What are your punishments, if any for bad grades?

[FredinFL]

My parents used to punish for grades, made it VERY nerve wracking. Of course, it I'd actually been doing the work instead of hanging around downtown with my miscreant friends during school hours, I wouldn't have been in such trouble.

Luckily, my kids schools are nowhere near downtown and it's not half as easy to skip school as it used to be. Now they have a system that calls you when the child is out of school...calls ALL your phones, lol.

My girls do well enough, I don't carp about a C, but we discuss working better in the next marking period to get the grade up. A lot of time they seem to fluctuate as to where they are getting a lower grade, so we try and spend more time on that subject.

Heck, sometimes I feel like if I can just get them up and out the door to catch the bus, they should get an "A".

 

[dzorn]

Anything less than a A or A- gets a raised eyebrow around here. We can look at older DD assignments on line so know if the problem is lack of effort or doing poorly on tests. Last week I looked and she was getting a B, which she said is not a bad grade. I explained B was not bad if you where giving your best effort but having assignments incomplete and getting a B was not acceptable. She is only in 6th grade and it is the first year of having letter grades.

I only think punishment is called for if not trying or turning in your work. If they are give it every effort then I would try to help them understand the material if the grades were still low.

Denise in MI

 

[hereyago]

Do you mean grades on assignments or report cards? /QUOTE]

I think more along the lines of report cards type thing. I do know that not everyone has the checking on grades online thing, but I do and I love it, it drives DD nuts.

Now, if she were to have a assignment and not do it and get a zero, that would honestly tick me off more then if she were trying and still didn't get the thing they were learning.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We've never punished for bad grades, but we do reward good ones.

 

[momof1princess]

if my daughter gets a grade below a B, i find out why, and we rectify the issue. she's in beta club, so the consequence for a grade below a B is beta club probation, and if the grade isn't brought up in 4 weeks, expulsion. so far, she's keeping everything above the cutoff. this past 9 weeks, she missed the all A honor roll by 2 points, with an 88 in civics. she's certainly capable of making all As, but, as with many middle schoolers, she gets lazy and doesn't want to do homework or study for tests.

 

[aprilgail2]

First of all, a C is not a BAD grade. A C is "average." It's what the normal student should get. If a large percentage of the students in a class are getting grades above a C, then the rubrics for the class are not stringent enough.
.

Well that "C" doesn't float in our school--if kids are getting "C"s they are put on academic probation and cant do any after school clubs or sports!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

if my daughter gets a grade below a B, i find out why, and we rectify the issue. she's in beta club, so the consequence for a grade below a B is beta club probation, and if the grade isn't brought up in 4 weeks, expulsion. so far, she's keeping everything above the cutoff. this past 9 weeks, she missed the all A honor roll by 2 points, with an 88 in civics. she's certainly capable of making all As, but, as with many middle schoolers, she gets lazy and doesn't want to do homework or study for tests.

Or my straight A dd punished her study group. Granted she had the flu all week and missed out but they bullied and berated her so she did not do squat. They got an F and she got a B for 3rd quarter because of it.

 

[eliza61]

I was wondering how different parents do with punishment for bad grades, and also, would you consider a bad grade as a B or C?

Does it matter if the kid really tried and 'not get it" or they didn't try at all?

I was talking to a friend who said her kids aren't allowed to bring home anything less then a B or they get things taken away. She is also a teacher, so not sure if that kind of weighs in on things.

First, I try to find the reason behind the bad grade. Is some one goofying off, not turning in homework, fooling around in class. Those are no-no's in my house. My kids are expected to do assignments etc. those infractions will lead to lost of privileges.

Now my oldest son is an Aspergers child. A "C" for him could quite possibly be all he could do, so in that case, that's fine.

My youngest son is all over the place. He's a very typical kid in that some times he gets lazy and we have to lay down the law.


Generally a "C" is not the end of mankind in my house though.

 

[NewCrew42]

I don't punish for bad grades that result from difficulty in a subject, but I do punish for laziness/poor work habits.

Not turning in assignments, waiting until the night before a project is due and then telling a parent you need posterboard or some other type of help, not studying for tests when they give you a full week's notice, slopping together a paper last minute (turning in what amounts to a rough draft): all are punishable offenses in our house.

It's not about the grade, it's about their work ethic.

Punishments might include a required "study time" each day or much closer parent supervision of homework completion. Normally, we do not check their school day timers or look over their homework. But, we will if they are getting sloppy. And, if we felt electronics were the cause of the distraction, they would have to earn that priveledge day to day by following through on their homework. We do not typically control how much time they spend on the computer/tv/game systems.

I don't feel our punishments are anything dramatic, just what we consider logical consequences for demonstrating poor time management and sloppy work.

If they want to be in charge of their schedule (study time vs. play time), then they need to "be in charge." Otherwise, we will step in and take charge.

This is pretty much what we do.

My DS15 is very bright. He is expected to make all A's. In 9th grade he told his Algebra II teacher that he didn't need to make up a major test that he would just take a "0" because he could maintain his "A." He was grounded for that. There is no reason that he shouldn't take a test because he can still make an "A" without it.

But I am sure I am the meanest mother in the world!

 

[SydSim]

Exactly!

This year she was having a rough time with Honors Biology. I let her do it her way for the first 2 marking periods. Then we did it my way. Studying a minimum of 45 minutes each night for that subject, no cell phone or FB once I get home from work, no chatting with friends on the phone. I felt she wasn't putting in the effort and these things were just a distraction. Guess what? Her grades improved slightly, but nothing to get too excited over. She's just not "getting it" this year. So I've decided she is doing the best she can and that has to be enough for me. They will not place her in Honors Chem next year, she's being dropped to College Prep level Chem and that's okay. Took me almost 3 marking periods to get her, but here I am. For me, it's all about the effort and working to the best of your ability, not the grades.

I found that KhanAcademy, the online virtual instruction site, was a lifesaver for DD for biology. She just got her first "100" in biology - in the Punnett Square for goodness sake (remember genetics....blue eyes, brown eyes stuff). And she just started using it a couple of weeks ago.

 

[mrsg00fy]

If my kids were working to the best of their ability, weaker grades would not suffer consequences.

However, if my kids ARE capable of very good grades, then my expectation would be for very good grades. A "C" would certainly not be acceptable. This would probably result in video games, extracirricular activities, sleep overs, television, cell phones, etc being taken away until the grades improved.

We believe that at this stage of the game, their JOB is to do as well in school as possible. Again, if we knew that our children were working their hardest......then we couldn't punish for weaker grades.....

 

[momof1princess]

Or my straight A dd punished her study group. Granted she had the flu all week and missed out but they bullied and berated her so she did not do squat. They got an F and she got a B for 3rd quarter because of it.

this is EXACTLY why i hate group work! kids are just so mean

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I found that KhanAcademy, the online virtual instruction site, was a lifesaver for DD for biology. She just got her first "100" in biology - in the Punnett Square for goodness sake (remember genetics....blue eyes, brown eyes stuff). And she just started using it a couple of weeks ago.

We've visited that site multiple times and it's always been a big help. I think part of the problem is Honors Bio is a double period and the teacher moves at a very fast pace. She has told me at parent/teacher conferences that she doesn't cover everything in class, but rather tells them of a topic and tells them to go home and research it online, basically teaching themselves. While that obviously works for some kids, it's obviously not working for my DD. She's passing, but only has about a 79 average. Next year it's Honors Math that's the double period, so only have Chem one period and being in the College Prep level instead of Honors may be just what DD needs to find her love of Science again.

 

[FINFAN]

it depends on the situation...case in point:
first quarter DS not doing well in Physics...with the variety of labs, group projects, homework..you get the idea...it was hard to pinpoint the issue. At Orientation we were told by the teacher that he didn't think the textbook was necessary, that he is more of a"hands on" guy..(.ok, but equations are going to be tricky without a book) DS was putting as much effort as we could see in, but was constantly telling us his teacher was so vague, hard to follow, preferred to just hang with the students, pall around with them, leaving the class unattended a lot. We call a meeting. Teacher says he has never taught Physics before, was given 4 classes this year, is going to go with his style of how he taught Biology...not to worry the kids are getting it, test scores don't tell the whole picture...what? Fast foreward into beginning of second quarter:
Scandal at the school-
Science teacher involved in an inappropriate relationship with a Junior female at the school..hotel rooms..you get the picture. Remenber he is more of a "hands on " guy
So here we had been riding DS on not taking the class seriously, for not looking to other sources for help if his teacher was a loser...and here this is what the kids were dealing with. We lost an entire quarter and then some while the school went thru sub after sub...it has been ridiculous trying to catch him up, even obtaining the etxtbook was no easy feat. So...I just try and leave punishment out of grading and rewards for that matter. That will come with a career...you get the promo or bonus for the work well done, you get canned if not. Simple, right? Sure...as long as office politics and back stabbing and all that are in the mix...wait, high school does cover that, lol....

 

[Darcy03231]

While we don't punish for bad grades, there are consequences. That's why DS is now just in driver's ed at 17.5. He's also being made to pay the difference in car insurance because he's not on the honor roll ($400/yr). He's also been told that if he gets D's and F's again he'll be paying the entire $2k a year. I've found he's been studying a lot more lately

 

[Robindianne]

I was wondering how different parents do with punishment for bad grades, and also, would you consider a bad grade as a B or C?

Does it matter if the kid really tried and 'not get it" or they didn't try at all?

I was talking to a friend who said her kids aren't allowed to bring home anything less then a B or they get things taken away. She is also a teacher, so not sure if that kind of weighs in on things.

None. I am a teacher so I know how subjective grades are.

 

[hereyago]

 

[a1tinkfans]

I was wondering how different parents do with punishment for bad grades, and also, would you consider a bad grade as a B or C?

Does it matter if the kid really tried and 'not get it" or they didn't try at all?

I was talking to a friend who said her kids aren't allowed to bring home anything less then a B or they get things taken away. She is also a teacher, so not sure if that kind of weighs in on things.

I do not see "punishment" as a way to teach a child to do better or perhaps learn differently. Our rule has always been, as long as you are trying your very best, the "letter" at the end is not the most important thing. That being said, we do expect good grades and we are fortunate to have a student that takes a very rigorous schedule and does very very well. Its actually our first experience with a possible "c" for the next quarter grade (HS level) and it is not easy for me to swallow. I know it is not for lack of effort. The class is exceptionally challenging, there was a "skip" of a normally required pre-requisite that got waived (which I was against). I personally would have dropped the course but he chose to stick it out (kudo's) and the grade is what it is. Its a shame its HS and it will likely result in a "dink" but it was a choice/decision taken. But I digress....sorry (maybe that was my vent about that situation)
So, as far as punishment goes, no I/we do not really believe in it but if we suspected that a grade was due to lack of effort, missed work/projects, cutting etc...we'd definitely address it and the "punishment" would be the "long drawn out discussion" which would not be pretty!

 

[hereyago]

Or my straight A dd punished her study group. Granted she had the flu all week and missed out but they bullied and berated her so she did not do squat. They got an F and she got a B for 3rd quarter because of it.

They did that because she had the flu? dang I wonder what will happen if one of the meanie faces gets sick or something happens? Kudos to your DD for not letting them intimidate her, so they can hug that F,well I would say something else but I dont want points.

 

[disney11fan]

I was wondering how different parents do with punishment for bad grades, and also, would you consider a bad grade as a B or C?

Does it matter if the kid really tried and 'not get it" or they didn't try at all?

I was talking to a friend who said her kids aren't allowed to bring home anything less then a B or they get things taken away. She is also a teacher, so not sure if that kind of weighs in on things.