Record-keeping and Grades in Kindergarten

[TriciaMR]

Grades in kindergarten...?

Should I be concerned about assigning and keeping track of grades in kindergarten? The thought just occurred to me that I haven't assigned a single grade to any of their assignments, although I did when I taught public school kinder. I keep attendance records and samples of work from each unit...is that enough?! Thanks...

I wouldn't keep grades. I think a portfolio of work is more accurate.

-Trish

[MJP]

I used to think I would keep grades. However, as I started homeschooling I realized (especially when they are little) that everyone's grade would be an A. I was not going to let them move on without understanding the material. And, keeping the grades, would take away from my teaching time. So, nine years and seven kids later, I have not recorded one grade for any of them. No one looks at elementary grades anyway. Having said that, one of my children will enter high school next year, so I will enter a new phase. I will keep grades for high school. If you love to keep grades, go for it, but it is not necessary.

[SandKsmama]

I used to think I would keep grades. However, as I started homeschooling I realized (especially when they are little) that everyone's grade would be an A. I was not going to let them move on without understanding the material. And, keeping the grades, would take away from my teaching time. So, nine years and seven kids later, I have not recorded one grade for any of them. No one looks at elementary grades anyway. Having said that, one of my children will enter high school next year, so I will enter a new phase. I will keep grades for high school. If you love to keep grades, go for it, but it is not necessary.

Ditto that - I really don't keep grades at all.
Amanda

[hollybygolly]

Thank you all! I'll relax now. You're right, no one looks at elementary grades and I wouldn't move on, either, unless I knew they knew the material. I appreciate the input...

[HSmommi2mine]

You really don't need to keep grades until High School for transcript reasons. Please don't worry about it in Kindergarten!

[Toni@homezcool4us]

Ditto Melissa's response and reasoning. ;)

[Smoakhouse]

I was looking at my umbrella school's grade reporting page for entering Gail's K attendance and "grades." Thankfully you have a few options, including letter grades, pass/fail, and excellent/satisfactory/needs improvement/incomplete. But before you enter anything, you must choose the subjects, and this is where my question comes in.

Our state does not require certain subjects for K as far as I know... But I wanted to enter subjects, if only to help give me a more official record of what we studied. There was also an area to type in what main texts were used and a brief description of the subject. It looked as if you could add as many subjects as you wish, and some of them got quite specific. For example, you could choose "Language Arts," or select a much more specific arm of Language Arts, such as Phonics or Spelling. I didn't really want to get into minutiae on this, because then I would feel like I have to list e v e r y t h i n g, you know! So I just left it "Language Arts" and for the description wrote:
"We used My Father's World Kindergarten for phonics instruction. For each of the 26 unit themes, we read many books, including fiction and non-fiction. She dramatized many of these stories and also worked on narration and summaries. She also kept a semi-daily journal."

I ended up choosing Bible, Math, Language Arts, Science, P.E. (she takes a co-op class), Art. I know I could have chosen more... but I didn't want it to look overwhelming and I didn't want to list a subject if we only did it very informally, even though I know that is still "learning," even if it wasn't scheduled. I thought about adding Music as well, although we didn't study the classical CD like we should have (we did enjoy listening). We learned different hymns throughout the year as well as songlike rhymes and we listened purposefully to a wide variety of music styles, but it wasn't really scheduled, you know? I am scheduling Music for First! It is likewise with Social Studies. We did many things which would fall under that title, but I don't know if I should list it as a subject in itself.

What "subjects" would you consider K to cover?

Hey fellow TNer.

For my Kindergartener, I kept it simple. Bible, Math, Science & Phonics. In the description, I just listed "My Father's World, Kindergarten". That's it, no elaboration. While yes, he did a lot more on the side, including an enrichment program. But I just listed the main stuff we did everyday. I really didn't get to much more detailed with my high schooler either, but that's just my personality. I figure no one is going to want to read a book.

[Wendy B.]

I am new to homeschooling and will be starting Kindergarten with my son on the 20th I have been trying to figure out how to keep track of his progress. Any ideas?

Do you have any specific record keeping requirements for your state?

I like to keep record keeping super simple. I simply write the date on the TM as we complete each lesson. An alternative could be to write the lesson in a calendar. I plan a tentative schedule in a calender but the actual date each date is completed in the TM.

I also like to keep a notebook. In this notebook, I jot down goals for the quarter such as habits. Every week or two, I review the goals and write a bit about how we did or did not work towards these goals. I keep it short and simple.

I do not have to report to the state. I use the calender to help me stay on track with completion of the school year. I use the notebook to help me stay on track with everything else.

HTH

[TriciaMR]

For K, I wouldn't worry about grades.

For record keeping, I use Homeschool Tracker Plus.

If you want (or are required by law to report grades), you could have some goals like this:

Knows each letter's sound (for however far along you are in the T.M.)
Writes each letter neatly
Learned to count to 100 (or however far you are counting for that week/month/semester)
Understands place value
Knows how to write his name
Knows his address and phone number
Can read short-vowel words (Maybe an end-of-year goal)

Then you can just work at attaining these goals. You will see them progress. Save their work and you can just see it.

-Trish

[Mom2theteam]

We don't have requirements for our state. For K, I just kept the worksheets he did in a folder along with some of the crafts or photos of things we couldn't keep (like the volcano). Eventually, I'll end up going through and only keeping a handful of that stuff to show progress. For now, he is my only student and only in 1st. So, tossing any of it sounds sad. (I put it back in the original box the K curriculum came in. )

I didn't do any formal record keeping at all, not even a calendar or marking things as I did them. Maybe I should have, but I don't think I'll ever need it.

[Lisa B]

I use a 3 ring binder (one per school year per child) to store worksheets and drawings and whatever else will fit it in. Pocket pages are nice to fit odd-sized items in. Page protectors can be used for those really special drawings and projects, and photos of the school year can be attached to pages. For larger items, a sturdy "banker's box" with a lid holds quite a bit of items and stores and stacks nicely. When it starts getting too full, it can be sorted through to trade disposable items for "keepers".

Like others mentioned, I don't worry about keeping official grades until high school age.