Report Cards

My daughter is not in school yet. I know when I was in elementary school though late 80's early 90's they didn't grade that way until I think 5th grade. I got S for satisfactory or N for needs improvement or U for unsatisfactory, I think. Maybe different states do it differently I do not know. Maybe I will ask the neighbors their kids are in elementary school.

I know when my daughter was in 2nd grade she got letter grades in everything except art, p.e.,music. She's in the 5th grade now and she still get's an S or an U for art, p.e.,music. You should ask her Art teacher why she received an B in his/her classroom and why they give letter grades for this subject. Does she get letter grades in music and p.e as well, I hope not because not everyone is musically talented or can play ball well.

My son is in second grade and I am glad that they get letter grades, but they are tested on all material they review. I believe that the letter grade shows how well they are doing in a subject so that you know what they need to work on. Just an S or an U doesn't tell you anything about what your child is retaining.

well i dont know either...have you talked about to the concerned? try asking so that you will enlighted on how they rate or the grading system and their bases...

Part of that grade could be based on how well they follow instructions, or if they are working and not gabbing or goofing off during the project. I assure you it has nothing to do with the art itself. As for the letter grades, that is a way of telling if a child is working at the same average as the other kids, or is above or below the average. I'd much rather know if my kid is doing well or just skating by.

art is not only study, like reading or learning, art must have feel,emotion,unique thinking, it is diffrent with subject of math science or other subject.. :)

My boys are not yet a school, but I am too very worried about what it's going to be like when they do go. I do belive there needs to be a lot more communication between parants and Teachers to help with the understanding of the report cards etc...

Yes ... they are doing a dis service to our children and the children growing up these days ... they dont fail anyone anymore ... they dont seem to test them so these children think they are doing no wrong at all. When they get into the work world as we have been seeing lately they are arrogant because they have never failed at anything so when the boss says ... hey you did this wrong .. they are offended and quit ... we cant keep going around patting kids on the back if they arent doing things right ... can we ?... Now; the issue about giving someone a B in art class ... well i'm an art major .. my degree is in visual arts ... and maybe the teacher gave everyone a B ... because she has to give each a grade and hasnt realized which have potential ... or maybe she gave a B to that person because they have a B potential ... you can tell when a child has creative talent at a very early age ... B is not a bad mark ... C would be average B would be a above average ... and A would be well above average potential in my estimation but you would have to talk to the teacher and see where he/she is coming from and how she is coming up with that mark ... the point is she has to grade the child ... its the system .. the system sucks lets face it .. it always has and its not really getting any better .. to tell ya the truth ... but thats only one humble opinion ...

I feel the same way. How can art be graded at all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For academic classes, it should just be an acknowledgment of progress.The grade should reflect if the child has mastered a subject, is working towards mastery or still needs help/time to understand the concept. IMO the difference between an "A" and a "B", especially in lower grades, is just the impression the child makes on the teacher. For those reasons, and quite a few more, my children are home schooled now.

A desire to get away from the system of grades is one part of the reason why we homeschool. I was a "good student," and was often so busy with jumping through the hoops that were set to get a good grade that very little true learning took place along the way.

My son is only in kindergarten and doesn't recieve a letter grade. He gets +'s, checkmarks, and -'s. I don't see it as being fair to get letter grades at that young of an age. Maybe the reason she got a B in art is that she didn't follow directions? I don't know. I wasn't very good at art in school either, so that has never been of importance to me. Maybe bring this up with the teacher at a parent teacher conference.