Eleven Steps for Better Grades

Fall is here and summer has faded away, and now grades are posted. One of the most common questions I’m asked by parents is how to respond to bad grades.  
The first thing to remember is that the child’s report card is the child’s.
While it’s easy to blame the child for their performance or feel that it is partly our fault for not being involved enough when they perform poorly, it’s very important to the mental health of the family to remember the following:
 We can’t learn for kids.
As parents we can increase the odds of high achievement by establishing a safe and calm environment, providing excellent instruction with tutoring and demonstrating excitement for learning. Many of the world’s most successful people have struggled with grades. 
Respond with empathy when your child is struggling. 
Consistently demonstrate empathy rather than anger or frustration. The studies show that the odds of them overcoming their difficulties dramatically increase! Demonstrating warmth (i.e., empathy) is strongly correlated with higher achievement and better behavior.
Remind your child to:
• Get organized!
• Keep a planner or calendar.
• Take notes and study with them!
• Do your homework, don’t procrastinate
• Know when you have a quiz or test
• Ask questions – If your child is shy tutoring will help them learn the skill
• Build a support system, ask a friend to help, seek tutoring
• Utilize the help the teacher offers then add to it!
• Teach your child that attitude is everything!
When should you reach out for help?
As soon as your child has a ‘C’ in any subject, it is cause for alarm. Students’ would have you believe that passing is good enough. However, if your child can only perform 70 percent of the time it is cause for alarm.  Another important tip is to look at how the grade is calculated. Often homework is not graded for accuracy and it does not reflect learning. Look at the tests and see how well they know the content.
For more information on mentoring, support and help with inspiring your child to succeed, call us today to improve the education your child receives. Tutoring is an important part of all students learning. Both high achieving students and struggling students benefit greatly with individualized instruction.
Call Math Support Services at 661-255-1730 for more information on tutoring, transferable credit, SAT/ACT prep and Homework Café information.  You may also learn more at www.mathsupportservices.com.