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#1
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
Hello Everyone. I am new to the group. I have a 6 y.o. son (who will turn 7
in May) and a 19 m.o. daughter. I was just reading on some of the topics and thought I would share what's going on right now with my son. He's been on & off of Augmentin (antibiotic) for about 2 years. A year ago January, he had his adenoids & tonsils taken out and vents/tubes put in his ears. He's still having problems-on top of going through allergy testing-painfully aful for him & me alike. I took him to our ped. doc 2 weeks ago for a terrible cough that repeatedly got him sent home from school. It's his sinuses, so the doc prescribed Augmentin for 3 weeks. After 1 1/2 weeks, all of a sudden, he breaks out in the WORST hives! Hauled him back in yesterday to be informed it's the Augmentin! Ugh. He is allergic to June-July grass, Spring to Fall mold and dustmites, so he's on Sigulair, which seems to be working quite fine. Also-we just saw his allergist & he has regular check-ups. Will this ever end? Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. OK-that's enough for now...hope to get some helpful feedback. Mary |
#2
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
DPB wrote in :
Hello Everyone. I am new to the group. I have a 6 y.o. son (who will turn 7 in May) and a 19 m.o. daughter. [snip] Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. [snip] I just wanted to say "hello" and welcome to misc.kids.moderated. I think newsgroups are really brilliant: I've been using them for an embarrassingly long time, and get more of my childcare advice from them, rather then anywhere else. I haven't really got any advice for you, with the augmentin, or the teacher problem. But I wanted to let you know you aren't being ignored. -- Penny Gaines UK mum to three |
#3
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
Thank you for the Welcome. I'm just going to read and see what I all
learn. Nothing really to say right now. I was actually starting to think my post wasn't posted! I don't recall seeing it-but that's because I am subscribed to too many newsgroups. Thanks again, Penny. -- Mary Mom of 2 Sweeties on Earth and 2 Sweeties in Heaven "Penny Gaines" wrote in message ... DPB wrote in : [snip] [snip] I just wanted to say "hello" and welcome to misc.kids.moderated. I think newsgroups are really brilliant: I've been using them for an embarrassingly long time, and get more of my childcare advice from them, rather then anywhere else. I haven't really got any advice for you, with the augmentin, or the teacher problem. But I wanted to let you know you aren't being ignored. -- Penny Gaines UK mum to three |
#4
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
In article , Just call me "Mary" wrote:
Thank you for the Welcome. I'm just going to read and see what I all learn. Nothing really to say right now. I was actually starting to think my post wasn't posted! I don't recall seeing it-but that's because I am subscribed to too many newsgroups. Thanks again, Penny. Mary, I read your post also and was going to followup, but found I had nothing really to say. You seemed to be venting steam (something we all use the newsgroup for from time to time) without any specific questions that I could answer. Allergies to medicine can develop fairly suddenly. I just recently discovered that I'm probably allergic to amoxicillin, after getting treated with it for a sinus infection. I'm pretty sure I've taken it in the past without reaction, but I'll be avoiding the cillins in future. Luckily, there are a lot of different families of antibiotics, so you can avoid one or two families of them without much consequence. Still, the possible development of allegic reactions is another reason to avoid taking antibiotics unless they are really needed (the reason most often given is to avoid breeding antibiotic resistance in bacteria). -- Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics Affiliations for identification only. |
#5
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
"DPB" wrote Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. Hi, Mary: I certainly prefer a teaching approach and an educational environment that respects kids' learning and developmental differences -- especially for little 6 year olds -- but the fact is that public schools, generally, are being held to some pretty rigid standards for each grade level. His teacher doesn't make the rules; her boss's bosses' bosses' (and ultimately the taxpayers) do. If he is having real trouble with any of the grade-level work as it's being presented, try to work with the teacher to find out why and to determine a way to help him up to speed. Similarly for his behavior, have you spoken to her about exactly what he's doing and under what circumstances? If he can behave on the bus, where I think most kids tend to be worse-behaved than in the classroom, then he is capable of behaving in general. But there may be something specific about the classroom situation that could easily be changed to enable good behavior; e.g., are there kids he loves being bad with there, and if so, could he be separated from them? Is he bored with the classroom work, either because it's too easy or too confusing to him? Is the day too long for him? Does he get recess? Six-year-olds need recess, but then he needs to understand that wildness and free socializing is reserved for recess. How can you two work together to help him behave in class? I know there is such a thing as anti-boy sexism and that some teachers just don't understand about kids being kids, learning- and behavior-wise, but I wouldn't write the teacher off without hearing the full story from her (maybe you have. . . ) and trying first to work *with* her. Your son does need to learn to behave in class and he does need to meet his school's grade-level standards. If you can tell us some speciofic problems he's having, you may get some better feedback about whether the teacher or school is indeed being unreasonable and/or how to help your son. Good luck! |
#6
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
DPB wrote:
Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. I will agree with you that that is an excessive amount of homework for a 6-yo. (1st grader? Kindergartener?) At that age all you really find out is how much the parents work to get the kid to work at home, and it's really not at all helpful. I read your description as one of a school where the Principal's salary raise and bonus are tied to School Test Results for the 6-year-olds, so (s)he has mandated they learn all this stuff, and the teacher is trying. Maybe it's not the Principal, maybe it's the superintendent. DS is in 2nd grade, 8-yo, and gets one math sheet per week (and that's optional) homework. That's it. He is finally at a point where he can do it mostly by himself -- we don't have to read it to him, we don't have to re-cast the questions so he understands them. He can just do it. Not much advice to give you, I'm afraid. We have not yet had to deal with a teacher who had it in for a kid, what a horribly powerless feeling that must be. At least school is 3/4 over -- hang in there, and don't let your son get discouraged. (I'm assuming he's not at risk for being held back). Next year, I would talk about your concerns early with his next teacher. Chances are, the teachers are aware of the present teacher's opinions, and they may or may not share them. You'll have to tell his new teacher why she was wrong. Diplomatically, of course Scott DD 10.5 and DS 8 |
#7
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
In article ,
DPB wrote: Hello Everyone. I am new to the group. I have a 6 y.o. son (who will turn 7 in May) and a 19 m.o. daughter. Hi, and welcome to the group! Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. You're venting/rambling a bit here and it is hard to tease out your specific concerns. Homework for first graders (for primary students in general) is a big pet peeve of mine. How long does it take per night? 10-15 minutes could be reasonable at this age. More isn't IMO. However, homework policy likely comes from higher up than the teacher, and can be hard to change, especially if many parents and administrators in the district believe (mistakenly, according to the research) that more homework will lead to more learning, and better achievement test scores. You say: My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? I'm sure she does know this, but it is her job to get every child in the class to a certain level by the end of the year (or by the time standardized testing is done). The fact that children develop at different rates is not honored by traditional lock-step age/grade-based schooling. If your son really doesn't fit well into such a system, perhaps you can look into whether any alternative schools in your area might better meet his needs. If your son is smart but consistently behind the other kids (in one subject or all?) perhaps he should be tested for learning disabilities. Or perhaps he just needs a little extra support to get things to start to "click". Keeping kids in from recess to finish work is a bad idea, IMO. It deprives them of the chance to burn off steam and return refreshed and ready to get back to work, which then makes the next set of lessons go poorly as well. Good luck, --Robyn |
#8
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Homework levels [was Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom]
In article , Scott wrote:
DPB wrote: Also-his teacher is driving me up a wall! How can I win when she sends home homework 5 days a week-4 books to read, plus math flashcards-every night?!?! We moved back in October, so he had to change schools and ever since, his teacher seems to have put a target on his back-phoning me on every little thing he does. His bus driver says he's a great kid, wish his teacher would see that. Why is it when I go to school & kids that have to stay in at recess to finish up their school work are ALL boys? I just am at a loss. My son is smart, but she expects him to be right up there with the other kids-doesn't she know that different kids develop at different speeds? Some kids do good in reading, but not as well in math? SHE needs a lesson in child development, IMO. I will agree with you that that is an excessive amount of homework for a 6-yo. (1st grader? Kindergartener?) At that age all you really find out is how much the parents work to get the kid to work at home, and it's really not at all helpful. I read your description as one of a school where the Principal's salary raise and bonus are tied to School Test Results for the 6-year-olds, so (s)he has mandated they learn all this stuff, and the teacher is trying. Maybe it's not the Principal, maybe it's the superintendent. DS is in 2nd grade, 8-yo, and gets one math sheet per week (and that's optional) homework. That's it. He is finally at a point where he can do it mostly by himself -- we don't have to read it to him, we don't have to re-cast the questions so he understands them. He can just do it. My son is also in 2nd grade, just turned 8. They get about 8 pages of homework a week: 4 math pages, 3 spelling pages (with 10 words a week), writing 10 sentences (using the spelling words), and writing a book report. They are also supposed to read for 20 minutes a day, with their reading recorded in the book log. My wife thinks that the homework is excessive for the age group, I'm not so sure. Our son can do the week's math in about 5 minutes, and the spelling pages in about 10. The reading is a tiny fraction of what he chooses to do. The only part of the homework that causes any trouble is the writing---both the spelling sentences and the book report. Although the actual writing does not take very long, getting him to start is very difficult. Requiring 6-year-olds to read or be read to 20 minutes a day seems perfectly reasonable. Math flash cards are extremely tedious though, and probably not a good way to teach math for that age group. One thing that the teacher does that has been quite helpful is to send the homework home on Fridays and collect it the next Friday. This allows us to schedule things around the other activities of the week, like doing the book report over the weekend and the spelling sentences in the time before aikido class. (Now if only we could keep to the schedule!) This is our last week with this teacher, though, as I'm going on sabbatical up to Seattle, and my son will have the rest of the school year in a different school. I'm not sure which one yet---we're visiting Meridian, Green Lake, and Spruce Street School on April 1 and April 2. We couldn't get into Jon Stanford International's Spanish immersion program, which would have been the closest to what he has at his current school. Any Seattlites on this list have experience with any of the above-mentioned schools? -- Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus life member (LAB, Adventure Cycling, American Youth Hostels) Effective Cycling Instructor #218-ck (lapsed) Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz Undergraduate and Graduate Director, Bioinformatics Affiliations for identification only. |
#9
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Newbie to newsgroups, not to being a mom.
Scott wrote in message . ..
DPB wrote: SNIP Next year, I would talk about your concerns early with his next teacher. Chances are, the teachers are aware of the present teacher's opinions, and they may or may not share them. You'll have to tell his new teacher why she was wrong. Diplomatically, of course Not much advice for this year, I'm afraid. It seems that there is a bad fit between your son and his teacher and its probably too late in the year to do much about it except to ensure that it doesn't affect your son's self image. Scott suggested talking to the teachers early next year. I'd go even further. Ask to talk to the principal, or whomever makes class assignments for next year. Try to get a handle on exactly what it is about this year's teacher that makes him/her a bad fit, and qualities of a teacher that you think would be more beneficial. I'd resist the urge to criticize this year's teacher (although when we took this route, my DH practically had to gag me to stop me from doing so). Concentrate on getting a teacher for next year who can work well with your son. In this way, we went from the kindergarten-teachers-from-hell-whom-I-still-want-to-stick-voodoo-doll-pins-into to the-best-first-grade-teachers-on-earth. Barbara |
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