Teaching English in high school is not about grading criteria or percentages. It’s about getting lots of writing practice – and having your students write a lot. It’s also about editing their papers. Just read them, circle things that are obvious spelling or grammar errors (OBVIOUS errors, that’s all.) It is also about discussing their ideas: “What did you mean when you said…..” Or “please rewrite this it doesn’t make sense.” But you’re not doing anything magical, you’re just reading it over. It’s just like if a friend said “would you please read this?” That’s all!
Remember that some public school English teachers don’t have an English degree. They may not even have the English background that you do! The only reason they use rubrics and other grading criteria is because they have to grade so MANY students, and be consistent between them. Not us! We want to encourage each student to do THEIR best, and that means we don’t really want to treat all our students the same. We want each to excel in their own way.
Another advantage that homeschoolers have is the student-teacher ratio with English. In public school, kids are lucky if they get one paper a semester to be assigned and carefully edited. With 20-30 kids in the class, teachers aren’t necessarily expected to read everything. I bet you’ll read and give more feedback on your kids papers than they would ever get in public school! We can read their history or science papers for quality writing as well, because we evaluate them in all their subjects.
Husbands and wives can often share the burden of grading English papers. That happened to be a HUGE chunk of homeschooling where my husband helped.
I want you to know that even though I didn’t “Grade English Papers” – my boys still got full tuition scholarships to college. They both still got into the Honors program. And they still get As and Bs on their college papers.
Blessings,
Lee
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Becky says:
This is interesting and very encouraging. To follow the majority of the group would mean using a formal English program from day one. I like the idea of “proofing” my children’s papers, and have seen that by giving my children good, solid books for reading that they are beginning to write well also. We have not yet used any official English program, and are progressing well thus far. Thank you for your insight.
September 1st, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Shelley says:
Thank you Lee ~
You have no idea how much this has set my mind at ease. I’ve started high school with my son and hold onto my extra measures of grace by the day!
September 1st, 2009 at 5:09 pm
arlene says:
This is just the word I needed today – thank you Lee!
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 am
Annie Kate says:
Hi Lee,
I like what you said about teaching highschool writing. I do that with my teens, although I usually assign a mark as well.
What really bothers me, though, is teaching literature. I learned so much in highschool lit classes (phenomenal teachers) and cannot see a way to give my children the same benefits.
Annie Kate
February 28th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Lee says:
Dear Annie,
Have you seen my blog post about literature analysis?
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/hey-someone-else-who-hates-literary-analysis/486/
I’m not saying that blog post has the answer, but it may help you to feel better about literature – at least a little bit
Blessings,
Lee
February 28th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
elaine says:
That’s very encouraging! My son is a great writer and had he stayed in public school he would of been in honors English this year! I feel confident to teach English. Math! now that’s my weakness,and my kids too! They don’t even want to look at it! We’re more of a Lit. family than that of math and science.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:06 am
Lisa says:
Could you please tell me where to get ideas from to give my daughter to write about? She is not motivated in any of her subjects. I really need help. I am feeling like a failure. I want to continue home schooling, and I know I can help her in her Christian walk, but when it comes to HS classes, I am not sure.
February 10th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Lee says:
Dear Lisa,
Thank you for your question!
There is a good book on writing prompts that you can start with, called “501 Writing Prompts.” You can read more about it in this blog post:
http://www.thehomescholar.com/blog/how-can-homeschoolers-earn-an-%E2%80%9Ca-%E2%80%9D/4082/
It sounds like you are really struggling to find a fit with curriculum. I have an article about choosing curriculum that may help:
http://www.thehomescholar.com/10-no-fail-strategies-for-choosing-high-school-curriculum.php
For people who don’t really know where to begin looking, I like to point people to Sonlight Curriculum because I find it to be the easiest to use.
Blessings,
Lee
February 11th, 2011 at 10:43 am
Dana Repp says:
Thank you, Lee! Even though this is how I’ve done English for middle school I’ve been contemplating how that will change or need to change for high school. Good to know it doesn’t have to! It has also been the best way to get my daughter to write without fear of me tearing her writing apart.
Another sigh of relief.
Blessings,
Dana
June 7th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Mirdza Hayden says:
Thanks for the encouragement! I totally agree with you. I do my best to just help them write a good paper… always have. Make sure they have good grammar and good punctuation so that everyone can understand what they write. I encourage them to write and type, and I believe that is the best thing we can do for them in English class, in addition to reading.
July 15th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Kristie Alons says:
Thank you so much for this encouraging post! Many times I feel I am not doing enough (or I am not doing it as well as they do in public school), but the method you described is the way we tackle the subject of English in our home. Thankfully, my husband is able to take on the responsibility of editing the writing assignments for the most part. Thanks.
May 15th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Lee says:
Dear Kristie,
You might also like this article on High School English: A “Grouch Free” Guide to Grading
http://www.thehomescholar.com/high-school-english-a-grouch-free-guide-to-grading.php
Blessings,
Lee
May 16th, 2012 at 11:37 am