This is what made me cynical about the motives of public school teachers. My child got a "meeting requirements" in counting up to 30 in his first report card - he was working on Singapore Math 2B at that point. He got a 5 on social behavior (which was the only grade that truly reflected his abilities). And he got a 3 in PE - he has an advanced belt in martial arts and plays little league baseball - his coaches would give him a far better rating than what his teacher thought his PE score should be. And the funny thing - he got a 4 in "Art" - this is the kid with small motor delays, is color blind and hence picks awful color combinations and who cannot hold a crayon correcyly and whose drawing is just scribbling - I would have given him a "1" rating on art.
My point is - what you see in the early elementary report cards do not reflect the true abilities of your child!
I think some teachers in lower grades seem to issue report card grades on how hard they think a child works (among other things). This does not bode well for kids who enter kindergarten ready for third or fourth grade. My kids are in a virtual school now and, I love that their grades are based on whether or not they answer questions correctly on tests and quizzes.
