DH and I are very frustrated with DS8's schoolwork and grades. He gets 100% on virtually everything he actually does and pays attention to, but is frequently getting horrible marks because he'll only do half the problems on an in-class assignment. When asked why, he says he didn't see the questions. The other issue is that he sometimes won't read the entire question, so he answers incorrectly. We know he knows the content. Frankly, he's capable of much harder. And if you ask him verbally, he knows the answer.
We have been working with him since 1st grade on checking his work. Things got better in 2nd, but now it's AWFUL AND he's getting letter grades this year. He's upset because his grades aren't perfect. We're upset because his grades don't reflect what he knows, and we think it's important for him to learn this proofreading skill now.
With homework, DH & I rarely point out what is wrong or where the issue is - we just tell him when it's not completely correct, so he can review his work. This usually leads to a frustrating 20 minutes where DS has fits saying he CAN'T find any problem. We frequently end up sitting with him and pointing to the questions, and having this dialog: Us: "Number one: Is this right?" Him: "Yes" Us: "Number 2: Is this right?" etc... until we have gone through every problem. Doing this, he is almost always able to find the issue. We can't understand why he can't do this same technique without us.
Is it laziness? Is it lack of focus? Is it his attempt to move on to something more interesting? Whatever it is, any suggestions to fix it? I know I've seen other threads here on similar issues. I haven't been able to find them this morning. I would love it if anyone has suggestions.
Now the poor thing says he "can't do math to save his soul" because he got another bad mark in that yesterday. And he's good at math -- qualified for CTY with Math and Verbal scores, and won high honors for the Verbal. Not sure how he's going to react when he sees he also got another bad mark in Language Arts.
We've requested a meeting with the teacher to see if she has any ideas/suggestions.
If you've read this far, thanks a bunch. I appreciate anything you might add. I'm going to stop pulling out my hair over this and get a cup of coffee.
