Good enough or Do again

My own homeschooling runs on a system of "Good enough" vs. "Do again". If it's been done again and it's just not going to get better, I may give a letter grade if it's for a high school transcript. Otherwise I either consider it good enough, teach more to improve it, or let it go and focus on something else. Discussing with my child helps him and me more than giving a letter grade or percentage grade, because who is he going to compare himself with? He's in a class of one student his age.

Occasionally one of my children wanted to know how they’re doing and asked for a letter grade specifically. I noticed this particularly when they had been talking to other children and wanted to brag. One of my children had crippling anxiety in part because of insecurity; she felt the lack of reinforcement that a letter grade could provide. I was happy with some of their work and unhappy with some of it; I needed to let them know. We held parental interviews when my husband was alive, which helped a lot in getting all three of us on the same page. My husband’s expectations were never quite the same as mine, and our children’s expectations varied by child, by age, and by whether they had eaten and were well-rested!

After my husband’s passing we did a lot more informal discussion, interspersed with emotional processing and reminiscing. We held family meetings for evaluating how we were doing as a group, how the household was running (or not), were chores getting done and should we reassign?

So by all means, talk about how your child is doing. If he's fishing for compliments, talk about what you've noticed him succeeding at. If he's feeling down on himself, ask him to tell you what he's thinking. Listen, then discuss. Let him know where you think he could do better and what you think he's doing well. Make it a conversation instead of a letter stamp.

Previous
Previous

What to do, what to do

Next
Next

Re-evaluate at a year.