Report Cards | Oxford Learning

Report Card Worksheet

Posted June 18, 2012

It’s report card time! To help you make sure that your kids end the school year on a high note and understand the importance of making learning learning a part of summer, we created this Report Card Worksheet.

The goal is to track success in individual subjects and set goals for next year–there is even a place to incorporate summer plans.

Print it off and use it as part of your Report Card Discussion.

Click to download file

And don’t forget: all Oxford Learning centres offer free report card consultations with every program, and enrollment for summer programs is now underway.

The School Year Wrap Up

Posted June 1, 2012

The end of the school year is an important milestone for students. While the transition from one grade to the next always worth celebrating, not every grade is marked with the pomp and circumstance of a graduation. However, the end of EVERY grade, whether it is a graduation year or not, is a time for review and reflection. Along with the final report card, having a School Year Wrap Up is an important way to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of the past school year, both personally and academically.

Some school years tend to fizzle out…Performing a School Year Wrap Up can help ensure that your child’s school year ends with a bang!

Take stock of this past school year

So the last day of school has come and gone. Lockers are empty, schoolbags have been put away for the season, and report cards have been read. Now it’s time to take stock of the past school year. Think of it like a yearbook page–an easy way to sum up the year and make make this school year memorable:

Here are some discussion points:

Favourite subject learned this past year?
Least favourite subject this past year?
Favourite teacher?
Best project worked on?
Something most proud of?
Best thing that you read or watched this year?
What was the most challenging aspect of this grade?
New friends made?
Favourite school activity?
What work do you want to save from this school year?
What tip would you give other students entering the grade you just finished?

The School Year Wrap Up doesn’t have to be a formal discussion; it can and should be a fun and celebratory way to mark the passing of another grade. Consider going out for ice cream together, and while you’re strolling along, you can also discuss your plans on keeping the learning momentum going for the summer break.

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Oxford Learning offers great summer camps and programs for students in every grade. Our summer programs keep kids from falling behind and ensure a stronger start in the fall. Visit our locations page to find an Oxford Learning centre near you,

Five Tips to Keep Kids Motivated Until the Final School Bell Rings

Posted May 9, 2012

Midterms have come and gone. Spring Break is over. The days are getting warmer, and what’s left of the school year can be counted in weeks.

Students have a tendency to drift as spring arrives. After spending months indoors, the warmer temperatures and shining sun become major distractions, which make it more challenging to focus on schoolwork.

While the school year may be winding down, this is not the time to slack off!

There is still time to get better grades. There’s time to study harder. There’s time to complete an extra credit project. There’s time to develop better study skills. And most importantly, there’s still time to make a BIG difference on the final report card.

If grades need improving, the time to get started is right now! Slacking off now can be downright dangerous to grades. Students who have worked very hard the entire year can actually lose their academic footing if they let their focus slip from school. That’s why it’s important to remain motivated. After all, there are still end-of-year projects, group work, and final exams on the horizon. The truth is that this is the perfect time to renew a sense of school dedication. Because even though the school year is coming to a close, a lot can be accomplished in the time left.

So stop daydreaming about summer! There’s work to be done!

Here’s how to stay motivated (and even pull up grades) in the time left:

1. Dust Off That Agenda. Agendas have kept students organized throughout the school year and now’s not the time to leave them forgotten in lockers or at the bottom of a school bag. Need to renew the drive to succeed? Flip through the agenda for a reminder of everything that has been achieved so far this year.

2. Work Towards a Goal. It’s easy to coast for the rest of the year, but rather than slacking, set a goal and work towards it. Whether it is by fine-tuning study skills or pulling up a math grade, having a goal to work towards makes staying motivated easy.

3. Take On Extra Credit Projects. Students that need a leg up (whether to pull up grades or to secure a university admission) can really benefit from extra credit projects. Talk to teachers about bonus projects or assignments. Teachers look favourably on students who make an effort, and this is especially important when it comes to creating final report cards.

4. Make Better Grades Your Mantra. To get better grades you have to do the work. To do the work, you have to be motivated, which is challenging this time of year. Create daily reminders of what the goal is—write “I want better grades” in the agenda, put it on post its by the bed, and say it out loud while walking the dog. The more it’s said and heard, the more it will be believed and achieved.

5. Get Extra Help. End-of-year projects and exams can stress even the most organized students. Enlist the help of a professional tutor to help manage current workload and learn helpful tips to make studying for finals stress-free. Oxford Learning has many great programs that help students make the rest of this year as successful as possible. Call today and make the rest of this year count!

Make the rest of this year count. The clock may be ticking on the school year, but there is still time to make this grade the best grade ever!

Prep for Parent-Teacher Interview Success: Tips

Posted November 18, 2011

Progress reports, report cards. Parent teacher interviews… it’s that time of year for the first formal report of how kids are doing do far this grade.

The first report card can be a stressful time for parents and kids alike. Maybe there might be a few unpleasant surprises, and maybe a few red flags, which can be stressful enough, but then to add to the stress, it’s also time for parent-teacher interviews.

Here’s the thing: parent–teacher interviews don’t have to be stressful!

Check out these tips for de-stressing the meeting-the-teacher process, and helping your kids get on the path to better grades.

Go to the interview. Even if your kid is pulling in straight A’s, going to the interview is a key part in parental involvement in education. Studies show that the more parents are involved in their child’s education, the better grades their child gets. So go, meet the teachers that instruct and test your children, even if it’s just to shake hands and say, “nice to meet you.”

Prepare. Read the report card over before going to the interview. Also, review any returned test or assignments that your child has be given to see if marks on the report card are aligned with marks on homework. Bring examples of your child’s work with you to the interview if you have specific concerns.

Ask Questions. It’s not enough to just show up; parents should go into the interview informed. Have specific questions in mind in order to gain better insight classroom performance. Not sure what to ask? Asking how your child is performing in relation to the other students in the class is always a good conversation starting point. Try to keep the discussion academic. It’s nice to hear that your child is the class charmer, but it doesn’t help help him reach his academic goals.

Set Goals. If your child is getting a C+ and you’d like it to be a B+, then discuss actionable steps that can be taken starting right away to make this goal happen. Take notes, and set the actions in motion immediately—the next report card will be here before you know it! (Need some help setting goals? Download our Academic Action Plan.)

Keep it Short and Friendly. Teachers and parents are on the same team when it comes to education, so being confrontational benefits no one. Also, keep in mind that the teacher has somewhere between 20 and 30 parents to meet with. Your time is short, so maximize it!

Call Oxford Learning. Confused by report card jargon? Worried about poor grades? Concerned that your child is not being challenged enough? Call Oxford Learning to schedule a free report card consultation. We can help you make sense of the report card! And, we’re a valuable part of your child’s academic support team.

Stress-Free Report Cards

Posted November 11, 2010

Report Cards can be very stressful for families. Kids don’t want to disappoint their parents, or be punished for bad grades, and parents don’t want to find out that their child is struggling academically. While report cards can be stressful, they don’t have to be.

Before stress levels reaches the danger zone, consider the following:

It’s Still Early—this is the first report card, which means that there is still ample opportunity to make improvements this school year.

Language—report cards often contain confusing educational jargon, which can be frustrating. Forget the gobbledygook and focus on the teacher’s comments. These comments can give you a better idea of how your child is performing overall.

Context—some school years are more challenging than others. Certain grades are transition years, such as the first year of high school, or the shift from early to middle school. These years can be challenging to all students, regardless of their academic abilities.

Now that parents have read the report card, it’s time to have a chat with the kids about their grades. Here are some tips that will help parents—and kids—banish any icky report-card feelings:

1. Be calm, cool, and collected. If you’re upset or angry about grades, hold off on the discussion until you can speak calmly and rationally.
2. Say something nice. Start with empathetic and positive comments. Highlight something positive about the report card, no matter how trivial. For instance, “You are really kicking butt in English.”
3. Listen to your child. Recognize the struggles. School can be tough. It is helpful to students to know that you are listening to their concerns and complaints.

The final report card takeaway is this:

Problems Require Action! Remember that the report card is a red flag. There may be plenty of time left in the school year, but if you don’t act now, the urgency of poor grades will be forgotten.

Prevent Report Card Sneak Attacks

Posted September 24, 2010

Report cards are stressful. Report cards can be confusing. And, like it or not, they will be here before you know it.

Now that families everywhere have settled back into their school year routine, it’s time to start thinking about report cards. Too often, after the back-to-school rush is over, families relax into the school groove. Then the first report card arrives, and BLAM! Bad news: things are not going as smoothly as they should be.

Luckily, there are plenty of stay-in-the-loop tricks that parents can use to prevent a report card sneak attack.

5 Easy Tips to Take The ‘Uh-Oh’ Out of Report Cards:

1. Take five minutes to communicate with the teacher every week, via phone, email, or in person to ask how your child is doing in math/ reading/spelling/ listening, etc.

2. Go online. The Internet is a wonderful tool to keep informed. If your child’s class has a web page, log on and get involved.

3. Review past report cards. Chances are that school issues from last year will re-appear, so review previous report cards and keep your eye out for repeat problems.

4. Follow up when tests and assignments are returned to your child. How did it go? Were the results what you were expecting?

5. Don’t wait. If there are any issues, seek help as soon as you learn of them. The earlier that problems are addressed, the easier it becomes to fix those problems for the whole year through.

Parents don’t need a report card to know how their child is doing in school—staying involved every step of the way helps avoid report card stress, and gets school problems taken care of before they get out of hand.

After all, the only thing that should surprise you about report cards is how quickly they arrive.

Bad Report Card? Don’t Yell At Me.

Posted April 9, 2010

Report cards aren’t always easy. You probably wouldn’t be reading this if they were. I probably wouldn’t be writing this if they were!

The one thing that can make the whole report card experience worse is getting yelled at by a parent about your grades.

Speaking from experience, getting yelled at or grounded never helped me get better grades. It only makes me angry and not want to talk at all.

The only thing that has ever helped me to get better grades is getting organized.

So parents, instead of getting angry at your child for getting a bad mark on their report card, try to talk to them about their grades. Don’t get mad. Don’t yell. Be calm.

Talk to teens calmly, and hopefully they’ll open up and discuss grades with you. That’s the easiest way to make a plan.

Ask them if they learned anything new or difficult today. If they did, offer to help them out a bit. Work together.

So, next time your child gets an okay mark on their report card, remember to come back to this page for help. And, be sure to tell me about your family’s report card experiences!

About me: Hi! My name is Dylan and I am 15 years old. I have recently been asked to write a few guest posts on the topic Teens: Why Do We Do What We Do?
About me: I go to South Secondary School in London, ON and I have two younger siblings. I have always been a movie guy. In the summer I love to bike with my friends down to the Thames River and ride along the trails. The sights and the entire ride are always beautiful. I also like to bake and listen to old music. I hope that you enjoy my posts! Remember to leave feedback! ~Dylan.

Five End-of-Year Strategies for Better Grades

Posted April 6, 2010

Stop daydreaming about summer! There’s work to be done!

Midterms have come and gone. Spring Break is over. The days are getting warmer, and what’s left of the school year can be counted in weeks.

While the school year may be winding down, this is not the time to slack off!

The school year may be coming to close, but there is still time to get better grades. There’s time to study harder. There’s time to complete an extra credit project. There’s time to develop better study skills. And most importantly, there’s still time to make a big difference on the final report card.

If grades need improving, the time to get started is right now! Slacking off now is NOT a good idea. In fact, can be downright dangerous to grades. Students who have worked very hard the entire year, can actually lose their academic footing if they let their focus slip from school.

That’s why it’s important to remain motivated. After all, there are still end-of-year projects, group work, and final exams on the horizon.

The truth is that this is the perfect time to renew a sense of school dedication. Because even though the school year is coming to a close, a lot can be accomplished in the time left.

So stop daydreaming about summer! There’s work to be done! Here’s how to stay motivated (and even pull up grades) in the time left:

1. Dust Off That Agenda. Agendas have kept students organized throughout the school year and now’s not the time to leave them forgotten in lockers or at the bottom of a school bag. Need to renew the drive to succeed? Flip through the agenda for a reminder of everything that has been achieved so far this year.

2. Work Towards a Goal. It’s easy to coast for the rest of the year, but rather than slacking, set a goal and work towards it. Whether it is by fine-tuning study skills or pulling up a math grade, having a goal to work towards makes staying motivated easy.

4. Make Better Grades Your Mantra. To get better grades you have to do the work. To do the work, you have to be motivated, which is challenging this time of year. Create daily reminders of what the goal is—write “I want better grades” in your agenda, put it on post its by your bed, and repeat it to yourself while walking the dog. The more you say it, the more you’ll believe it!

5. Get Extra Help. End-of-year projects and exams can stress even the most organized students. Enlist the help of a professional tutor to help manage current workload and learn helpful tips to make studying for finals stress-free. Oxford Learning has many great programs that help students make the rest of this year as successful as possible. Call today and make the rest of this year count!

A Stage-by-Stage Guide to Understanding Report Cards

Posted November 24, 2009

Early years—Kindergarten Through Grade Two

From the ages of five onwards, children are learning to adjust to an academic setting. Report cards tend to report on student’s behavioral and social progress, such as how they are getting along with their peers, and whether they can stay focused on a task.

Academically, young children are being introduced to the basic skills that they will use to build all future learning upon. Reading progression is critical during the early years. Students should be continually meeting, if not exceeding, the reading progression standards.

While young students may have their entire academic future ahead of them, poor report cards could mean potential problems in the long run. If issues are cropping up time and again, parents should consider getting extra help for their child so that the issue doesn’t become a major learning roadblock.

Children are changing greatly during the early years, and what was a problem today, may not be a problem tomorrow. Even if a particular area might be of concern, parents should watch for incremental improvement from one report card to the next. Always discuss report cards with the teacher, who can give a better picture of a child’s progress.

Each report card marks a milestone of achievement. Just because a child is underperforming on one report card, does not mean that there won’t be significant improvement by the next report card.

Middle years—Grades Three to Eight

The middle years of school are all about progress markers. While the early years focus on behavior and development, the middle years are very important academically. Children are introduced to increasingly difficult academic skills and their ability to learn these foundational skills is very much the focus of report cards.

Low grades on report card, while problematic, are not as much of a cause for concern as grades that are dropping. Consistency is key on report cards during the middle years; children should not be going down in grade points.

At this stage, the emotional impact of report cards becomes an issue. Worry about grades can cause stress among children and parents alike. Parents can offer incentives to students to help increase their study time, or learn to ask for help in order to maintain grades.

When poor grades are present on multiple report cards, parents should consider it a red flag and seek help before the problem becomes a major issue.

Teen Years—High School

In high school, report cards are the biggest indicator of academic performance and progression. The first report of the school year is a warning flag—if there are issues, students should get help as soon as possible. There is plenty of time for students to improve grades before the second and final report cards.

In high school, students’ grades should reflect their short and long-term goals in life. Students need to consider the long-term outcomes of what their grades will mean to them based on what their future goals are.

The pressure is on; students are moving quickly on the fast track towards higher education, and every grade counts. Students should seek extra help as soon as they realize that they need extra support, whether in a particular subject, or in study or homework skills. The sooner that students get the support that they need, the less stressful that report cards become.

Talk To Your Child About Report Cards: Ten Tips

Posted November 23, 2009

Whether you are pleasantly surprised or very disappointed with the first report card, you’ll want to have a discussion about the results, both with your child and with the teacher. The report card postmortem is part of a larger support strategy that makes you an active participant in your child’s education.

Make the most out of your report card chat. Here are some guidelines to ensure that it goes as smoothly as possible, especially if you are in the very disappointed category.

Sit down together. Don’t talk about the report card in the garage while your child is lacing up his rollerblades.
Remove distractions and focus on each other—TV off, no Game Boy or iPod!
Make a statement of intent. Tell your child up front that you need to have a talk about the report card.
Start by saying something positive. You can get off on the right foot by highlighting something positive about the report card, no matter how trivial.
Review learning strengths. Say something like, “You are still doing great in math, which is awesome.”
Recognize the struggle (1). Listen to your child, and include his or her thoughts, comments, and worries in the discussion.
Recognize the struggle (2). Say something like, “I see that you’re still having trouble with spelling.”
Listen to the complaints. Children who have the most issues are usually the most vocal.
End with optimism. Make a comment like this: “There’s still plenty of time for improvement, and we’ll work together to make the necessary changes.”
End with a plan. Identify the following before you leave the table: your role in helping with school, your child’s role, and what the next steps are.

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