How do you find time to grade papers - especially if you are schooling several children at once? How do you grade writing assignments? DO you keep a grade system? Or just check the work? Thanks.
I may be the only one who does this, but I really don't "grade" in the traditional sense. I check work, but it is immediately redone until they get it right. I honestly don't keep "grades". I check the work as soon as it is done bc I think immediate feedback and correction is essential in a child actually learning something.
I only have one, but do the same as okjac80. I check his work as soon as it's done, then I'll tell him "there are 2 questions incorrect on this page" and he has to go back over the page and find his mistakes and correct them (I will point them out if he really can't find the mistakes, but he usually finds them on his own pretty quickly).
I do the same. Mine are still so young that I'm with them while they're working so if it's wrong, it's immediately corrected. For things like tests/assessments I do them right afterwards. When they get older and more independent I would probably set aside a specific amount of time towards the end of the day to go over the completed papers.
When you find the best method....LET ME KNOW!! I have 3 kids. Some subjects I can grade right then. Some I have my oldest grade her own using the TM. Somethings may not get graded as soon as it should. I need to figure out a better overall "plan" but so far, this has worked (generally). Rhonda
Grading This is our first year of HS. At first i was very much into keeping the grades and GPA's and all that. Now...not so much. I TRY to grade their paper's right after they are done, so they can correct it. Particularly if it is math. Some of the other subjects I get a little lax and check it the next day and then have them review and correct it. I really am starting to give grades on tests and we are in the process of implementing CM so we are doing less and less testing.
I do what okjac80 does as well. I do keep a grade book though...mostly to amuse my dh who insists on that kind of structure. lol. My kids are somewhat motivated by it but it really is to give my dh something tangible. Since I use a Charlotte Mason method my kids share all subjects except math so my grading is super easy. I also assign random points to copywork and narration. I give like 10 points a day and only take points off if the work is sloppy.
Same here. It makes no sense to do it as they do in ps. They would do the work, get it wrong then move on. I make mine look at the problems they got wrong and see if they can figure where they went wrong. If not, then we sit down together and go over them, so they end up having them all right AND understand it. As far as when I grade, I tend to grade my older two's stuff while they are working on something during the day. Dd is younger and I work more one on one with her, so I know when things are needing redone. Occasionally if one of my boys is on the computer and the other has nothing to do till they can get on, then they will help me check each other's papers.
I try to grade dd's work right away. However, it doesn't always happen that way. If I'm in the middle of something when she finishes an assignment, checking that assignment will have to wait. So, I grade any papers that didn't get done right away, at night after everyone else is in bed (I'm a bit of an insomniac & up very late) or early in the morning before our day really begins. I use Homeschool Tracker Plus to keep track of assignments & grades. Whatever grade dd got, when I first corrected the page, is the grade that goes into HST. After I've graded it, she has to go back over it & correct all mistakes. She does that on her own. Then I check her corrections. If she still isn't getting them right, I'll sit & go over the material with her. The reason I don't go over her mistakes with her right away is that her mistakes are generally due to inattention or rushing through, not an issue with understanding the work. My ds is only 4, so when he does 'school work', I'm right there with him & can correct him right away.
Now, just to clarify, not that it matters, but.. when I "grade" I am really just going over his work to make sure he "understands" it. He's doing ninth grade level and is working independantly so I feel that i should be keeping some sort of tabs on how his mastery skills are. I've been doing it 2 times a week.
I correct the paper when she's done with it usually, because Im usually right there with her and its easler for me this way. If she's gone to my sister's and leaves papers in her folder for me that are done I check them the next day but with her present so I can explain what she did wrong...but then again I only have 1
