m59z85

I talked to a friend of mine whose daughter is in public school
first grade. She told me about the "grading system" for first
graders:

N: Not Complete

Smiley Face: Attempted Everything but either didn't do correctly or
didn't finish

C: Complete

Wow: Complete and extra effort obvious (How they judge the extra
effort is beyond me)

Wow Wow (Double Wow): Completed everything with extra effort and
neatness

My friend told me her daughter has never gotten beyond a Smiley Face
and that is OK with her but she said some of the other parents are
distraught because their kids aren't getting Wow's or Double Wow's.

This would have been the school my daughter would be in if she had
gone to school. This makes me very glad my daughter is not in
school as she would want to know exactly what each "grade" meant and
what she had to do to get one. This is just her style. I hate to
think of the damage that could have been done and is most likely
being done to the children in this first grade.

BTW, I bought Sandra's book at the conference and it is a great
read. It is a wonderful collection of essays that I thoroughly
enjoyed--along with the pictures of Sandra and her children. I also
bought her peaceful parenting tape which has given me even more
tools to work with! I recommend them both!

Linda Maggioncalda

[email protected]

> -=-This is just her style.  I hate to
> think of the damage that could have been done and is most likely
> being done to the children in this first grade. -=-
>

No worse than if they were competing for an A or a VG or an E.


-=-BTW, I bought Sandra's book at the conference and it is a great
read.  It is a wonderful collection of essays that I thoroughly
enjoyed--along with the pictures of Sandra and her children.-=-

Thanks!

-=- I also
bought her peaceful parenting tape which has given me even more
tools to work with! -=-

Thanks. Those are still available, though I'm thinking of transcribing my
parts into the next book and not carrying tapes. Lots of people are using
CDs and hardly tape players anymore, for one thing!

Sandra
tapes are here:
http://sandradodd.com/tapes



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queenjane555

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
>
>
>
> > -=-This is just her style.  I hate to
> > think of the damage that could have been done and is most likely
> > being done to the children in this first grade. -=-
> >
>
> No worse than if they were competing for an A or a VG or an E.
>

Still, it seems alot more subjective than when i was in elementary
school. We had "S" for Satisfactory (met the requirement), and "U"
for Unsatisfactory (didnt meet the requirement). Not "you didnt meet
the requirement but we know you tried really hard" (how do they know
someone DIDNT try.)

Even when i was little, grades always seemed ridiculous to me. I
never understood why i had to PROVE that i knew something. Once i
wrote a book report in 7th or 8th grade. I wasnt there when the
assignment was given out, so i missed the requirements. It was a
huge book about John Lennon, and i wrote a lengthy report about it.
I got an "E" (failing), because i wrote it in pencil and it was
supposed to be in pen (or vice versa)...i thought then how
ridiculous. The teacher didnt even READ the report, just gave me a
failing grade.

I'm so glad my parents didnt place any emphasis on grades. I usually
got As or Bs, but there wasnt any reward or punishment involved.
There was no fear of report card day or trying to change the
letters, like you see in sitcom episodes.


Katherine

[email protected]

In a message dated 10/16/05 6:11:42 PM, queenjane555@... writes:


> Even when i was little, grades always seemed ridiculous to me.
>

They are. That's a given.

Let's not let the list be about school. Tell us a good story of something
sweet that happened at your house this week.

Sandra


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