The Jagged Frontier

When I ask prospective parents to tell me about their student, I frequently hear a list of strengths and weaknesses: “they’re really good at A, B, C… but X, Y, and Z are challenging for them.” Those latter challenges often come with a tone of apology and concern—could it a be a sign that something is wrong? how do we fix it? what if they never catch up?

I’m happy to tell them: it’s okay. It’s completely normal for kids to be great at some things and less good at others. It’s far more abnormal for a student to be at grade level across the board one year after another. Traditional schools require this because with a class size of 25 they can only teach one thing to everyone, and they need all the students to be at the level of what they’re teaching.

So they push on parents if their kid is “behind” in a subject, replacing the pleasure of progress at one’s own pace with the stress and pressure (on both student and parents) of having to catch up. And if the student is above grade level in that area? The lesson is just time wasted for them, with little incentive to keep developing that skill further lest they continue to get ahead of the curriculum plan.

A student-first teaching approach doesn’t set a fixed arbitrary standard. It looks at where the student is in each subject, and creates a lesson plan to help them improve from there. Sometimes that’s acceleration, sometimes that’s extra 1:1 tutoring in a challenge area. When you stop focusing on where a student’s level '“should” be, and instead take each step one at a time from where they are, students learn more joyously and go much farther.

Some kids learn to read at 3, others not until 8 or 9. Some kids are doing multiplication in kindergarten, others are still on working on mastering subtraction in the 3rd grade. With loving support, all of these students will get there. If we can let go of the stress and worry and enjoy the journey, it completely transforms that child’s relationship with education.

Sebastian

03/11/2026