Homeschool grading tools

Which tool do you need?

Three tools cover the grading side of a homeschool year: the gradebook, and two calculators on the school pages. Find what you have in the left column and what you want in the middle one.

You have	You want	Tool
Scores for each child's work	A running grade for each course	Homeschool gradebook
Course grades and credits	A GPA for the transcript	GPA calculator
One exam left and a target grade	The score your child needs on it	Final grade calculator

Each tool is its own page. To get a GPA, carry the course grades from the gradebook into the GPA calculator yourself.

What records should a homeschool year keep?

If your state has record-keeping rules, start with those. We can't tell you what they require.

Many families also keep:

• scores for the work you grade, by course
• the grade each course ended on
• the books and materials you used
• a few samples of each child's work
• for high schoolers, the credit you're giving each course

Work samples are easier to collect as you go than to find in June. A few a term per subject is plenty: a page of math from the fall and another from the spring, a writing piece that went through drafts, a lab report. Date each one, and keep it with the grades for that course.

Add one more record: a short note of your grading method. Write down the categories, the weights, the letter scale and how you count credits. If anyone asks later how a grade was worked out, the note shows them.

You can track each course's grade in the gradebook, and the rest fits in a folder, with one folder inside it for each school year. The gradebook page keeps nothing between visits, so save its file whenever you've entered scores, move it into that year's folder, and open the newest one there next time. Its page explains saving and opening.

How do you plan the grading side of a school year?

Before the first graded assignment, settle these:

• which subjects get grades and which get notes or samples
• the categories and weights for each graded course
• one letter scale for the whole family, written down
• for high schoolers, the credit each course will carry
• where the year's files and samples will live

Then pick a rhythm for recording. Some parents enter scores at the end of each school day, others once a week. Either works if it happens on a set day. Grades entered weeks later tend to go missing, and so do the papers they came from.

At the end of each term, look over each course's grade while the work is still fresh. That is the easiest time to spot a weight that isn't doing what you meant, and to make a note before you change anything for the next year.

Should you grade every subject?

Often not, unless your state or an umbrella school asks for grades in each subject. Scores are most useful where they're easy to give and worth tracking, such as math, spelling or a science course with tests. Art, music and read-alouds often go ungraded, with a work sample or a note instead.

In the early years, a grade often matters less than knowing whether a skill has landed. A quick check, a conversation or a sample of work can tell you that without a number. Some parents grade a little anyway, so a child gets used to the idea before it counts.

Grades matter more in high school, because they end up on a transcript. A common pattern is light grading in the early years, then a full grade for each high school course. Decide which subjects you'll grade before the year starts. If you start grading partway through, the grade reflects only the months you graded.

How do you calculate homeschool grades?

The usual method is points. Add up the points your child earned and divide by the points possible, then multiply by 100 for a percentage. Ten quizzes out of 20 points each give 200 points possible, and 170 earned is 85%.

When a course mixes kinds of work, work out a percentage for each category, such as homework or tests, and combine them using the weights you chose. The gradebook works out weighted course grades for each child and course.

Do homeschool grades need to be weighted?

Not unless your state or an umbrella school asks for it, but weighting usually makes a grade fairer. Without weights, a single long test can outweigh a dozen short worksheets, because it carries more points. Weights let you decide how much each kind of work counts.

Heavier weight on tests rewards what a child can show at the end of a unit. Heavier weight on daily work rewards steady effort. A middle path suits most core subjects, and projects can carry more weight in courses like science or history. Whatever you choose, keep the same weights all year, so a grade in May means the same as a grade in October.

What grading scale should a homeschool use?

A 10-point scale is a common choice. Some parents use a stricter scale, or add plus and minus grades. Pick one that matches how hard you grade, and use it all year, as with weights. The gradebook uses one letter scale for every child and course.

Does a homeschool need report cards?

Not unless someone asks for them, such as your state or an umbrella school. A record of scores lists the work and the grades. A report card adds your judgment: comments on effort, progress and what comes next. Some parents write one each term, because a child likes having one or because it starts a good talk about the year.

The gradebook prints a report of each child's scores and course grades. It doesn't write report cards or comments, so if you want them, write those yourself and keep them with the printout.

How do you give homeschool high school credits?

Check the rules you homeschool under, and any umbrella school you report to, before you set how much credit a course is worth. Credit is often based on how much work a course takes over the year, so a full-year course earns more than a short one. Colleges look at credit too, so read the admissions pages of colleges your teen is considering before you settle on a method.

The gradebook lets you note a credit beside each course, but it doesn't use credits in grades.

How do you make a homeschool transcript?

A transcript usually lists each course with its year, grade and credit, plus a GPA. Many homeschool families make their own, unless an umbrella school or online program issues one. None of these tools builds one, but you can work out the transcript GPA, weighted and unweighted.

Enter the letter your gradebook shows, not the percentage, since the GPA calculator's own letter scale can differ from yours. If your scale gives any letter different points from the calculator's, or uses a letter it doesn't list, work that GPA out by hand instead. The GPA calculator's page links to the points it gives each letter and explains how to add earlier years.

What score does your homeschooler need on a final exam?

It depends on the grade so far, the final's weight and the target. With a current 85 and a final worth 30%, a 90 overall would take 101.67%, more than full marks, so it's out of reach unless the final allows enough extra credit. You can find the score needed on the final from those three numbers.

How long should you keep homeschool records?

Keep high school records the longest. If your state's rules set a period for any record, keep it at least that long. Colleges or employers may ask for a transcript years after graduation, and you may be the one who has to produce it. Keep high school grades, the transcript and your grading-method note permanently, and earlier years for as long as they're useful.

Keep two kinds of copy. The saved file opens in the gradebook, so it's the copy you keep working in. The printed report, on paper or saved as a PDF if your browser offers that, is the copy anyone can read without the gradebook.

The tools work out the numbers. What to grade, and how, is up to you. None of them takes attendance or logs hours.