Who is in charge of grading in homeschooling? Certainly it is not some outside teacher. No, it is the parent. Most times, mom! Not surprisingly, assessment and grading can be a tricky part of homeschooling. While there are standard tests available to measure certain forms of learning, homeschooling parents do not have a ready group of other children against which to evaluate the progress of their child. Therefore, traditional approaches to teaching and grading may not be the best route to take.

When grading a home schooled child, letter-grades based on comparisons to other children are not very meaningful. It is more important to assess whether the child has understood the subject that is being taught. If the child has not understood something, the parent can go over it again. This will benefit the child in two ways. First, if the child does not show complete understanding of a subject (mastery), he or she will not be able to simply "slide by" and move on to the next level, as so often happens in a regular classroom. Second, when mastery does occur it can be a powerful motivation for further academic performance. Children who master a topic of study gain the satisfaction of knowing they can succeed -- that hard work does lead to success.

Assessment of a child's progress should be an on-going process. When assessing a child's performance, parents should never allow emotions to overrule their reason. Frustration or belligerence are not uncommon reactions in children when they first encounter a new, difficult concepts. Of course, parents should never be inflexible task masters. But, they should never yield to a child's resistance to learning important subjects. If learning a particular topic or skill is important, then the parent-teacher must help the child to master it. Patience and creativity are the parents' best teaching aids.

As noted, there are standard tests available that can be used periodically to assess a child's learning. Many states require homeschooled children to take such tests on a yearly basis. While the parents' on-going assessment of their child's progress is most important to their teaching strategies, standardized tests can be very helpful. Such test may reveal variations in a child's pattern of learning. Unexpected areas of strength and unknown areas of weakness may be identified by such tests. This enables the parent-teacher to structure future homeschooling lessons to cover the areas that are weak, and build upon the areas that are strong.

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