Kids and their Grades

In 1st standard, my daughter has monthly tests, not exams. That means less content per cycle, but it also means the cycles are frequent. No wonder then that my daughter feels that barely have I stopped “troubling her” (her take on what we are doing to her life) for one round of tests that I am back for the next round. One time she tried telling me that she didn’t want to be a “studies champion”, only a “sports champion”.

I’ve found that convincing a kid to do better at studies is very tough. I blame the grades system for this. At least with the good old marks system, even with a score of 99, one knew there was a little room for improvement. Not so with grades. When my daughter makes a mistake and I tell her to work harder next time, here are some of the arguments she has thrown back at me:
-         “I will get an A+ even if I make one mistake.”
-         “If I got an A+, it means my m’am is happy with me. Why do I have to improve?”
I’ve heard my friends say they get pretty much the same arguments. In one case, the kid even told his mom to stop getting so worked up and just “chillax”! Of course, that only made her madder still…

And God help you if the teacher mistakenly marks a wrong answer right. Like the time a neighbor’s kid did all the division questions wrong. Unfortunately, the teacher had marked them all right. Therefore, the kid dismissed her mom’s point that she needed to learn division saying:
“I got them all right. That means not only do I know division, I know it perfectly.”
Telling the kid that the teacher made a mistake is obviously not an option. Because the next time the kid gets something wrong, she’ll dismiss it saying the teacher mis-corrected it! Heads they win, tails you lose.

I’m convinced kids hone their logical and debating skills to the fullest by arguing against studies! My daughter asked why I care so much about her studies:
“They are my grades, right? Not yours. So why are you so interested in what grades I get?”
Bottom-line: If she has made her peace with it, why can’t I?! Undeterred, I tried explaining that the best grades in school would get her to the best college which would then leads to the best job which would give her what she has now begun to value: money! Aha, she said, with that triumphant “I’ve found the flaw in your reasoning” expression on her face:
“But I’ve already got some B’s in the past. So I can’t get to the best college. So let’s stop trying anymore.”
Sorry to break this to you, kiddo, but that ship hasn’t sailed yet.

I’m sure we’re going to have many, many more rounds of such arguments…

Comments

  1. Ramiah KumarDecember 21, 2017 at 2:40 PM

    The kids are doing great! They win you with their arguments or they win you with the charm of their arguments, even if the argument is invalid - I mean invalid from the adults' point of view! :-)

    Children around us bring so much spirit and joy that they actually make life feel good!

    ReplyDelete

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