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The Westbank KUMON Center requires home grading of worksheets by parents. Home grading provides a number of benefits for students and parents:
• Parents, by checking work, can help their children establish a Kumon routine by ensuring that work is completed daily. • Students can correct mistakes immediately, thereby preventing the same error form being repeated over consecutive days. • Parents have an opportunity to learn more about Kumon and their children’s progress by being closely involved. • Parents have increased opportunities to encourage and praise their children. • Students will develop a more positive attitude about attending the Center since they will be able to immediately sit down and work on that day’s worksheets instead of having to make their corrections from the previous class' homework (which may involve several days’ worth of corrections). Grading Principles • Use a red pen. • Use an answer book to grade worksheets from Levels 2A and higher in Reading, 3A and higher in Math. It is essential that your grading be accurate and consistent. • Put a big check mark or draw a large circle (the “Circle of Completion”) on each side of the page that has no errors. • If a student answers a problem incorrectly, place a check mark through the problem number. Minor errors (such as spelling, grammar, capitalization or punctuation) as well as incomplete answers should be indicated with a triangle. • Do not correct the mistake for the student or indicate where, within the answer, the error is located. It is important that the student finds and corrects the mistake he/she made on his/her own. • Once corrected, the cross mark, slash or triangle should be circled to indicate that the correction has been checked and is now correct. • If a question is still incorrect after a correction attempt, a second cross mark, slash or triangle should be placed beside the first to indicate to the student that it needs another attempt. It will also indicate to the instructor reviewing the work later that the student had difficulty with that particular question. When should you use a triangle instead of a cross mark? In the Math Program: 1. When the student’s answer is illegible or numerals are formed improperly (e.g., backwards). 2. When word problems are incomplete. For example, when the student omits the unit of measurement in Level B or does not write out the steps to the word problems. 3. When, in Level C and higher, the student forgets to bring the remainder up beside the quotient. 4. When the fractional answers are not reduced to lowest terms. In the Reading Program: 1. When the student’s answer is illegible. 2. When the student makes an error such as punctuation, grammar, capitalization or spelling. 3. When the student leaves part of an answer blank. * When grading assignments, you may find that an entire worksheet has been skipped. In this case, place a triangle at the top of the page. It is advisable to have the student time him/herself while solving the incomplete page(s). Add the additional time taken to the original completion time. Using the Grading Scale • Each a-side contains a grading scale that converts the number of errors on the page into a percentage. Circle the correct percentage that corresponds to the combined number of errors on the a- and b-side of the page. Do this for each sheet in the packet. If both sides of one page are correct, circle the “100” on the grading scale of the a-side of the page. To use the scale for Reading, count the number of major errors made on sides a and b, and determine the percentage which would correspond to that number of errors. Then count the minor errors and subtract 5% for each from the percentage for the major errors. For example, if a student makes only major errors on a page, the corresponding amount of errors would be circled on the grading scale on side a. If a student makes only minor errors on a page, 5% per error would be deducted from 100% and the corresponding % would be circled on side a. However, if a student makes both major and minor errors on a page, the major errors would be subtracted first, then 5% for each minor error would then be subtracted. If the result would end in a 5 (e.g., 85%), then truncate (e.g., 85% truncates to 80%). • In Math, Levels 7A, 6A and 5A are always graded 100%. The grading scale for the Reading program begins at 3A 141. Therefore Reading levels 7A-3A140 are always graded 100%. This way the beginning student learns to feel successful in the program from the start. The parent and Instructor work with the student until correct answers are given on these problems as you work through them. There are no tests at the end of these levels. • On the front of the day’s assignment, write the grades for each page on the top of the front page, as well as the number of minutes used. Please CIRCLE the number of minutes used, rounding to the nearest whole minute. If the entire set is correct, write “100%” in large print at the top of the page. The code we use is as follows: 0 stands for a sheet with 100%, 9 stands for 90%, 8 stands for 80%, 7 stands for 70%, and 6 stands for 69%. For example, a code of 87096 at the top of a five page set indicates grades of 80% on the first page, 70% on the second page, 100% on the third page, 90% on the fourth page, and 69% on the fifth page. Grading Miscellany 1. Students should be encouraged to work neatly, but sloppy answers should not be marked wrong unless they are illegible. 2. After checking the student’s answers and finding mistakes, make sure that the student is reading the instructions as well as the examples. Working with children at the Preschool Levels Reading: 7A-2A ; Math: 7A-4A) • Most of this work must be done by the student in the presence of an adult (at home as well as in the Center). For Reading students, the parent must gently correct any errors made in pronunciation of words as soon as the child makes the error. This will have the greatest impact on how quickly the student builds vocabulary and correct reading skills. For Math students, parents must verify that numbers are being read and objects are counted correctly. Encourage the students to count objects more quickly in rows of 5 (as the dots are presented throughout these levels) or groups of 10 (e.g. rings of beads in 4A). This helps students recognize patterns and develop their “number sense,” insuring success in later levels. Home grading is very critical to the success and the rate of progression of your child in the KUMON program. It is like insurance for your investment. Consequently, you have to take it very seriously. The daily five minutes or so it takes will pay off big time. DO NOT LEAVE THIS IMPORTANT FUNCTION IN THE HANDS OF CHILDREN! Remember • The Answer Book should not be kept in the Homework Box. Parents must keep the answer book in their possession. Even students of good character have been known to succumb to temptation…! |