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[email protected]It’s report card day, the day when children bring reports on their current progress in school home so parents can get an idea of how their child has been doing. As a parent, if you find your child has a C in math, what goes through your head? Are you disappointed? Satisfied? Frustrated? Excited? How much does that one letter actually tell you? Is a C good enough? What does a C, or any grade for that matter, actually mean? It turns out that one simple letter can raise a lot of questions. While all of the possible grades your child could have gotten are subjective, a grade of “C” is especially ambiguous.
Grading, unfortunately, is an imperfect system. Letter grades should communicate how much of the curriculum a student has mastered. That isn’t always the case. Due to the subjective nature of grading, there are differences among states, districts, schools, and even teachers for the criteria of earning a particular grade. C level work in one school may be B or D level work at another. Some students get Bs and Cs without really learning the material. They just figure out how to “game the system” at school. Other students may master the material and still get Cs because they have trouble showing what they know. They may have missing assignments, poor attendance, or lack test-taking skills.
Your child might be learning everything just fine, but may still need to improve their ability to function in the school system. It is important to find out how your child does in the classroom on a consistent basis, rather than at the end of the quarter. Are they turning in assignments on time, or even at all? They could be avoiding the feeling of being lost and confused, or simply deem the assignments to easy and not enough of a challenge. Do they do poorly on timed tests, but excel when the time limit is removed?. Perhaps they suffer from “test anxiety.” With so many possible explanations, how can you know which one describes your child?
Ask your children how they feel about math. Not liking, feeling anxious, or bored with math indicates a potential problem. While they might not be getting adequate support, they also might not be getting enough challenging material to stimulate their interest.
Ask your child's teacher for more information. Most teachers know much more about a child’s situation than they can communicate in a letter grade, or even in a comment. Tap into their expertise.
Bring them into Mathnasium of North OKC. We will give them a comprehensive assessment and then talk with you at length about their strengths and weaknesses. Please call first so we can be ready for you. Our number is 405-412-8758.
