On grades, progress reports and patience

I guess I thought I was done worrying about grades when I got out of school. Apparently not.

Progress reports for the kids come out every 3 weeks, and I can check grades online every day. Also, I can get an email when their grades drop below (or rise above) a set point. For us, the set point is 80.

And for the boy child, this has almost always been stressful. From day one, the work he produces and eventually turns in doesn't always match what he is capable of. He is bright, no one disputes that. He understands concepts, is able to discuss them and form arguments. But when you don't do the work because you forgot or didn't write it down, or do it and forget to turn it in, or turn it in but forget to write your name on it, it matters. Currently we are looking at a 25 (out of a possible 100) in English, a class that by all rights he should be acing, because the two major evaluations for the semester have not been turned in, according to his teacher.

In the classes that he is really interested in, such as Spanish and Science, he is making 98 or so. Even Math this year is improving, as he currently has an 85. Woo hoo.

But the English is really killing me. And now him, since he is in athletics, and can't play football for 3 weeks because of no pass, no play. And since the entire football season is not very long, that really sucks for him.