Hi all. Well, the meeting is over. I'm emotionally exhausted. Basically, the principal said they can't do anything more right now other than what they are already doing. His resources are stretched as far as they can go. He refused to consider any of the options I offered. He was, of course, fine with me wanting to home school for math. Imagine that. He agrees that DS shouldn't have to do any meaningless homework and said that the teacher can modify/eliminate any homework as she sees fit. But that still leaves DS sitting through the guided worksheet stuff. And then he won't have ANY homework, which is not a habit I want him to have.
We pointed out that DS has mastered 80% or more of the first grade curriculum, based on the teachers use of the end of year unit assessments. And DS could learn all that in about 2 weeks. He doesn't need the next 4 months. So, DS will just be sitting in math, learning nothing, doing fun enrichment activities that aren't even hard. But DS does enjoy them - at least they are hands on. I expressed my concern that he isn't learning how to learn. And that we could take him through the second grade curriculum by August. So then we requested that they consider putting him in 3rd grade math next August. He is at least looking into that to see if it is an option.
I don't know what to do. DS had another meltdown this morning. Crying how he doesn't like school. Then saying it really is just his math. I promised him I'd fix it. And I don't know how. At least we all agreed he won't be doing that homework. I guess I'll be "afterschooling" him. And perhaps I'll keep him home in the morning and homeschool him through the second grade program, so he can enter third in the fall.
Good news is that the reading teacher has finally reached a point where he is learning. He is now happy with the 2nd-3rd grade level books and work that goes with them. And his writing has improved tremendously. It was a good grade skip, as he is still at the top of his class - in both reading and math.
Oh, and I loved this one. My husband is the king of analogies and he threw out this thought to the teachers: "You've got a Ferrari here and it's parked in the garage. You really need to take it out and see how fast it runs." I know it's a version of the "cheetah" essay, but he's never read it - so I had to kind of giggle when he said it. Figures a guy would use a car analogy!
I suppose that all of you would tell me to go ahead and keep son home in the morning. My only concern is that he does enjoy all his friends and the enrichment stuff at the end of the class time. He seems really torn about hating to do the worksheets but liking some aspects of the class. Maybe just getting there after the whole guided worksheet thing. Any thoughts are appreciated. Maybe just words of encouragement that this is okay to do?
Thanks!
