Give Your Child a Healthy Attitude towards Grades

Grades are feedback, not a final judgment. If your child doesn’t do well on a test or even on a report card, it’s just feedback that he or she needs to improve – it’s not a final judgment that he or she is dumb or can’t learn. Use grades as a way to measure study habits: Good grades mean good study habits. A bad grade means your child needs to learn how to study better.

Grades are a measure of success and accomplishment, and therefore important, but please remember that your child can control her effort but not the result. Treat each test and each grading period as a learning opportunity. The grades are feedback, not a judgment. Not all children can get straight As, but most can make the A-B Honor Roll with the right amount of effort. It is up to you to help your child determine and then provide that amount of effort. Children live up to our expectations, so we should expect them to work hard and do well. We cannot expect them to be perfect. Help them establish the habits that result in good grades like daily homework and study time.

How? Learn how to help your child study better in the Childhood and Middle Childhood chapters for as little as under a dollar by clicking on the Shop navigation bar above.