Our DD8 survived the 1st 6 weeks of 4th Grade and is still on the �A� Honor Roll. However, this is the first year EVER that she absolutely does not like school. She was placed in a class with all the children who failed prior grades and with no real academic peers. There are several gifted children in the class, but they are gifted in other areas or not really gifted (but somehow managed to get in the program gifted). She is so sad that all of her friends were placed in another class. On the bright side, she just tested out of 4th Grade Math and has the option to telescope into 5th Grade for Math. We are hoping that will lift her spirits about school.
The teachers this year are brutal with the red pens. DD�s biggest challenge is putting her class number on the paper along with her name. It doesn�t matter if you make no mistakes�forget to put your class number and it�s an automatic 90. When she forgets to circle her answer she just solved for, there is no partial credit, it�s just wrong. If you answer a question right, but don�t put a page number down where you found the answer, it�s wrong. All of this is just killing DD�s passion for learning. We�ve talked to her teachers and they just say that 4th Grade is a year for responsibility and the kids have to learn to follow instructions! This just seems crazy!
