Ask Miss Smartypants - July 19, 2010 |
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| Written by Miss Smartypants |
| Monday, 19 July 2010 00:00 |
Art: Nina Charest
Dear Miss Smartypants, My daughter just finished an abysmal school year. She used to be a straight A student, but now her report card is cluttered with some Bs and even Cs. If she were older, like 15 or something, I would suspect drugs or the wrong crowd. But she's 10. There haven't been any major changes in her life, no divorce or sickness or death or menstruation starting (thank God). She doesn't seem to be otherwise unhealthy or unhappy. She just didn't try at school last year. What can I do to motivate her to do better next year? Not Feeling Like an A+ Mom Dear Mom, First, don't beat yourself up. For the next decade your kid is going to pull crap you don't understand. It's all part of growing up. In this case, don't sit her down for a talk about how disappointed you are. Well, you can if you genuinely believe that will work, but I don't think you would have written to me if you did. Instead, find a tutoring centre or similar organization where you can get a skills assessment done. Explain very clearly that this isn't a test that she can pass or fail, so she doesn't have to worry about how long it takes or whether or not she can answer all the questions. From this, I think you will learn one of two things: 1) she was struggling in one area and deliberately did poorly in the rest of her subjects to mask this "failure" or because she felt so discouraged by it; or 2) she's not struggling at all. In the former case, you can get your daughter tutoring to bring her up to speed in that subject before the school year begins. This extra help will hopefully give her the confidence to achieve in that area next year. Be sure to make it clear to her that getting a B or a C in one subject doesn't mean that she's not smart. Some subjects are just harder than others. It happens to all of us. And if it's the latter, here's what happened: she got bored. She chafed against being forced to do things that weren't a challenge for her. You will need to speak to her next teacher about coming up with strategies that give her extra activities or work at a higher level. You may need to also find her extracurricular activities that expand her horizons. It may be something as simple as more challenging reading material for after school. No matter what, something's missing. You can figure this out and get her back on track. Lettered, Miss Smartypants Got problems, scholastic or otherwise? Send 'em to Miss Smartypants: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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