<p>Do you see consistency in performance in your children from elementary school to high school/college? I believe that a child who is successful in elementary school is going to be successful (90% of the time) later on in life. However a friend of mine believes that people who are really successful in high school are those who are average in elementary school! So, thought of polling some parents…</p>
<p>Yes, at least in my daughter’s case I can say she was consistently an average student from elementary school all the way through high school. In elementary school her grades were mostly Bs with a few As and a few Cs. Although we gave her lots of help and tutoring, she simply never grasped more than the basics of math, and much of all she learned in the subjects she studied simply evaporated within a few weeks. Some semesters she very much reminded me of the guy in the movie “Memento”. This continued pretty much up through 10th grade when she became motivated by the prospect of college to work harder, so she brought her grades up to mostly As with a few Bs. But she was just never the academically curious or scholarly type of kid no matter how much I tried to foster that in her. </p>
<p>However in 10th grade, rather out of the blue, she developed a passion for theatre where she absolutely shone and that seemed to more than compensate for all her “averageness” in everything else. So in that sense she surprised me by having an extremely “successful” conclusion to high school and in her college search, although she really had not improved or changed intrinsically. </p>
<p>Sometimes we just never know–what works for our kid, what doesn’t work, why it is that way, and what may be lying dormant sometimes…</p>
<p>My oldest son’s first grade teacher assured me he was and would always be a great student, that (at 60) she had followed kids and could absolutely tell which first graders would excel. I thought she was nuts! She turned out to be right. I must say, my kids from strongest academically to weakest, have been consistent.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>At least you didn’t post this on the SAT board. The “smart” kids there would just tell you that she simply didn’t learn it. LOL.</p>
<p>I think teachers can spot these kids, too. When my son was pre-kindergarten, the co-owner of the facility told us we would never have to worry about our child applying himself. And, that has been an accurate prediction.</p>
<p>He was quite consistently a B+ student all the way through school, mixture of mostly b’s with a few a’s (sometimes more a’s, but rarely), until mid year sophomore year, when he cranked up a notch. Son turned into a studying machine from then through junior year. One “B” on his report card all year, the rest “A”'s, his best academic year yet. </p>
<p>All kids seem to be a little different though. Maybe your friend has seen some who really blossomed in high school.</p>
<p>
Now that you mention it, I believe I remember my daughter even had a hard time getting through her kindergarten skills entrance testing, but somehow getting admitted anyway. Of course I didn’t think this signified anything at such an early stage, but that was likely the beginning of my denial, always thinking well next year she’ll catch up…</p>
<p>What my son has shown is consistency in attitude. His first grade teacher commented to me that he was the only kid she had ever taught that truly didn’t care about pleasing her. She said ALL 6-7 year olds exist to please their teacher but my son didn’t. He did what he wanted and it didn’t matter whether the teacher wanted him to do that or not.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that still applies to this day. He is his own person marching only to his own drummer. And just because a teacher/coach/parent wants him to do something is of utterly no importance to him. Luckily, he’s a pretty good kid so there’s no wayward behavior but it certainly would be nice if he’d make an effort every now and then regarding his schoolwork. Also luckily, he’s bright enough that he’s gotten by on his innate intelligence but doing schoolwork or studying for a test because it would please a parent or teacher is not a concept on his radar.</p>
<p>In the long run, his very laid-back approach to life isn’t such a bad one to have - he’ll have a pretty stress free life (if he ever figures out what to do for a job, that is). </p>
<p>He was laid back as a baby, and he’s always been that way.</p>
<p>I was always a very consistent student I never got any grade lower than a 90% on any report card…until college :(</p>
<p>Another consistent kid here. Always a very good student, but never the top, never the utter dedication. All A’s and one B+ every single report card since middle school save one (all A’s that time),with the B+ roving from one subject to another. His 5th grade teacher’s response when I asked at PT conference how his performance compared with his potential: “Oh, yes, there’s a gap there.” And so it has remained.</p>
<p>Yes, consistency. My kids went to an alternative school where they never got grades. Had no homework until 5th grade. So when my D was in 5th grade we go into the classroom for the teacher conference and at the end of the long discussion about personality, friends, etc, they look at us and say, BTW, if she were at a competitive private school she’d get all A’s. We were kind of surprised. She didn’t act like the stereotypical smart kid, only signs were extraordinary persistence in hounding her parents, very detailed imaginative play with friends, and eyes open and focused directly on her mother absolutely from birth. </p>
<p>So she hit high school and got her first grades. A’s. The only time she ever even got an A- was in PE which she had to take because she did ballet instead of sports and one week she refused to participate because of a ballet injury. So yes, in our case, the teachers spotted something we didn’t and it has been consistent. I know a lot of people have to fight teachers who don’t assess kids correctly - we never did.</p>
<p>Hope college treats her as well.</p>
<p>And glad no one here knows me because it really is obnoxious to talk about my kid getting straight A’s so I hope you all know I appreciate your cyber-forebearance.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s quite the opposite. A survey in Britain of 5,000 self-made millionaires showed that the majority reported having struggled in elementary school.
Source: <a href=“http://www.ldonline.org/article.php?id=159&loc=48[/url]”>http://www.ldonline.org/article.php?id=159&loc=48</a></p>
<p>Also always a high scorer/performer from early days. As was my brother, and NOT my sister. All holds true today. Isn’t making money an entirely different thing? My dad says that’s about hunger never having it and really wanting it! He tells us that despite our smarts, commercial success takes hunger!! OK, OK, I’m starting to see he may be right. And we love how he lives (grew up poor)!!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m the same way. I’m convinced that I do not have a long term memory for most things.</p>