Some children work hard and strive to do well and get good grades, whilst others work hard but don’t get such good grades. And there are, of course, children who don’t work very hard, but still do well and those that don’t work hard at all and get poor grades. Regardless of the work ethic displayed or the grades your child is getting, talking to them about working harder or smarter can be difficult. Most parents want their children to do well and want to motivate them to do their best, but there is a fine line between encouraging them and risking them feeling like they are on their case.
Tips To Improve Grades
One of the things parents can do is discuss what they expect from their child in regards to school grades and effort. This may be difficult if your child has no interest in work and grades, but it can help them to tackle any problems that are holding them back.
- Talk about where they are now academically. Ask where they would like to be (or need to be in terms of what’s required for their future plans).
- Ask them which subjects they are good at and those they aren’t so good at. Get your child to keep that in mind when they get the marks back on tests. They cannot expect to get great marks on everything, especially if they don’t enjoy studying that subject or have any interest in the topic. Establish their natural strengths and try to play to those.
- Help them establish any problem they might have when it comes to studying. Are they using the right study style for them? They may need a little help with organising their time or breaking down their work into smaller chunks because it is too overwhelming. Help them to learn a few time management and organisational skills to keep them on track.
- When your child does well, share your pleasure with them. When they don’t do so well, focus on the positives and get them to think about what they could learn from the experience.
For me, the most important thing is to keep the focus off grades and show the importance of life-long learning. Even if they fail one particular test now if they have the ability to learn and enjoy it the grades will come later. Parents need to help children to get the learning bug and part of that is showing they are interested in the subject their child is studying and how they are doing with their studies. They can help their children see the joy in learning and developing new skills and see that they are achieving something for themselves and not just for their parents or teachers.
What’s your attitude towards your child’s grades? Are you laid-back or do you put pressure on your child to achieve certain grades? Children can be laid back when it comes to learning and grades. How do we help a laid back child? Here’s some suggestions here.
If you feel like you could do with some help with improving your child’s grades please get in touch. Sometimes children are more prepared to listen to an outsider than their parents.
