Linda Bress Silbert Ph.D. - Why Bad Grades Happen to Good Kids: What Parents Need to Know, What Parents Need to Do

WHAT PARENTS NEED TO KNOWWHAT PARENTS NEED TO DO

Linda Bress Silbert, Ph.D.
Alvin J. Silbert, Ed.D.

Why bad grades happen to good kids
by Linda Bress Silbert and Alvin J. Silbert

Published by Beaufort Books, New York
27 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2007 Linda Bress Silbert, Alvin J. Silbert.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8253-0577-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007931244

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Illustrations by Bob Berry

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To our parents
for pointing us in the right direction;
to our children and grandchildren
for continuing to blaze new trails in that direction.

Also by the same authors

Strong Learning Products
Study Skills Workbooks (5 Titles - Grades 6-12)
Creative Thinking Workbooks (7 Titles - Grades K-6)
Beginning Reading Storybooks (8 Titles - Grades 1-4)
Make My Own Book Kits (7 Titles - Grades PreK-1)
Life Skills Program (6 Titles - Grades K-5)
Phonics Card Games (20 Titles - Grades K-6)

For more information, please visit:
www.stronglearning.com
1-888-3-STRONG
1-888-378-7664

Im glad you picked up this book. Why? Because it means you care about education and the educational welfare of your own kids. Not everyone does. They may feel its the job of teachers, principals and the school board.

Its your job. You are the parent. Like it or not, the time and effort you put into your childs education impacts considerably what your child will get out of it.

I am addicted to these kinds of books. Guides, quiz books, and curriculum information books have become a huge part of my personal library. The problem with most of these books, however, is that they are based on thinking that goes back to Abe Lincoln writing his homework on the back of a shovel! (How the heck he got the shovel into the printer, Ill never know.)

Why Bad Grades Happen to Good Kids by Drs. Linda and Al Silbert looks at how to help educate your child in a whole new way. I first became familiar with their work when a friend recommended them to me years ago. Their user-friendly approach to helping children was so good, I found that I could actually help my kids. My biggest fear was that as my children were getting older, I would have to go back to school in order to be able to help them with their homework.

If youre my age you probably remember the new math. It gave my parents fits. They would help me with my homework and it would take hours, because I was using the new math while they were using the old math. Id end up being more confused than ever. The only thing my folks and I could agree on was that 2+2=4. Anything more than that was up for grabs.

This book gives you an advantage my parents never had. I know at least a dozen parents whose kids were helped by going to the Strong Learning Centers run by Linda and Al. In fact, Linda and Al helped them as much as they helped their kids. Whats great about their philosophy is that it not only strengthens whatever academic weakness your child has, be it English, science or math, but it takes his or her learning and organizational skills to a new level.

Its interesting that no matter how much we progress, we still remain the same. As a student, I always made the same vow at the beginning of the school year: I am going to be different this year. I would get my homework done on time, as soon as I got home. Projects would not be put off till the last minute, and studying for exams would not consist of cramming on the school bus ride the morning of the tests.

The first couple of weeks were always ideal. I turned in assignments on time; I had my loose-leaf binder with dividers for every subject and lots of clean paper with reinforcement rings on the holes. I was an educational ball of fire.

But as the work started piling on and getting harder, those vows would fall by the wayside, one by one, until around Christmas, when I started to look at next year as the year that would be the real turning point.

Why Bad Grades Happen to Good Kids will help your child avoid having the same frustrating experience I had. If you are still reading this while youre in the bookstore, close the book, walk to the cash register and buy it. Unlike that computer you purchased to assist your kids with their homework, this will actually help. And, as a bonus, they cant use Why Bad Grades Happen to Good Kids to play video games or chat with their friends online.

We would like to thank David Hicks, Ph.D., Wendy DeGigglio, and Gaye Delcampo for their critical review of the manuscript and helpful comments that helped turn a rough draft into a book. In addition, we would like to thank Cheryl Schnitzer, Ph.D., Patricia DeVine, M.D., and Frank Bariff for reading the first draft and for their valuable suggestions. We would also like to thank the people at Beaufort Books for their assistance, and Vally Sharpe for working so closely with us in the final editing stages. Thanks too to our thousands of clients over the years who have put their trust in us, and, in the process, taught us so much.

Finally, we would like to thank our wonderful children and parents for their support.

Please Note: This book is a guide for parents and other caregivers of children. It is not intended to be the basis of solving serious individual or family problems. As noted throughout this book, in dealing with any crisis or serious situation, we urge you to consult a professionalfamily physician, psychologist, psychiatrist, family counselor, school counselor, or other professionalas appropriate.

Also note that throughout the text, numerous case studies have been included for illustrative purposes. Student identities have been fictionalized or disguised, and names or other identifying characteristics have been changed.

Why Do Bad Grades Happen To Good Kids?

Wouldnt it be nice if this were a multiple choice question? If that were the case, the solution would be easy. Choose an answer, follow the instructions, and voil, the problem is resolved.

For the sake of family harmony, we wish it were this simple, but of course, it isnt. The reasons for sub-par academic performance are numerous and often intertwined, which means they are often not obvious and, consequently, elusive for the most well-intentioned parent.

Within the pages of this short, easy-to-read book, weve taken a look at virtually all of the possible reasons. Since there is usually more than one reason at play, weve presented them in the form of case studies, so that you can more easily recognize the situations and symptoms and determine if they apply to you and your family.

Each chapter examines academic difficulty in terms of cause and effect. The reasons are the causes, and the bad grades (and the resulting family disharmony) are the effects.

Through this book, we offer our extended handthe benefit of years of experience in helping families understand and solve this very common conundrum. Take it, read it and then read it again, and begin to explore why bad grades may be happening to your good kid. Or, if your child is not yet of school-age, learn what you can do to reduce the chances that the challenge of bad grades will cross your door.... Its our hope that, in a short time, youll come to know what you need to