I have worried about grades up until last year. My DD (4th grader) is a good student participating in a full time gifted program and has good scores particularly in math. Well, her grades are mostly 3 most of the time. I got the feeling that they rarely give a 4 and forget about straight 4s in the report card (at least at our elementary school).
I don't think the grades based on test results, homework ratings etc. in an objective manner where you add up the grades and average it out for the grade.
On the other hand, my younger one (first grader) goes to a private school (gifted program starts at 2nd grade in our state) and his report cards are much more explanatory and every subject is divided into many sub categories and each subcategory gets a grade. He has many 3s and many 4s. When I look into his report card, I rarely disagree with the grade. I am guessing, in the private school, they have/spend time thinking about how to justify the grade. The teachers are more careful on being fair and giving a justifiable grade in there.
Having said all these, several high schoolars (children of friends and one just got into Princeton this year) said that grades are not important until high school. Up until then, I decided not to overthink about grades and just focus on the progress of the areas that my child needs to improve.
Just my experience.
