I imagine it must be very frustrating to see your daughter struggling.

You ask whether a fourth grade report card matters. While a fourth grade report card is not going to affect your daughter's chances of getting into college, I think that her grades are indicative of how she learns, how she experiences school, etc. While a C and C+ are not terrible grades, I wonder if these grades represent your daughter's overall abilities. Has she always struggled on her assignments or have things changed for her in the fourth grade? Does she turn in all of her assignments and still struggle, or is she failing to get her assignments in on time? Depending upon your answers to some of the questions above, the advice varies.

If your daughter tries very hard, but does not achieve the grades you would expect, I think that it may be worthwhile to discuss a potential evaluation with your daughter's teacher. She may have some learning issues (like a learning disability) that are prohibiting her from doing as well as she can. If you choose to follow this path, you have rights as a parent to request that the school evaluate her. They are then required to respond to you and provide a plan for an evaluation or a very good reason why they will not test her. For more on this, please see the link below.

If your daughter has difficulty completing and turning in her assignments, she may need help getting organized - keeping a calendar, organizing her backpack. You can talk with her teacher to devise a plan for this. As you may know, beginning in third and fourth grade, teachers expect students to take more responsibility for their own assignments and some children struggle with this transition. Your daughter may need some additional help.

Hope that helps.

L. Compian, Ph.D.
Counseling Psychologist
Education.com Expert Panel