I'm a sometime poster here, and am always grateful for the advice offered here and on a local Facebook group I am in, so I thought I would share, just in case it can help anyone else.
(Background - my son turned 11 in June, and last week started Middle School. He has been subject accelerated one year in math for a few years - so last year he was transported to the MS for math every day). He was placed in an 8th grade accelerated math class this year. Tuesday of this week (the 7th day of school), I got a call from the school counselor- aparently they were questioning whether he should be in this class. He hadn't handed homework in for a couple of days, and when questioned about it, there had been some tears. They were reviewing stuff that he should already have done, and it was obvious that he was struggling with keeping up. I told them that he had not, actually, done the work they were reviewing - but the counselor kept insisting that he HAD already done that work, and SHOULD already know it. The teachers couldn't spend time teaching him stuff, as the rest of the class were ready to move on. They were considering moving him to a different class.
So - I wrote an e-mail to his math teacher, and, following some advice I had received in a FB group, carefully explained that a) He had been in a regular 6th grade math class last year, and b) he had NOT been attending the local gifted elementary school (where, I'm sure, they HAD done the 7th grade curriculum in 5th grade) c) he had never needed to be organised before, as he had rarely had homework to remember before.
The math teacher then called me - she had
assumed that he had been in 6th grade accelerated (ie 7th grade curriculum), and that he
had been at the gifted school. She assumed that he hadn't handed his homework in because he couldn't do it. On reading my e-mail, she realised that he had, therefore, actually skipped all of the 7th grade curriculum (yes, ma'am, I already I knew that).
Once she knew that, as well as realising that he hadn't handed in his homework due to his total disorganisation, she was fine. Just fine. She said she was willing to help him out before/after school, and that he could also get help from his homeroom and/or study hall teachers. I told her we would also help at home, if needed, to help him catch up.
The moral of this story - don't assume the teachers know your child's background. If you're a teacher - don't assume you DO know a childs background.
