Hello Ladies,

I need your help.

My son just finished his freshman year of high school. He played on the freshman basketball and baseball teams at the high school. He's a great kid. Very respectable etc. The problem is with his grades. I have gone into panic mode because his grades are just not high enough to get into college. I understand that he is only a freshman and that he has 3 more years to go, but in jr. high, he was an excellent student with a 3.7gpa.

He earned a 3.0gpa (not including PE) the first semester of freshman year. Second semester he earned a 2.5gpa (not including PE) and I'm having a hard time dealing with it.

When talking to the teachers, they all say how bright he is, but that once spring hit, he got lazy.

He has promised that he will bring his grades up in his soph, jr and senior years. Everyone (including my husband) is telling me that I am over reacting, but I just can't help it. They say that I need to allow for the high school freshman transition period. We have discussed with our son that academics is the priority. I am ready to take all sports away.

My question is have any one of you had this problem and if so how did you deal with it? Did your son's/daughter's bring their grades up later?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

Calsportsman,

Lots of good wishes going your way - sounds like a lot to deal with. I do not think you are overreacting at all. Grades are very important.

Lots of things to consider - is your son putting forth the very best effort he can? Is there a learning disability? Are the kids he's running around with good kids or the wrong crowd who don't care at all about grades? Don't answer the questions - just think about it.

Our son had a horrible freshman year - we were definitely ready to give him away. I think the puberty thing is huge with these guys and just growing up is hard. My husband and him went round and round - we ended up having to do some tough love to get him back on track. We did some major grounding, banned him from hanging out with a couple of kids, and kept very close watch on him on both his social life and academic life.

We also got a tutor for a couple of classes. We use tutors quite a bit for our boys for high school classes we knew they can struggle with keeping a good grade -Spanish, Pre-Cal, etc. We've spent a fortune on pitching & hitting lessons - so the money spent on tutors paid off to get B's. I also have another son with dyslexia so the tutors definitely help him succeed in high school.

I am happy to report our son straightened out and did much better the next three years after that tough freshman year.

Good luck to you!

Curveball07,

Thanks for sharing your success story. I now believe it's not too late for my son. He attends a school which is very competitive in academics and sports. Everyone that attends his school wants to achieve.

I think for some reason, he just got lazy. I'm sure puberty has a lot to do with it as well.

I will keep positive thoughts and we will definitely stay on him even more than we already have .

Mom - This is a tough subject and you can find various threads throughout the site regarding grades.

Some kids are externally motivated and some more internally driven. What works for one kid sometimes doesn't work for another. The reason the grades are slipping can be so varied.

My own son graduated with a whopping 2.7 GPA out of HS!!! What mother wouldn't be proud! He had very good ACT scores, so he was actually Clearinghouse eligible, but this GPA cost him several college offers. He realizes that now. He didn't in HS, because his talent was going to rule in getting offers! That's what he thought of course. My son was and is very bright and never wanted to open a book. He hated doing homework and projects. He excelled at taking tests though and that's what actually kept his head above water many times.

I threatened to take away baseball as it was his lifeline to the world. I always wondered though and still do, if that would have made the situation worse. It was truly what drove him to at least stay eligible and kept some sort of grades. We were very fortunate too in having a HS coach who did make sure that if a grade slipped too far, that son did something about it, including doing homework during practice!

GOOD NEWS - Son went on to seriously understand the importance of grades. This happened magically through his recruiting experiences and a little bit of maturity that comes with graduating HS. He was dean's list at his JUCO first year. He transferred to 4 year where he didn't excel, but did well. He demonstrated a desire and understanding of the importance of grades and academics. Then he did online courses last year after giving up baseball. He's in basic training for the national guard and will resume classes after that. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Truly in the scheme of things, having to stress over grades was a mild challenge compared to what a kid can present their parents. Not easy to worry over, but something that can be more overcome than many other things.

lafmom,

Very good point! I truly could be stressing over many other more serious issues.

My son is also very bright. We constantly preach to him the importance of grades. I think he now understands, because he told me that he is disappointed with himself.

I will search for other threads regarding this topic


Thanks !

A couple of additional things: many colleges do not take freshman year grades in to account. In fact the UCs only consider soph and junior year, not even senior year. So he has time to get on track.

Is he in the right course load? Could you switch things up to make it more workable for him?

Grades are very important, but if he understands, he should do better. Get him some tutors to help him through, too.