Beyond The Letter Grades

When my children were young, I watched how schools placed too much emphasis on letter grades, which created low self-esteem, anxiety, and a lack of confidence in my kids.

As a dyslexic mom who found school challenging, I didn't emphasize my children's letter grades. Both my kids had learning challenges. Understanding and grasping the material took time, much effort, and different learning methods.

It was difficult to watch the amount of study and effort my kids put into their work because it always translated into high letter grades on homework and tests.

I took a different approach to school with my kids. There was less focus on the number of grades. Instead, we focused on how much effort they put into it and whether they understood the material — teaching them to stay consistent with their studies.

To illustrate the point to them in a way that makes sense, I decided to photograph my son's Legos.

"Don't lose your head over a bad grade" was my motto.

I kept this photo on the desk where my kids worked. It reminded them not to focus solely on the number/letter grade. My mantra to my kids was to concentrate on the effort and time they put into their studies.

Hard work and determination were the keys to a successful school career. Eventually, the higher grades would come. But as a mom, I was sad to see my kids upset over receiving a 79%. The fact that the school put so much pressure on its students was frustrating.

Mental health should be a focus for students!

This letter/number grade unravels a student's hard work and confidence.

As my mother had always told me when I was growing up, "I would rather you focus on trying to understand 70% of the material versus trying to stress to understand 100% of the material."

My mom was right!

As I watched my kids being told by their teachers, "You better learn this by heart" or "You all should be getting 100% on your quizzes", this caused significant stress and pressure for my kids.

They would arrive home stressed and in a hurry to understand all of the material. Well, I can tell you, having freaked-out kids sitting down to do their homework or studies was just a recipe for disaster.

Come on, there are better ways to set a student child up for success. In many ways, it was the teacher's fault for not preparing the student well enough to take the test or quiz in the first place.

The emphasis in schools and at home should be on teaching kids to work hard, stay consistent, and learn to look at their work differently based on their learning styles. Because ultimately, these are the characteristics they can carry into life.

Learning should never be a race; it should never cause anxiety or make the child feel bad about themselves.

Red-grading pens should be banned when giving out marks for assignments or tests. In place of those red pens, meaningful remarks on the assignments and tests should be how grading is conveyed.

It should be about understanding and retaining the material, making it fun so that it will better imprint in their minds and learning time management.

Kids today have enough on their plate. They don't need a big red number on their paper to undo them.

Having letter grades imposed on children raises anxiety and stress levels. How can anyone learn under that kind of pressure? If there were less focus on the letter or number grade and more on understanding the material, it would create a more nurturing environment for children to learn.