What Children’s Grades Are Telling Their Parents

My three lovely, beautiful and energetic kids are in their primary schooling stage at St. Paul Academy. All of which have their own levels of consistency in their respective academic activities. Angel, the eldest is in Grade 4 and she has been a consistent honor pupil since pre-school. Xavier, in Grade 3 and the only boy in the family is a consistent lagger since pre-school. Maria Theressa, in her last year in Pre-School is a consistent Asthmatic.


Last week, they took their First Monthly Test and for the first time since they started their schooling activities I took time to take a closer look at their examination results and try to decode the hidden message for each score in each subject from English to Religion. There must be something that these scores are telling us. It is said that numbers don’t lie and these numbers are the accurate benchmarks of any performance be it in business or in any personal career.


Filipino
Angel’s score in this subject is 48/50 or 98%. Xavier’s is 13/50 or 63%. Maria Theressa’s (Motet) score is 23/30 or 80%. Collectively, their general average in Filipino is 80% given a grading system where the middle score gets a passing rate of 75%. It’s a passing grade for all of them and the grade could have been higher if not of the forgettable performance of Xavier who is 12 points short of the middle mark. Angel and Motet’s message is simple; they can handle Filipino subjects with their current allowance rate. Xavier’s message is different, at the rate his grade in this subject is going, he wants to have more exposure at Cinema One and PBO Channels. These two cable stations are the only station that offers All-Filipino movies.


English
Angel is 49/50 or 99%; Xavier is 12/50 or 62% and Maria Theressa is 25/30 or 90%. Collectively, the team of Angel, Xavier and Maria Theressa got an average score of 84% in English. Still, it’s a passing rate for the team again if not for the lackluster performance of Xavier who this time is 13 points short of getting to the middle spot. Angel and Motet’s score tells me they are enjoying HBO, Star Movies, Cartoon Network and Disney Channels more than anything else. Xavier needs to do some catching up; his grade in both Filipino and English might cause him his late night TV viewing habits to an indefinite stoppage.


Math
Angel got 49/50 or 99%; Xavier has 38/50 or 88% and Maria Theressa posted an exceptional 30/30 or 100%! As a team, their average grade in Math is an amazing 96%. The three kids are telling their parents, me in particular, that it’s time to increase their daily allowances. Their grades tell their parents that they can handle large numbers and coins in their pockets are no longer posting any challenge in their arithmetic skills. They are now ready for the complicated computation of bigger paper bills.


Science
Angel’s score is 38/50 or 88%. Xavier got 24/50 or 74%. Motet has 25/30 or 90%. Collectively, their average score in Science is 84%. In this subject, Motet, the youngest, performed better than her sister Angel and both have the same message. They need to more outside exposure. The 6:00pm weekdays playtime curfew needs some 30 minutes extension and weekends should have no limitations. With his grade in Science, Xavier’s playtime needs more re-channeling and re-evaluation. His basketball and computer games failed to manifest the science in them. Looks like Counter Strike and NBA Live needs to take a back seat in favor of Encarta and Discovery Channel.


Religion.
Angel’s Religion score is 45/50 or 95%; Xavier’s is 36/50 or 86% while Motet’s score is 28/30 or 96%. As a team, their average score in Religion is 92%. This is one of the 3 subjects from which Xavier posted a passing mark. The other two are Math (88%) and Computer (83%). His learning skills are more of an analytic and visual type rather than structured and formal. Nevertheless, their collective performance in Religion demands a more and deeper appreciation of Family, Relationships, Values and the Church. As parents, it’s our duty to provide living examples of the above. I need to dwell less on internal family and relationship issues to get them going in their Religion subjects.


Back in Grade 1, Angel, Xavier and I had an agreement. It’s simple, for Angel, I told her if she gets to be the 3rd Honor (she always is at the 4th and 5th) she will have the computer unit that she wanted. She got her computer unit in back in December of 2008 while she was Grade 2 as a fulfillment of our pact. My accord with Xavier is long overdue on his part for he is now in Grade 3. The deal is plain and simple, if and when he gets to the honor list, be it 10th or 5th or anywhere in between, he will get his Play Station Portable (PSP). The PSP is still displayed over at SM City now with a new and better model than before. Xavier is still working on his PSP. It may take eternity or the next monthly test to have it and we don’t really know. One thing is for sure, it will take extra efforts and sacrifices on his side to have his dream toy. As the only boy, he needs to realize that victory is sweeter if he works hard for it and earn it at the right time.

Take your time Xavier, I too am still working for the cash. When I have enough maybe then you’ll ask me up stage to pin your honor ribbon (I have never set foot on that stage). Until then, we can meet at the middle.