STOP focussing on GRADES
If you have made the effort to attend a parent meeting in the high school over the past two years, firstly... thank you! Your commitment to partnering with the school in the education of your son/daughter is really appreciated.
Secondly, you will probably recall me urging you all to STOP asking about, talking about, focussing on... GRADES when talking with your children.
If we all stop focussing on grades, our students and children will be MUCH MORE SUCCESSFUL (and much more relaxed).
Focussing our conversations with our children on the GRADES they are earning places unnecessary stress on our children. It forces them to focus on the part of the learning process that is least helpful.
It's like asking a visitor to come to your new house and describing in detail what your living room looks like without explaining where your house is or how to get there. It is like asking someone to bake a chocolate cake by describing what it tastes like, without listing the ingredients or the recipe.
We should be talking about LEARNING! We should be asking our children these questions...
What new things did you learn today?
What are you finding most difficult to learn at the moment?
What are you finding easy to learn at the moment?
Why are you learning these things?
What study do you have planned for tonight? This weekend?
Is your Google calendar organized with your study times mapped out?
Do you have all your due dates entered on your Google Calendar.
Asking these things allows our children to focus on the PROCESS of learning.
When they become expert at the PROCESS of learning... the GRADES will come automatically. If you become expert at selecting the ingredients and mastering the recipe for a chocolate cake, the cake should taste pretty good!
Shift your focus to talking about the learning PROCESS and then your children will begin to know HOW they can improve their grades.
When children recognize (through your conversations) that they don't have any due dates in their calendar or they don't have any planned study time or that they need to work on their science study more than anything else, they will begin to improve their learning PROCESS, which in turn, will improve their grades.
Parents, you need to make this change today. It is not an easy one to make, but it is critical!
