Competing on grades misses the entire point of learning.... it completely degrades the experience of learning. My husband and I think grades are bogus. We're also in a homeschool group that caters to gifted children and I believe they opted to leave grades entirely out of the classes.
My parents were always proud when I made the honor roll and they didn't fight to get me into the gifted program because they thought it'd be better for me to be the best in the class, instead of possibly struggling in the gifted program (I was close to the cut-off)
When I found out I made 1 of 2 As in a difficult college biology class (where half the kids failed out each year), I didn't feel proud. (I actually felt disgusted because of the low standards in the class. I hadn't attended a single lecture and read the book the night before the test.)
I despise all of it. If you're getting 100% on a test, it means the work isn't challenging enough, imo. I am a competitive person, but grades don't mean much.
(And if tests just show what you've retained so far, it's great to be able to get 100%, but it still means nothing beyond that you are further than you were than when you first starting learning about the subject. The style of the test matters, too.)
Last edited by islandofapples; 10/31/12 09:15 AM.
