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More School Issues (warning: VERY long!)



 
 
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Old March 22nd 04, 07:53 PM
Circe
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Default More School Issues (warning: VERY long!)

I have been posting on and off since Julian (now in first grade) started
kindergarten about my concerns regarding what I
perceive to be an overly aggressive and academically pressured educational
atmosphere at our elementary school. This post would be even longer than
it's likely to be as it is if I went into all of the issues that have arisen
in the past, but I think I need some advice/assistance/input/insight from
others to help me decide what to do about the current problems.

Julian's second trimester report card came home a week ago Friday. He is
doing fine academically in reading (all marks at or above grade level) and
in all areas of math except for the addition and subtraction facts, in which
he got a "1" (below basic; last trimester, he got a "4" which is advanced,
so he has lost ground here). In addition, he is still getting poor marks in
writing (all below grade level although I think I have seen a lot of
improvement). Finally, he got a "Needs Improvement" in completing homework
on time, making good use of class time, completing work on time, and
exercising self-control.

So, to address each of the problem areas one by one and why I'm concerned
about them or disagree with them:

Addition and subtraction facts

The California state standard calls for first graders to "know the addition
facts (sums) to 20 and the corresponding subtraction facts and commit them
to memory". For this trimester, they were
tested on the facts up to 12. I don't have a problem with teaching this
(although I do think it's a LOT to expect a 6yo to memorize) but I do have a
bit of an issue with the standard they're using for testing it. This
standard is that the child can write the answers to 20 problems in 90
seconds.

Now, I can't find anything in the state standard that says this is the only
acceptable way to measure proficiency (or even that it's the preferred
method), but to me, it seems like setting the kids up for failure. I mean,
giving them only 2.2 second per problem doesn't really seem reasonable to
me--seems like it would take at least half that time to read each problem
and absorb whether it's an addition or subtraction problem, let alone the
issue of actually pulling the answer from memory (I know all my addition
and subtraction to 20 and have them memorized, but it can take even me a
couple of seconds to get the answer sometimes) and write it down.
Apparently, a lot of the kids in his class are having problems this
trimester in this area (according to the mom of twins in his class--more
about her and them later), so it seems to me that it's not just Julian.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to come up with some games (both of my own invention
and online games) to help get him up to speed, but in the final analysis,
I'm just not very happy with the way the standard is being applied.

Writing

I'm not as worried about the writing as I am about the math facts because I
think that writing naturally comes with reading, provided the fine motor
skills are there. Julian's fine motor skills have always been behind the
curve, and he is on the younger end of the scale for first-graders anyway. I
truly believe that most of the issues (legibility, etc.) will come up to
speed in second grade as his fine motor skills improve. Still, I've seen
remarkable improvement in his writing (both speed and legibility) since the
first trimester, so I'm somewhat surprised that his marks didn't improve.

The one area in which I have an argument is in the "use of standard spelling
on tests" mark. Now, it's true, we weren't doing a very good job of
reviewing the spelling test words and I suppose he didn't do as well as he
could have on tests as a result, but really, some of the word lists she's
giving just seem very advanced for first graders. Last week, for example,
it was a list of animals. The only things they had in common were that they
were plural and they were animals. The ten words we cats, kittens,
turtles, toads, zebras, horses, owls, ants, snakes, and one other that
escapes me. Now, Julian apparently got 100% on the test, but we had to spend
well over 2 hours during the week (and a full 45 minutes the night before)
drilling the words to achieve that. This is in addition to the standard
homework that takes 10-20 minutes to complete (though, thankfully, he has
gotten much better at buckling down and doing it).

I just think this is way too much for first grade. Am I crazy?

Completing homework on time

Okay, what gives? Maybe some of you remember, but a while back, I mentioned
that the teacher said she considered homework "optional". In addition, I
have been told on at least one occasion that "late homework is never a
problem." So, um, if it's optional and late homework isn't a problem, how
can he "need improvement" in completing it on time

On top of that, at least three times this trimester, his homework went to
school with him on time on Friday but was not placed in his folder where it
belonged and the teacher apparently didn't bother to look any further in the
backpack. Twice, this was because his folder had been left at school (which
his teacher must have known, since she put it back in the backpack that
afternoon) and once because his dad put it in his backpack without knowing
it had to be in his folder for the teacher to find it. None of these
occasions were his fault and on two other occasions when it was late, it was
due to familial obligations (deaths in the family, etc.) and I noted that
when the homework was returned late.

So, I'm pretty annoyed about this one. I don't necessarily want her to
change it, but I want her to admit that it isn't optional because it
obviously isn't, and also to take a few extra seconds to look in his
backpack for his homework if it's a Friday and his folder isn't in the
backpack.

Other areas

I see so much improvement in his ability to finish his homework quickly,
without getting distracted and making better use of his time that I'm having
trouble understanding how he is still getting "Needs Improvement" marks in
these areas. Possibly, what's happening in the classroom is very different
from what's happening at home, but it's hard for me to believe that it's
really harder for him to do his work in class than at home when he's got
two siblings playing, making noise, pestering him (when I can't prevent it),
etc. So these are areas in which I feel I need to probe his teacher for more
information.

Okay, so I'm trying to make an appointment to sit down with his teacher to
go over his marks. I really like her very much overall and certainly don't
want to lay a lot of blame at her door for some of the curriculum issues,
which I think are not dictated by her so much as by the state, district, and
school itself. Still, I feel we need to come to some agreement as to how
much extra work we should be doing at home to master the curriculum, and at
this point, it seems to me that between the math facts, spelling tests, and
regular homework, we'd have to spend at least 7-8 hours per week on
schoolwork to get the job done. That seems like an unreasonable amount of
time when the kid's already in school for 30+ hours a week. What, has he got
a full-time job now? When do kids get to be kids any more?

I mentioned the mom of the twins above and she is even MORE concerned than I
am. Right now, she's having trouble getting her son (a bud of Julian's) to
finish his homework at all. He nearly always breaks down in tears. He's
having trouble with the math facts, too, and her daughter is having trouble
with both the math facts and counting coins (which, thankfully, Julian
aced). They're both also having trouble with the spelling lists. It is to
the point for her where both her kids are starting to say they are dumb and
her son has even said he wants to die. All I can say is, what the hell are
we doing to the kids with this curriculum? Julian seems relatively
impervious to feeling bad about himself because he's getting poor marks in
school, but it may not always be that way and I CERTAINLY don't want to see
him getting that point.

Okay, so that's the end of my long and perhaps disjointed rant. Any
advice/thoughts for me?
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [2] mom)

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman


 




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