Report Card Talk: 10 Tips to Reduce Stress

Oct 25, 2024 • Report Cards

Halloween isn’t the only thing scary this time of year: report cards are just around the corner!  But parents and students can banish the bad grade scaries by sitting down together and discussing the report card.

Like them or not, report cards provide important feedback about student progress.  But even when students get good grades, report cards can be scary and stressful.  Parents may worry about the long-term repercussions of poor grades, and students may fear punishments or restrictions on their free time.

A report card talk can reduce this stress by identifying concerns, reflecting on struggles, and setting goals together.

10 Tips For a Stress-Free Report Card Talk

1. Be intentional: Ensure your child knows you want to review and discuss their report together.
2. Clear your schedule: don’t rush, and reduce distractions so you can both focus on reviewing the report card together.
3. Start with the positives. Highlight increased marks or emphasize a nice comment the teacher made.
4. Involve your child. Ask what they learned in each subject area— math, English, science, etc.
5. Review grades against any tests or assignments. Marks on projects should align with the overall grade.
6. Recognize that school can be challenging. Effort doesn’t always align with achievement, and sometimes, a low grade indicates where attention needs to be focused.
7. Listen to your child. The children who struggle the most are usually the most vocal. Ask them if they feel satisfied with their grade. If they aren’t, discuss what could be done to improve their mark.
8. Discuss other sections of the report card, such as comments, absences, attitudes, etc. and give your child an opportunity to explain each indicator.
9. Be optimistic: there is still plenty of time to pull up low grades.
10. Create a plan to address low grades together. Use the CAM system to set some goals for the next report card.

Great Grades Begin at Oxford Learning!

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Already an Oxford Learning student? Ask us about scheduling a report card consultation to review your child’s report card.

Read more: Everything you need to know about report cards.

Edited. This post was originally published in 2009.