Schools are weird. Can you guess the only subject in which Kara has a B?
Reading.
I won’t explain why this is ludicrous because if you’ve been around this blog for a while, it’s very obvious.
My interest in grades is non-existent, so I’m not planning on asking the teacher what motivates this B. All I know is that if this is a kid you don’t consider a sensationally good reader, there’s something wrong with your understanding of reading.
Clarissa's Blog 
Could it be that she’s bored in reading class because it’s geared toward the average readers in the group? When I was in school and was bored to tears because the work was too easy, I let my mind wander, which used to infuriate my teachers. They expected me to pay attention and participate exactly as if I had been actually learning something I didn’t already know.
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“only subject in which Kara has a B? Reading.”
Many potential explanations, from being bored (as mentioned already) to not answering questions about texts the way the teacher expects/wants, to just not liking the things she’s told to read for class, to not liking the teacher (or vice versa) and many more.
Good think you’re not going to sweat it cause madness that way lies…
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All I wanted is that she become a reader like I am. To live in the world of books and be addicted to the power of the written word. That goal has been achieved. The rest doesn’t matter.
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Grades based on assignments and test scores, not mastery of subject.
It’s one of the (many) reasons we don’t have ours in school.
This can definitely happen if she’s lightyears ahead of classmates, is bored, and is doing other things with the classtime.
When I was in grade school, we had these dreadful class segments where the whole class would take turns reading a long passage from the textbook, one paragraph per kid. I failed miserably at this, because it was so painful to have to listen to other second-graders sounding out words (I’d been reading since age 3), tripping over anything even a little complex, guessing the wrong word… when my turn came up, I was usually deep into some story five chapters ahead in the book, or reading another book entirely because I’d already finished the text. I had no idea what page they were on, teacher would (sensibly) skip me while I fumbled around looking at my seat-neighbor’s book, flipping through to find the current assignment. And then I’d get dinged for that day’s class participation.
Wasn’t any better if I paid attention and dutifully read my part: then the other kids just hated me for making them look bad. The resulting not-great grade had nothing to do with reading skill, and everything to do with not being able to follow instructions under torture and imprisonment conditions.
-ethyl
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Oh yes, that was me in my school years. 😀 What we read was often some communistic garbage, so that added a layer of fun to it all. Teachers hated me.
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I wonder whether she might enjoy a book I wrote, “The Enchanted Grove”?
Find out more here if interested: https://methodius.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-enchanted-grove.html
It also has a sequel, part of which is set in the USSR in the 1960s — you might be able to tell me if it needs tweaking to make it more authentic.
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Thank you, I’ll definitely check it out.
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It looks like it will arrive while we are in Canada but that’s fine, we’ll have it in time for New Year’s.
My daughter hates reading on Kindle, so it has to be paper books. Which I don’t discourage.
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my daughter also had a B in ELA although she is probably one of the best readers in the class. I think it is definitely because the teacher isn’t great (based on stories my daughter has told me and my own observations during Open House), and she doesn’t enjoy the reading material. She also had a few absences due to eczema flare ups and there seems to be miscommunication between her and the teacher regarding missed work, or perhaps it is my daughter’s own forgetfulness. I know she enjoys reading and can read a text and understand its general meaning, so I don’t mind, but i do hope she gets a better teacher next year.
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My 16yo niece who is a voracious reader also has her lowest grade in English. But in her case I know why. I posted the kind of poem that their teacher makes them read, and it’s obvious why a teenager with a working brain won’t take that seriously.
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B as in badge of honour!
From reader to fellow reader: reading is not a subject, you’re either in love with the magic of words on paper or you’re not!
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That’s the perfect way to put it.
My expectations for formal schooling are very low. All I want is for them to not tell my child that people can choose their own gender and I want them to offer a lot of outdoors activities. Beyond that, I expect nothing. All of the actual material, my husband and I are introducing it by ourselves. I’m the easiest parent to please. Lots of outside time and no gender theory or anti racism. And I’m willing to pay for it and donate to all the causes. That school should only wish for more parents like me.
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Madam, you have a better view on grades than our mother. She was obsessed with us having high grades to show everyone that her kids were brilliant and that we were smarter than the other “Hispanic” kids, that we weren’t the same sorts as the “dumb” Puerto Rican and Mexican and South American kids.
I felt stupid for a long time because I’m terrible at math and got the lowest grades there, I could read several grade levels above my classmates but all I ever heard from her was that I suck at math and it’s embarrassing to get a C when I got A’s in everything else. I actually got spanked the one time I brought home a D in math, I became obsessed with hiding low grades and studying hard in math. Now as an adult, I’m glad I don’t have to do math anymore, but I don’t talk about my current history obsessions or books I’ve read because she thinks reading lots and history is useless in getting a better job
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My mother was also obsessed with grades. I listened to many of her tearful rants about how a C in PE or a B in geography would lead me to die under a bridge. Even as a child I knew this was kind of dumb.
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