RE: Letting your child fail
I tutor kids privately from the expat schools here. I see it too often in approach from the parents and the curriculum from the school. Learning subjects and exams are seen as hurdles that seperate your current self from the 'ideal perfect successful life'.
It often takes a while to shift the mindset of the students to the idea that learning things and learning how to understand things are more important than an arbitrary number at the end of the year. If that is learnt, often the side effect is a good mark anyway! Sadly, it is much harder to shift the mindset of the parents....
Fail, learn then succeed. Every success was born from these ingredients (plus a touch of talent and a heap of luck!).
Also, one of the schools that my students are sourced from also have this no failure policy. They go out of their way to say anything other than that a student doesn't understand the subject. This the student is left with the impression that a partial or bare minimum of understanding is a success rather than a base for improvement.
That "no failure" policy was the downfall of the modern education system! Such nonsense.
One semester, when I was teaching Senior English, I decided to only give comments on the kids writing; absolutely no grades/numbers. It was a bit of a sell, because of course many were focused on post-secondary by then. I asked them to trust me, and they would see their writing improve. They kept portfolios of their work, peer edited, and of course I edited it all as well. It was a much more daunting task then simply writing a letter grade on their papers, but in the end, everyone's writing markedly improved. And the best part was that their focus was off the number grade, and on learning instead.
We're on the same page here buddy! So cool, I didn't know all this about you ;)
Ha, with all the people you chat and comment on, I'm surprised you remember anything about anyone! I am generally lost after seeing more than two people in a row...
hahaha for some reason, I can remember little bits about everyone's real life here, but ask me what I had for breakfast, and I'm at a loss :)
I guess it would be easier to remember your breakfast if it had a chat with you!
haha now I might become that crazy person who talks to her plate of food :)