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Grades are for comparisons. They serve to identify a student's achievement as compared to the rest of the class. They are useful for labeling and organizing children into groups with similar academic needs.
In homeschooling, our intent is education, not moving children through a system. We don't say, "Joey, you got a B on that paper, that's above average." We point out what he did well, what needs improvement or review, and we encourage him to get it right before beginning the next assignment. He's not done with a lesson until he's learned it.
We don't care how he compares to the rest of the x-graders; we care about what progress he is making, about whether he's "getting it", about whether he's being challenged. We care about whether he is learning and growing and finding purpose for his God-given talents. We care about whether he is learning to think for himself, find his own answers, set his own goals, and do his best.
Be careful to understand your purpose and act accordingly. Most of us have suffered at times from tunnel vision... we are so used to thinking of education as the school system that we automatically start copying that system in educating our children, even when that makes no sense.
If you are seeking a record of what the child achieves in a given year, consider the objectives you write at the beginning of the year. Just file those as a record of what he did... make notes on them or revise them if things didn't go as planned.
If you are seeking a way to give encouraging feedback, use positive comments (both oral and written) like:
"Wow, you used onomatopoeia, alliteration and simile; I'm impressed!"
"Thank you for the obvious care you took in keeping your paper neatly organized."
"Pretty penmanship!"
"Excellent! You have a great way of explaining things clearly. I enjoyed reading this."
"You are doing much better."
"Congratulations, no math mistakes! Keeping your columns straight really helps, doesn't it?"
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