It’s Time to Talk: Report Cards

Jun 10, 2014 • Checklists, Report Cards

Final report cards are coming!

Does your family have an annual ‘report card chat” to review end-of-year grades and celebrate successes?

When it comes time to discuss final grades, students and parents alike can feel stressed and worried, especially if poor grades are a concern.

By sitting down together, celebrating the positives, and making a plan to improve poor grades over the summer, you can reduce report-card related stress and have a chat that everyone can feel good about.

Here are FIVE helpful tips for having a family discussion about the report card:

1. Schedule It: Don’t casually discuss grades on a short car ride to the store, or when you’re getting ready to head to work. Sit down together and make sure you have a decent amount of time to fully discuss the year and each subject/grade.
2. Highlight the Positive: No matter what grades show up on the end-of-year report card, there WILL be something positive. A compliment in the teacher comments, a grade that’s higher than last year’s, a pass in a difficult subject, etc. Don’t just focus on the negative!
3. Listen: Parents and kids are in this together. Listen to each other and recognize that you both want the same thing: school success! Recognize the struggle, listen to thoughts, comments, worries, complaints. Be empathetic.
4. End with a Plan: Before your report card discussion ends, come up with a plan together on how you will make next year better than this year. Summer learning should be part of your plan, and Oxford Learning can help! Catch up, keep up, or get ahead during the holiday and at this time next year, your report card chat will be a breeze.
5. Mark the Milestone: another school year has passed and a LOT has been accomplished. Report card aside, your child has learned a lot this school year, and that alone is a reason to celebrate! It doesn’t have to be a graduation year to commemorate all your child has accomplished. Whether it’s monetary rewards for high grades, or simple trip to get ice cream, marking the milestone of another grade over is a great way to recognize achievement at every stage.

To help with your report card chat and plans for improvement, download our report card worksheet:

Click to download file