Did your child’s grades slip in 7th?

[Anonymous]

DD has always been a good student and got straight As in 6th grade, despite it being much more rigorous than her elementary school. She worked hard all year and it paid off.

This year in 7th DD is still doing well, but currently has solid Bs in math and English. While we don’t care what grade she gets as long as she tries her hardest, I can’t help but feel like she isn’t anymore and she is focusing a bit too much on socializing with friends vs. studying and making sure she grasps concepts. I don’t micromanage her studying/homework but it seems like she rushes through more quickly and then tells us she is prepared, or recently she has been studying with friends and not alone. She says it’s just that the material is much harder this year - which I am sure is also the case.

Did anyone else experience this in 7th grade?

[Anonymous]

no

[Anonymous]

Some teachers make it very difficult to get A’s in middle school—especially with the new grading system. It requires near perfection with only 2 summative unit tests determining the bulk of their grade.

[Anonymous]

Slipping a little, but I think it’s due to more difficult curriculum and higher expectations from the teachers. All of her friends are having a tougher time getting As this year so far.

[Anonymous]

8th is tough and her grades are lower.

[Anonymous]

Mine did.

I was given advanced math and reading in 6th grade to work on on my own because I was so far ahead of the other students. In 7th grade I dropped to Cs and by 10th there were Ds sprinkled in there.

Undiagnosed/untreated ADHD and horrible home life with an abusive stepfather (my mother married him when I was in 8th, but he was being awful before that when I was in 7th).

Before 7th grade, I was so far ahead of everyone that I never had homework. Once I had things that needed to be worked on at home in a bad/distracting environment, I literally couldn't do it. Not saying your house is like this OP. Just giving my experience/context and would encourage you to consider ADHD -- you can see it appear somewhat late in super smart kids because up to a certain age/grade they are compensating/masking and it works.

[Anonymous]

I think the expectations keep ramping up and if you're going to be an A student, you adjust to the expectations. You figure out how to get an A if you want an A. This happened to my child periodically starting in 8th grade. And some teachers are going to make it hard to get an A.

To me, it's all part of the learning process. How do you adapt and how do you stretch and grow to meet the higher expectations. Don't just keep doing the same thing and expect same or better results. Study differently and smarter. I also think middle school is practicing the habits you're going to have in high school when grades matter, so while it doesn't matter on some level I also think it does matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some teachers make it very difficult to get A’s in middle school—especially with the new grading system. It requires near perfection with only 2 summative unit tests determining the bulk of their grade.

The new grading system has been a challenge. In Q1 my 7th grader had a single 90-minute long algebra test that counted for 60% of their grade, and two quizzes that were each 15% of their grade. Homework was only 10%. That's a huge jump from 5th grade where they didn't have grades at all.

[Anonymous]

Yes; totally normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some teachers make it very difficult to get A’s in middle school—especially with the new grading system. It requires near perfection with only 2 summative unit tests determining the bulk of their grade.

The new grading system has been a challenge. In Q1 my 7th grader had a single 90-minute long algebra test that counted for 60% of their grade, and two quizzes that were each 15% of their grade. Homework was only 10%. That's a huge jump from 5th grade where they didn't have grades at all.

DD faced this in 8th. Three HS classes, for which a few tests made up almost the entire grade. And the Spanish teacher didn't grade anything on time so she didn't know her grade until the end of the quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine did.

I was given advanced math and reading in 6th grade to work on on my own because I was so far ahead of the other students. In 7th grade I dropped to Cs and by 10th there were Ds sprinkled in there.

Undiagnosed/untreated ADHD and horrible home life with an abusive stepfather (my mother married him when I was in 8th, but he was being awful before that when I was in 7th).

Before 7th grade, I was so far ahead of everyone that I never had homework. Once I had things that needed to be worked on at home in a bad/distracting environment, I literally couldn't do it. Not saying your house is like this OP. Just giving my experience/context and would encourage you to consider ADHD -- you can see it appear somewhat late in super smart kids because up to a certain age/grade they are compensating/masking and it works.

Same here. I'm looking to get an ADHD diagnoses at 39. Better late than never, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

So solid Bs indicates she isn’t going well? Your kid got easy As and has finally hit the grade she actually needs to do more.

[Anonymous]

No, but my kids did not suddenly become more social. They had straight As until they started doing the harder APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So solid Bs indicates she isn’t going well? Your kid got easy As and has finally hit the grade she actually needs to do more.

And remember, a B is still a very good grade !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So solid Bs indicates she isn’t going well? Your kid got easy As and has finally hit the grade she actually needs to do more.

And remember, a B is still a very good grade !

Eh. Not with grade inflation.