Homeschool World Forum

It seems that you dont mention anything about the importance of maintaining school report cards. I found a useful site called http://www.report-systems.com/w1cms/index.php?SID where it enables school report cards to be created easily and at no cost.

I think it could be one of those things that are forgotten, but are an important aspect of any teaching, that of maintaining credible records.

Not to mention when your child eventually leaves the home school and applies for places at college or university, the report cards can be a valuable back up to prove that your education at home has been worthwhile.

Report cards would make it easier to produce grades for each course, but a good record-keeping system can't be limited to just that. You also have to be able to prove to the colleges you actually did the material, which means you need a full transcript, not just grades. For instance: Homeschool Minder

Or you can make things even easier for both you and the colleges, and take nationally standardized tests (AP, CLEP, DANTES) in each core subject. Not only does this give them your grades in a format they have to accept, but it makes it much easier for them to compare you against others, and good scores will often get you college credit. It's possible to test entirely out of the first 1-2 years of college. I highly recommend going this route rather than relying on transcripts..

Yes i agree that you should not only take standarised tests to provide a benchmark to grade against, but should also ensure that you carry out regular assessment reporting each term as would be the case in a regular school.

I imagine that parents who try to do the difficult job of teaching all the subjects might forget some of these other equally important admin aspects.

I use mastered/unmastered instead of grades. It seems to "school" like to assign a grade. All kids need to feel successful.