Mostly A's; A couple B's and a D

The issue of school grades comes up often in my house.

Sometimes too often by me.  I tend to operate on the premise that my boys with their abilities should be getting all A's.  Their mother and I have talked this over and agree.  We've talked it over with the boys and they believe they should, too.

But the recent report card says different.

If you think that a kid who is a genius will automatically get A's and that school will be easy for them than you are mistaken.

My youngest, Sam, is in 6th grade and this is his first year of grades.  Everything up to then has been basically pass/fail or some sort of "he's doing good enough to meet grade level" system.  Now, in 6th grade he's finding out there are consequences for not turning in assignments or turning them in late. GRADES! There are repercussions (no musical pun there) for not studying for a quiz or test and waiting until the last second to do that project you knew about for two months.  Organization is another challenge!

Despite all of that, Sam finished his first semester with a B+, A- and the rest were As or A+.  A very good start and we were very happy for him.

You would think that Jeff and his IQ should breeze through school but he has had challenges from the beginning.  I've mentioned previously about his health issues and thankfully we are past those.  I've mentioned his intellect and his memory so those really come in handy.  Jeff has struggled with getting started, motivation to do well, feeling challenged and follow-through.  I think he is behind in these areas but now that his health issues are mostly out of the way he is catching up fast.  He also developed his own system for using his planner and it was quite innovative and useful.

However, a D in his Art class because he failed to turn in a couple long-term assignments tells me there is still room for improvement.  The rest of his grades were in the A and B category.  Actually all As and on B.

My concern for our kids and yours goes beyond grades.   It is how they prepare, come up with the solution to a challenge on their own, organization and time management.  Basically these life skills will take them farther than any grades ever will and if these skills are the foundation the grades will take care of themselves. It is not the other way around.