By Nadia Muthoni
Every year we look forward to candidates doing their exams. We accord them the necessary preparation and whether they pass or not, that’s news we choose to take in differently.
We live in an age obsessed with numbers and that has somewhat influenced what we teach our children. Children measure their worth through grades because that is something we have passed down to them. It is worth realizing that, children succeed in life through various avenues and their success can therefore not be measured by test scores.
The A’s and B’s scored in school are great, but they are not enough. The school of life offers much more than school tests can equate. Talk of strengths; ‘the intangibles’ such as effort, critical thinking, creativity, social and emotional intelligence, respect ,cooperation, just to mention but a few.
These critical strengths are far more crucial in building one’s capacity in life. The grades they score are just a plus. It is no wonder that the A students work for D students. Failure in class is never failure in life.
Children therefore need to learn the art of thinking critically under all circumstances. To have social skills and simple acts of respect in life. Such strengths help fuel them to being tomorrow’s innovative, creative and impactful leaders. Instead of focusing so much attention on class performance, parents should take positions of nurturing this internal strengths that determine a meaningful life. This will make children realize that they are more than a test score.
