people in the group. Our children need to […]

Comment on End of the school year? No way! by ContentlyHumble (@ContentlyHumble)

ContentlyHumble (@ContentlyHumble) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:25:25 +0000

Oh, I love this! I agree 100%, summer is a new beginning.
We are looking forward to warmer days and learning about nature up-close.

Comment on An overview of annual homeschool testing and assessments by Susan Raber

Susan Raber — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:38:34 +0000

Many standardized tests, such as the CAT, only test for reading and math skills. but you are right- if the parent uses a more comprehensive test that covers other subjects, they will be tested on the topics covered by the curriculum used in the public schools.

I think the Common Core is a disaster. We can hope that Common Core based testing (which is still in the works) will not affect homeschoolers. I know that in Ohio we have the option of having our children evaluated by a qualified assessor. I imagine if tests are created that revolve around the Common Core, more homeschooling parents will opt for the narrative assessment option and not use standardized tests at all.