Originally Posted by Val
Was talking to DS about school. The conversation went like this:


Me: Okay, you're doing health, physics, French, and history today. What about math (precalc)?

DS: I don't have any math homework.

Me: Light day?

DS: No. We haven't had any in a while because our teacher has been in the hospital.

Me: Yes, you told me that. But you have a sub, right?

DS: Yes. But there's no homework.

Me: Why not?

DS: She's just there to watch us. She told us that this is an honors-level class, and honors students should be able to teach themselves. So we've had to teach ourselves matrices and other stuff. [pause] A lot of the kids in the class didn't even sign up for it. They were forced into it because the non-Honors section was overloaded.

Me: WT#?!? She doesn't teach?

DS: Nope. But we watch the Khan Academy sometimes. But you can't ask questions from a video.

Okay, wise people whose heads aren't exploding at the moment. What would you do? Send an email to someone in charge at the school? The principal? The vice-principal? Someone else?

I'm assuming I'll have to hire a math tutor, given that my bandwidth is full to capacity right now.

ETA: And to add insult to injury, the school wouldn't give DS credit for the very rigorous algebra II course I taught him last year because I'm not "accredited." But it's perfectly okay to hire a babysitter and say that their non-class "meets the standards." mad

Val, I've been dealing with a similar situation for MONTHS!! Ds12's science teacher quit very soon after school started and ds has had a sub in that class for months. She doesn't teach anything. The kids are expected to read the textbook which ds has described as being "nothing more than lumps of paper on the desk" because they're in such bad shape. This is not an honors class though, so there's not much of anything going on. The sub, who's been somewhat of a regular, gave them a study guide on the digestive system to take home, a study guide that they were supposed to complete but much of the material didn't make sense because her sentences were incomplete, poorly constructed, intentionally or accidentally misleading and otherwise lacking. The test they took following that, however, was on the respiratory system which they had read about, or were supposed to read about, weeks earlier. DS didn't do so well on it (72 raised up to an 82 after able to correct 10 answers). He said the questions didn't make sense, and I concur, some of them didn't, but I also noticed he didn't really know the material in the way he might have if he'd studied. (Study? I have to study?) wink Good lesson. Anyway, I've been after schooling when there's time.

All that aside, that anyone would think that gifted kids are not entitled to LEARN is beyond the pale. I've had enough of this kind of negligence.

Last edited by KADmom; 02/12/14 05:21 PM.