Last Thursday (9/4) I attended the back-to-school night at someone’s middle school.  While going through the lectures at each of the classes that she attends, I found various topics fascinating and thought the children were so lucky to spend all their time doing nothing but learning.  I wish I could do that.  Too late. Too bad.

One thing I found nearly all teachers talked about was grading and one thing almost none of them emphasized was cultivating the desire to learn, the intellectual curiosity to know how things work, the so-called thirst for knowledge.

I told that someone if she could cultivate an interest and a desire in learning, I was happy even if she did not get an A. From my own school experience, I found some who consistently got good grades were good at what teachers talked in class but lack of broad-based knowledge in all fields. Some were not interested in reading widely because it did not help in the exams. I found it amazing that getting good grades seemed the main factor motivating these “good students.” No wonder I was so bad at school.

Grading is such a one-dimensional measure of one’s ability and potentials. To be honest, I do not have good feelings when I recalled the grades of my younger years. I would imagine good grades and an interests in learning can go together, but I was just not good at their co-existence.  Or am I trying to find excuses for myself?  Or am I confused again? 

I have shared the thought with that someone who is a lot clearer than I am — “Getting good grade is all I care.”  What can I say?  It is better than I-don’t-care attitude at school.  Still, deep inside me, I believe desire to learn is more important than grades.  Nothing can take the place of intellectual curisoty.  Am I talking too far above my children?