Conversation with my 7-year-old son who is attending 1st class in a public school.

Two weeks before report card

Me: (in English) “You know we have report cards in two weeks, don’t you?”

He: (in English) “No, what is it?”

Me: (in Czech for the purpose of easier communication) “Vysvedceni”

He: (in English) “oh, what is that?”

Me: (in English) “it is a piece of paper which has some ‘1’ on it or other grades and tells me if you are a good student or not. If you get all 1 I will get you a cake.”

He: (in Czech) “Ja se nenecham oblafnout nejakym dortem” (translation – I won’t be tricked with some cake)

Me: (speechless in both languages) “oh….”

One day before the report card

He: (in English) “You know tomorrow is that day when we get ‘vysvedceni’, don’t you?”

Me: (in English) “yes, and…”

He: (in English) “Are you going to be mad if I have bad grades?”

Me: (thinking in both languages) “Well, no, of course not. If you have a bad grade it just means that we will have to work harder to making in better next semester.” (thinking, how bad can his report card be after 4 months in school in 1^st class?)

He: (in English) “So, you won’t punish me?”

Me: (shocked in both languages) “No, of course not….”

I don’t consider myself an overly strict or demanding parent, I pride myself for being a very understanding and helpful mother – skills I try to apply to my students as well. Last Thursday, on my way to school, I was thinking of what exactly I will tell my new class once I pass out those so eagerly expected report cards. And then I thought of the above conversations and how my own 7 year old went from not even knowing what a report card was to suddenly fearing punishment if there is a grade that I might not like. Where did that fear come from? Who had, in a matter of two weeks, installed in him fear and knowledge of punishment for bad grades? Where was the joy and feeling of pride that I have worked so hard on drilling into him?

Early morning on the way to pick up the report card

Me: (in Egnlish) “You know that today is report card, don’t you?”

He: (in English) “Yeah, but what if I don’t get all 1?”

Me: (in English) “Well, then you don’t and it means you will just have to work a bit harder next year and try again. How about if I buy a cake?”

He: (in English) “But maybe I don’t deserve a cake.”

Me: (in English) “Of course, you do. We can celebrate that you have passed the 1^st semester. We can celebrate that you can read more than 5 months ago. We can celebrate that you can add and subtract and we can celebrate that you tried really hard to do your best.”

He: (speechless in both languages) “ oh…. Good idea, mom. Will your students get a cake too?”

And that is exactly what I told my students, line by line I told them the conversation I had and how a 7-year-old taught me that “grades” are just grades. That those "bad grades" are not to be afraid of but rather take as a challenge that they show a subject which needs improvement, just a bit more work and effort. That those good grades are to be celebrated … but before I told them that I went and I bought them the biggest cake I could J

Congratulations to all my students for passing another semester. 

Congratulations to all my students for learning something new last semester. 

Congratulations to all my students for finding the strength to do all that homework and finding the courage to take those tests and exams. 

Good luck finding the energy and desire to improve in the areas that need improvement.