RANT ALERT!!
Apparently I, too, had a blissful summer vacation forgetting all about the things that piss me off about school (oh yeah, M3 came home with a FULL-SIZE Snickers bar the other day).
So here's the thing...M3 has too much homework. It's just too much for a 4th grader. To illustrate: she comes home from school, sits right down at the kitchen table (where did she get that sort of self-discipline?? Not from me!!), and proceeds to do homework FOR THE REST OF THE DAY!! UNTIL BED-TIME!! PAST BED-TIME!!! (I told you it was a rant.) She has been reduced to sobbing on more than one occasion. She doesn't get to play; she doesn't get to draw; she doesn't get to play with her brother or go outside and run around. On top of the fascinating worksheets she has to complete, she also has to read 18 pages of a book every night. And guess what? If she doesn't do that reading (perhaps because her parents insist that she needs to get some sleep, and her mother is suuuure it's OK that she catch up tomorrow night BECAUSE IT SAYS SO ON THE NOTE FROM HER TEACHER), then she gets kept in at recess the next day to do the reading. Kept in at recess.
In what way does this instill a LOVE OF LEARNING in her??! Can someone please tell me?
Now, I know she is slow at math. She can do it; she's just slow at it. But when her confidence is shot, she can't do it all and says things like "I don't like math" and "I'm bad at math" and "I want to be an artist so I don't have to do math" or she just sobs. We just recovered her confidence last year with the help of her 3rd grade teacher. It is quickly slipping away again. To me, this time is critical...she needs to establish her math confidence now before she hits the horror-show that is middle school.
I know she can be fidgety. Is she more fidgety than any other 9 or 10 year old? I am willing to entertain the possibility, but I doubt it.
I don't presume to tell her teacher how to do her job (or maybe I do a little bit, which is not very nice). I really don't want to be one of "those college parents." I give props to any person who attempts to teach anything to a roomful of 25 children of varying circumstances and abilities. But to me, there is something wrong when a 9-year-old is not free to have some time to run around and play, to spend time in her own creative pursuits, to play a sport, or even to just lay around and do nothing for a little bit!!
So I did go see her teacher this morning to ask why M3 was kept in at recess for not completing her reading when it clearly states on her paper that she can double up the next night. Apparently, M3 has an older copy of the paper. So it's possible...just maybe...that I let some hints of my displeasure seep into our conversation. It's possible I wasn't as smiley and nicey nicey as most people from Iowa are. Just maybe.
We will meet again next Wednesday.
6 comments:
M3,
Both N and I disliked math a lot due to bad teachers. Last year my math teacher could not teach. At all. Everyone in class was having a hard time, but this year my teacher is great, and so it's so much better! Keep hanging in there, and see if you like math more with a different teacher. I'm sure your classmates are having as much of a hard time as you.
Love you guys,
S.
This makes me sad because it WILL contribute to M3 possibly developing a distaste for school, or at least, some aspects of it. I cannot figure out what this teacher is trying to accomplish??!!These are 9-10 yr/old 4th graders!!What is this gal's agenda, anyway??Very upsetting....esp. b/c we all know, that M3 is a VERY bright little girl!!! Learning should be fun and rewarding , and this teacher is just making it a heavy job and a chore. Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!
M3-
Some teachers are bad teachers and sometimes not even nice people. Your Mom will watch out for you. Your grandma is right- you are really smart. One of the things that N did, when she was mad about something one of her pretty terrible teachers did, was to write, with invisible ink, what she really thought on the paper.
Think about the difference between Ms. Trunchbull and Miss Honey. I always hope for Miss Honeys for teachers for S and N (as long as the teacher doesn't try to adopt them).
We'll be thinking about you.
Thank you for posting this! Your very reasonable rant sounds like a lot of things I've read at this blog: http://stophomework.com/ . There and in the book by the same author, you can see well-researched arguments against homework at the elementary school level. I'm very concerned to hear about M3's experience, and with a son headed into the same school system, I wonder what actions we can take. The blog has a lot of stories, some of them happy ones, about parents engaging principals and teachers.
Apparently, this teacher feels she has something to prove with these kids. I have seen teachers enjoy discipline too much. It sounds as if this teacher likes to flex her bullying muscles. Keep on her a@*!!!
Math is very difficult for a LOT of kids. I have gone through the sobbing with some kids. It is a very common circumstance.
I also want to mention that some teachers believe they are being good teachers when they are hard on kids and assign them a lot of work. Unfortunately, they are ill informed:(
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