Middle School Grade Drop

Before she entered middle school, my daughter always earned A's and B's. Last week, she came home with F's on four quizzes, and A's and B's on most of the others. The low grades really upset me. How should I handle this? Is she just adjusting to middle school? - Lower Grades
Answer: Individual quiz grades might or might not play much of a role in the grades on your child's next report card; however, they definitely show that she was not prepared for the quizzes. Part of her problem might simply be that she does not understand how much preparation is needed for quizzes at this level. It can take some time, even for good students, to catch on to handling the more difficult work in middle school. Be understanding.
Your best reaction is to talk over with your daughter how she could be better prepared to avoid getting more F's. Because she has been a good student, she should be able to figure this out. If the poor grades were on pop quizzes, she'll need to have all reading and assignments done before class so she is on top of the material. Also, tell her to correct all answers on these quizzes, not only to learn the material, but because teachers tend to use quiz questions again on tests. The questions might not be in the exact same form, but she will need to know this information.