Replies to 'School Issues'
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May 17, 2007, 1:50 pm PDT
 Quote From: bactphd95 (the emote is as close as I can get to "resigned"...sigh.)
No rest for the Cap'n out West, it seems...the issue of how 13 y/o treats 9 y/o is a bit worrisome...I really hope that the pros can get to the bottom of what is with your middle son, how much of it is the adolescent angst vs. how much is an underlying disorder of brain biochemistry.
I hear ya on the lying...am having to impress upon DD that fibs WILL be found out, so she'd be much better off playing straight w/us. Of course (most of us) we love our kids the same, but they are different people nonetheless and can't always be treated the same. My situation is a bit extreme in that regard, as DD is 11 and my son is 2...treating them the same would be nearly impossible!!
Good deal about the oldest getting on the grad list where he belonged. GOOD LUCK with the driving practice...is there enough time at this point to get him into a private driving school, even for a few lessons? My parents did that for me when they realized that the school Driver's Ed didn't teach me doodle and they really couldn't handle trying to do the "DIY" in South Florida traffic (and, this was around 1980, looong before graduated licensing).
We got the book report grade back today...worse than I thought, a 64 (solid D). She knows the consequences, so we will get started this afternoon. I am debating whether to let the teacher know that we are doing this. It isn't that I think it would influence her grade so much as let the teacher know that we are working to correct the problem.
She also had a "pop" spelling test today (It is usually on Fridays unless otherwise announced, but there was no announcement...aargh); she probably did ok, though. She also got back the grade for her end-of-year reading test, a 92%. Whether that is enough to counterbalance the lousy book report & 68 on 1 regular test remains to be seen. Her grumble was "I can kiss the honor roll goodbye."
At least you get some input to include stuff that doesn't necessarily show up on the report cards. We don't even get that. It's strictly luck-of-the-draw (for most folks, anyway...I have heard tell of the influential types getting to "put in" for 1 or the other) as far as who the child gets for a teacher.
Oooh, grouping kids by their abilities! How novel! The real question becomes, though, how finely do you subdivide? Here, it's pretty much gifted / average / special needs ...and it takes a LOT to get into the "gifted" classification. What if a child is "gifted" in math, but a little behind the curve in reading? Dunno if there's an easy answer, especially if it's a relatively small district. I have vented about FCAT ad nauseum.
Better get a move-on, DD should be finishing up soon.
-bact Our oldest son went through driving school (at our expense) in March-April. He got some basic experience there, plus the book training. It is up to us (the parents) to teach him the rest.
Our 9 y/o's teacher has grouped the kids by ability for reading, and two other aids come in to teach the lower two groups. Math is all together. I don't know what is in store for 4th grade. I would hope that the kids could be grouped at least for reading and math...it seems much more efficient. Since there is no gifted program in our school district, there is no point in having the 9 y/o tested. We will be working over the summer on the multiplication and division tables...memorization doesn't take logical thinking, therefore it is "boring". We will have to come up with some little incentives for learning the tables. It will be a challenge to keep it from being boring for him...necessary skill for more advanced math.
We do have a small school district...about 100 kids per grade level, so not a lot of spare teachers. But I wouldn't trade the small town life...it's quiet and tame around here most of the time. Very low crime rate, very low rate of drug problems in the school. I guess the big-time drug dealers don't find it worthwhile to come to a small town like ours...good thing for us. There was a big bust of a meth lab in town a couple of years ago, but not much action since then. The police are ever-present and know everything that goes on...the police even knocked on the door in the middle of the night to tell us that we had left our garage door open.
When they get to high school, the kids are grouped by ability for their math classes. They choose the language arts, social studies, and science classes that they want to take, as well as the arts. There are specific requirements that must be met, but there is some flexibility. The language arts classes for 9th and 10th grade are required, and they combine the language arts with social studies. Since it takes reading and writing skills to do the social studies work, it makes sense to combine them.
We are still concerned about our oldest son's ability to get himself out of bed in the morning. He has Narcolepsy (like me). He sets his alarm for an hour before he is to get up, so he can take the Provigil and give it a chance to kick in. This doesn't seem to make it any easier to get up in the morning. After "going to bed" he stays up late...we have to check on him to make sure that the lights are out and the computer is off. I hope he has a roommate for his summer job at the YMCA camp...maybe the roommate can dump some cold water on his head every morning...LOL. He will be in a different city for the Culinary School...he really needs to get up in time to make it to his classes...he is paying a lot of money to be in the school. We don't want to have to make "wake up" calls every morning...although my youngest son's teachr also has Narcolepsy, and she has two alarms and two friends who call her in the morning to get her out of bed.
Our sleep specialist told us of a device called the Feel Bright Light Visor...it is a portable light box on a hat. It is worn for 30 minutes in the morning to help wake a person up...I wonder if it would work while a person is still in bed and needing to get up...I guess it would depend on whether it works while the eyes are closed...it certainly would be an annoyance for somebody who sleeping. Early morning light in the summer wakes me up at 5:00 every morning, whether I want to wake up or not. It is supposed to straighten out the sleep-wake cycles. The device costs about $200, and insurance doesn't cover it...insurance doesn't seem to cover any of the useful things outside of regular "medical equipment". This light visor is also helpful for winter depression. It might be worth the investment...if we could squeeze $200 out of the budget...maybe an East window with no curtains!! Being up North...that would only work in the summer...winter brings very short days with lots of clouds...certainly not the early and bright wake-up light that we have in the summer.
Well, almost time for kids to get home from school...the homework battles continue...Becky |
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