My son LOVES school and can't wait to go every day, so we do have that going for us.
That's a great relief! Even with the crying, it seems like on the whole this is good. And the school wants to work with you.
I remember doing SRA - they are supposed to be self-paced. Go to the website and get some contact info and find out if they have placement tests. Try
http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/sra/free-downloads.htm#placement2I've even been able to pull out him some great info on recent lessons he enjoyed. What I've been able to determine is: 1. There is SOME review (which he does not like and feels that he does not benefit from). 2. He is learning lots of new lessons/material as well. 3. He prefers the small group lessons vs. individual independent works. 4. He prefers to have a little direction throughout the day (i.e., he likes having a cheerleader.) 5. He'd like a few minutes every day to meet with his teacher to discuss the day's lessons/works so that they can talk about what was review and what was novel info. He'd also like to have some input on how much writing he needs to do to master a work. He says on some of them, it helps to write them several times; he thinks he can master some works after writing one or two examples. (I'm not sure how much input a 7 year old should have with this, but I like his idea of a short 5 min meeting at the end of the day.)
I think that it's good that he gets to give imput into how much writing he wants to do, but that it's ok for the teacher to ask for a little more - afterall school is for learning to trust that one can do a bit more than they want to. I would just ask the teacher to keep in mind that he is only 7 years old. Ideally she will ramp it up slowly.
I do think we need to help him somehow b/c he's still very emotional at school and gets upset with himself multiple times daily.
I think this is a great opportunity to 'Shamoo him' and recognize every ounce of emotional restraint he shows.
He feels he's not good at math, yet his test scores do not reflect this.... I like the idea of a math placement test so that they can see where he is and what he is capable of.
What program do they use for Math? Is it individualized pacing or do they do it as a group? Find out the brand and hunt down the company's placement test. Or use their 'end of year' assesments. Or let him take a series of 'end of unit' assesments. That way only has to study the problems he missed.
DS's teacher said he is completing, on average, 2-3 works per day. Her goal is 4-5 works per day. Ds's goal is 6-7 works per day. I told him I'd be thrilled with 4-5, and I set up an incentive program with him. We do not do electronics during the week in our house (no TV, no DSi, no Wii). DH and I told him if he completes 4 works per day, he can choose one electronic for 45 minutes after school. If he completes 5, he can choose 2, and if he completes 6 or more, he can choose 3. Well, today was the first day of this program, and he completed 6. His teacher said he asked for her help in planning the best way to complete at least 6! LOL So, he CAN do it if he wants. He even worked through his free-time (which he loves) so that he could finish 6 works. I am so proud of him for making such an effort and even sacrificing something he loves. I don't want him to burn himself out, but he can't settle for middle of the road. Like me, he's an all or nothing kind of person.
Just remember that the more Screen time he gets the less interested he might become in screen time. Watch him very carefully and see what is actually reinforcing TO HIM. Remember Dr. Suess and the Moose/Goose Juice problem. You may want to get a Fun Advanced Math book for home use and offer 'Math lessons' as an alternative reward to screen time. Or chess games with Mom. Or a catch. Or anything that he will work for.
If he continues to work at this pace, he'll be into all new material soon enough, right? We'll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks, and of course, we are continuing the counseling.
This seems like a reasonable probability. As long as you keep checking you'll do well.
Yippee!
Grinity
