Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Homework load question

CAMOM - great idea if you are fortunate enough to have a receptive teachers. Just have to find some of those 'round here
(sorry - had a "gutfull" of the "professionals" for the time being)

CAMom,

You are my hero. What an amazing idea.

Along the lines of "poor estimators," I emailed the DS's math teacher and mentioned he'd been spending two hours on homework. She wrote back that she'd estimated ~30 minutes!

My husband sat down to do the work. He estimated that the kid would need 1.5-2 hours to do the problems.

The teacher is going to dial down.

Thanks for all the input. I see value in homework, but also think that children shouldn't be working 10 hours a day. That's even a lot for an adult.

Val

Raddy- I hope you can find some receptive teachers! My DS has certainly had a mixed bag. Overall, I sadly believe lots of people fall into elementary school- they don't necessarily choose it. So they become elementary teachers because they like kids, not because they are inspired teachers. My DS had an amazing teacher last year... the year before? Dreadful... like the teachers in Matilda!

Because I have the opportunity to see it from both sides daily, I know that teachers are immediately defensive when parents present things to them. If you can remove the emotion and go with just plain data, you'll have better luck every time.

Not that I remember to do it myself though! I have a tendency to wait too long, until I'm already mad then it's hard to dial it back and have a quality discussion.

Any idea why?

Val

OT but from my observation (4 years in the classroom and 6 years in admin) I'd say that 80% of the parents that come in are pretty much wrong. They either have total rose colored glasses on about their own child, they have only impressions but no facts to back up their ideas or they are certain that the teacher is out to get their child.

I have an HG+ kid who is grade skipped and subject accelerated- so I am not quick to judge parents! But a small example- I had a parent recently demand that her child be accelerated two years in math. She wanted her eligible for a special summer program next year and was insisting that her daughter was ready.

With no debate at all, we gave her the placement test for one year up... she scored 47%. Mom insisted the test was unfair and demanded a different test (after calling the school board to complain about me being anti-gifted LOL). So we gave her daughter a different placement test, designed by the university, for Algebra readiness. She bombed- less than 30%.

Mom is still insistent now a month into school that her daughter needs more. But her performance, her grades, her standardized test scores, her homework and her attitude show that she is very properly placed.

This happens to me about once a week, in all levels and all subjects. By the time the parents get to me, they've already tried to work it out with the teacher. Granted, there are times where the teacher is wrong and it does happen! But there are far more times that I see with general population of students where the parent is just off base. This makes it hard for the teacher to listen, even when a parent has a totally valid concern.

CaMom - the calendar is a great idea (I'll get one prepared). Our boy's senior school was marked down by inspectors last year for overburdening the boys with homework. But in the UJK, maybe in the US, school's reputations are ade by exam results and I wonder how long before the workload increases again (especially if the exam grades drop a coupla pips)

CAMom -

I don't know if this was already on your agenda, but maybe after teacher and administrator, you should consider author.

Your insights are intriguing and all of your follow-up posts lead me to ask more questions...

Seems to me like a book is needed.

thanks for sharing,

EW

CAMom, I'm so glad you are sharing your unique perspective. I love what you have to say. My thought is that if this is happening every week, perhaps a 3-5 page worksheet to give the parents to organize their thoughts and observations is worth generating. I think it's great that you give the end of year tests without debate - so awesome!

My idea is to give parents some kind of rubric that they can follow to convince themselves that they are operating under rose colored glasses or impressions without facts. They you could list some afterschool enrichment activities that are open to all (Math Clubs, Odyssey of the Mind, Chess Clubs etc.) Talent Search Information, Any local Tutor/Mentors in various subject that you might have particular faith in.

As US society becomes more polarized, and the gulf between 'winners' and 'losers' becomes wider, and while jobs are so hard to find, I think we are going to see lots of parental anxiety. As US educational copetitiveness becomes questioned by US parents,and US parents start to get that this matters, I think we are going to see lots of parental anxiety. If we can help channel that anxiety into positive action, then I think that's a good thing.

Should a parent wait for a whole system to be fixed before doing what's right for their child? Is that fair to children whose parents have neither the ability nor interest to take these same actions? Is the unfairness a reason not to do it? This is one of the key questions we have to ask ourselves over and over.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

Grinity

I have a shed load of parental anxiety (see my other posts).

What to do? - there's the rub!

For example at school learning Latin starting at Grade 7. They might be better off using the time learning Mandarin?

Good High School graduation results - then what?

Boy - I'm anxious

@EastNWest- thank you so much for the compliment! I have considered author, have started several times, lost my way and put it down. I feel like my situation offers a vantage point that few parents or teachers actually get to see. It is certainly interesting!

@Grinity- I love the idea of a worksheet/rubric. That would really cut down on the useless complaining without a solution. It might also bring out something I've missed, allowing for a new discussion about placement. Because I work at an arts academy, we have an intense level of competition surrounding the arts but it is only just beginning to spill into academics.

As our student population drifts away from intensely arts focused students and into a broader range, it has brought up some questions. If our mission is arts academy, do we lose some focus by broadening our academic offerings? Yes. But is that loss of focus worth it? I'm not sure yet. It means that my admin hat is very very different than my parent hat, if nothing else!