In my 25 years of parenting, this is a first! (teaching, parents, appropriate)
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Today, I did my 4th grade son's Social Studies homework in my own handwriting. Tomorrow, he will be handing it in to the teacher.
Yep, you read that right! Never in my 25 years of parenting have I ever done this, and have always balked at the idea that a parent would have the nerve to do this. Yet, tomorrow, my son will be handing in his homework that was completed by me!
Background: There has been an ongoing problem all year with my son coming home with material to study for big chapter tests the day before the test. I have been getting on his case because logic would dictate that my son is slacking off and forgetting to bring home his study material. For the most part, he has done very well on all his tests except in Social Studies, which he apparently finds difficult.
I was determined to keep on top of things for his next Social Studies test, so when his planner came home this past Monday stating the SS test would be this Thursday, I immediately checked his folders for a book, study notes, anything. All I found was a four page review sheet with questions and nothing filled in. He was absent the week before, so I thought maybe they completed in class when he was absent. Nothing in his planner said anything about the review sheet and no book or notes came home. I get on his case because I figure it must be him, right?
So, I send a note to the teacher next day asking if he missed the work and where are the study materials and I get no reply. That afternoon, Planner now says to complete for HW after reading 30 pages in the SS book. SS book did not come home because my son said the teacher is afraid the books will not come back, and only bring it home if absolutely necessary. Who tells a 10 year old this? Of course the book didn't come home! Even if the book had come home, this is now 2 days before what is apparently a very big Chapter test. The sheet alone would take well over an hour, not to mention the studying. I call another parent, and sure enough she is in the same pickle. Both of our kids, prior straight A students, failed the last SS test.
So, I send another note today, this one not quite so nice. That got her attention and she called me almost immediately. She tells me they have been working on this Chapter for weeks now. I tell her NOT ONE worksheet, reading assignment, or HW assignment has come home in SS ever. I ask her where is the material to study from. She tells he needs to complete the sheet she sent home and that she was sending another sheet home tonight to complete and to study from that. I ask her where are the vocabulary words? She tells me they will be listed on the sheet tonight and we would need to look them up. PLUS, they were supposed to write a practice essay in class today and they didn't! She told me that if my son has been paying attention in class, he shouldn't even need to study!!!
Then, she tried to tell me that she assigned something last week and my son probably did not write it in his planner. I told her no, he specifically writes something next to every subject EVERY night, and if there is no HW in the subject, he writes NONE. His entire planner says NONE next to Social Studies except for the two tests, as I think to myself, nice try because I have copies several pages of his planner. The other student in the class also had nothing written in her planner.
She actually admitted to me that the kids had NO WRITTEN materials from which to study from!! I asked her how it is possible to spend WEEKS studying a Chapter and the kids have absolutely no notes or written material whatsoever other than the textbook which is not allowed to even come home!!?
Does she actually expect kids to know and understand this material just from her classroom lectures, when they have had no reading assignments, no worksheet assignments, no vocabulary assignments, no written notes, no study sheets until 2 days before the test?
So, I just spent the last hour and 25 minutes completing 8 pages of study sheets after reading 30 pages of the SS book, all in my own neat handwriting so he has something to study from and can hand in his homework!
The teacher sounds like an idiot. She is expecting an entire classs to have the ability to learn the way my son learns---auditory, via hearing. He does great on tests by simply listening in class. But most students aren't like that. Some students learn better visually---via reading, etc. Some students do better by writing out via taking notes. Some students do better via memorization. That's why most teachers have students do a little of everything. I'd talk to the principal about this teacher. Students should be able to take books home. If she doesn't assign homework, students can still study if they can take books home. She's putting students in a very difficult position and the principal should be made aware of this.
It's strange, now, that in many states teachers are being graded by their perfromance as are students. She sounds out of pace ( inept) or on an ego trip of some kind.
Hope u tell us how it can out.
That is really bizarre. 30 pages to read and study in a SS book that students cannot take home: you can't expect 4th graders to do that! What is this teacher thinking? How does she possibly want the kids to study if she doesn't even give them the study materials?! Sounds like the teacher expects these kids to perform on the high school/college level.
Are any of your son's classmates' parents that you know dealing with this same situation? Maybe you all can get together and come up with a solution on how to handle the problem. Doing your son's homework is a temporary solution, but will not fix the ultimate problem. I say definitely arrange a meeting with the principal and the teacher about this.
I agree with Hopes, Lovemountains and Stressed College. I don't understand why a teacher would not allow books to come home (her excuse is awful) and her way of teaching is not norm. Especially nowadays where there are all these test like FCATs and what ever CATS to get them to pass from one grade to the next, I don't understand her logic. I am with stressed on this, get other parents opinions and make an appointment with the Principal. Your childs education and all other children who come in contact with this teacher is at stake if she can't teach.
This is what scares me about schools these days. Big tests? Homework? For 4th graders? No wonder so many kids dislike school, and have had their love for actual learning sapped out of them. What's wrong with learning things IN school, and not bringing study notes home? Why should young kids be cramming for tests? That's not learning. And I would home that the classroom environment itself does not just consist of lectures -- that's not appropriate for elementary school students. Reading textbooks and giving tests -- tests that come with passes and fails -- doesn't seem age-appropriate, either. Shouldn't the point of the tests be simply to figure out if the kids are absorbing the material? And if it's clear that they aren't (and it sounds like multiple kids aren't) then the teacher needs to change her approach. At the same time, wanting more homework and worksheets and study sheets for at home isn't the answer, either. The lack of written study materials wouldn't bother me (and I would prefer that!) but presumably there should be some evidence of the kids engaging in the material in some other ways. What do they do in the actual classroom? (I think her stance that if the kids are paying attention in class they wouldn't have to study is a very, very good one, though, although in practice it doesn't sound like it's working out.)
I agree with Hopes, Lovemountains and Stressed College. I don't understand why a teacher would not allow books to come home (her excuse is awful) and her way of teaching is not norm. Especially nowadays where there are all these test like FCATs and what ever CATS to get them to pass from one grade to the next, I don't understand her logic. I am with stressed on this, get other parents opinions and make an appointment with the Principal. Your childs education and all other children who come in contact with this teacher is at stake if she can't teach.
The children in my son's school are not allowed to bring their books home either. We've never encountered an issue like this. I think the principal/vice principal should be contacted.
I've also been in schools where the books are not allowed to come home. I think that's distracting form the issue here, which seems to be both a lack of good communication between teacher/student/parent. Something isn't working here, and while I'm not so quick to blame the teacher, it also sounds like the system as it is now isn't working, or at least isn't working for this student. I still stand by the assertion that if the teacher is doing a good job IN the classroom, then it won't be necessary for a fourth-grader to bring home a textbook or study materials, though.
I might be the odd one out on this, but I would also ask the teacher why all of these formal tests are necessary. Aren't there other, more efficient ways of evaluating whether or not students are learning the material? Or, if tests are to be given, is advance notice necessary? That seems to encourage a fact cramming session, rather than true learning, and that hardly seems necessary (or desirable) at this age.
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