Tyler has always excelled in his school work. So far he’s brought home nothing but A’s and I couldn’t be more pleased. The school he currently attends is a private Catholic school and their grading system is somewhat different from the public school grading system I’m familiar with. For instance, in order to get an A, you have to make 97. As I said, I am extremely satisfied with his academic performance.
His conduct on the other hand, “needs improvement.” He started out fine but over the past two weeks his behavior has not been stellar. Each day his teacher charts each students’ behavior and on Friday the chart is sent home for parents to sign. Last week he received a “good” on Monday and Friday but the rest of the week he received “unsatisfactory”.
I know from experience that Tyler has a tendency to misbehave when he’s bored. When we returned to New Orleans he was placed in one class but was removed and placed in the higher performing class after two weeks. But he has masterd the majority of the work that this class is working on so he misbehaves. I have explained to him that has to watch his conduct in class, no matter how smart he is. Especially since the school places a high emphasis on behavior- enough that all of the lower school (PreK through 5th) teachers are required to chart behavior.
Tyler’s father and I have somewhat of a difference of opinion. He feels I shouldn’t be too hard on him when he’s bringing home all A’s. I, on the other hand, think he should try harder to improve his behavior. I say try harder because I don’t think he really tries. I went through this same issue with him in Kindergarten and what I don’t want to see is a repeat of it in 1st grade. I want to nip it in the bud right now. Especially since we forked out big bucks to send him to this school. Sometimes it seems like he does not really care about following the classroom rules. It’s almost like he feels his smarts will make up for a so-so grade in conduct. True, they don’t receive letter grades for conduct but it’s still a part of his record. His father also likes to remind me that he’s “still a little boy”. True but he’s certainly old enough to follow rules.
What do you think- should a parent overlook less than stellar conduct if the child is making all A’s?
See also:
Letting Kids Suffer the Natural Consequences of Misbehavior
The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted Kids