School Policy...*(&^&%!!!!!

[PattiXmas]

Quote:
I think they were referring to a child with a learning disability. If that child has to sit down for 3-4 hours every night after struggling all day while the other children are able to complete it in an hour or less the learning disabled child learns to hate learning/school/homework.
My daughter went through this and it was terrible - she should have been spending time improving basic reading/writing but she was spending entire nights memorizing vocab that she'd never use and studying ancient culture etc.

Thankfully, after getting an IEP things improved enormously.

I know what they were referring to. My son was tested and he was found to be emotionally impaired which affected his learning abilities. We worked with him, and that is the big difference. We never allowed this to be an excuse, a disability. Parents of children with learning disabilities need to take the time to sit down with their children and help them. I know the school systems make special allowances for these kids, but that doesn't mean they can get away without doing their homework or following the rules.

 

[citrusdreams]

I had to chuckle when I read your post, not because it's funny but because it never occured to me that when I was late for school that it was my mom's fault

I don't know if it's because it might have been my fault, or what, but I always thought it was me. I guess it is the driver's fault huh? I wish I woulda known that

But I do agree that you set the standards for your child. As they grow, they will encounter all kinds of life stressers that they will have to work through while functioning as young adults. Seeing you make sure they get to school on time sets a standard for them. The same as setting up study times and making sure those study times don't get interrupted: it helps train them to be better students. Working with your child on homework helps them and you figure out what study methods work best for them.

I'm shocked by how many kids can't read or don't know what common words mean. I had a converstation with a friend for about five minutes and in that time a 12 year old child asked what three common words meant. That kid needs to read more and her mom needs to make sure it happens.

As for the stuff not being signed, it's probably a combination of avoiding the kid not bringing their stuff to their parents to sign. But for elementary school, up to a certain grade, it's the parents' responsibility to make sure that assignments are done. Kids are too young to learn that IMOHO, until they're a bit older. I think it depends on the kid of course, but by junior high (what 6th or 7th grade?), they should be independently starting and doing their homework with asking for help when they need it. But till high school, I understand why parents still have to sign their stuff. By penalizing the child for not getting it done, the parent works harder to make it happen, as well as the child.

They're just teaching kids to be responsible and that dodging those responsibilites comes with consequences.

 

[PattiXmas]

Quote:
Great that he can rebuild and alternator in a half hour's time, but without the education he should be getting, will he learn how to write up an invoice? Will he know how to add up the charges? Will he be aware of how much he earned, how much Uncle Sam earned and how much went to the overhead? My kids struggled with school, but we did not make any special allowances as long as the homework was done, and they tried to the best of their abilities. I know my son will never be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon, but at least he will be able to understand that stress is an everyday thing, and he must learn to deal with it. My kids used to get mad at me when I would have them write their spelling words 5 times each and the ones they missed 10 times, but they now understand. If all parents stopped pushing their kids, and stopped working with the school systems, where would we be at?

we would have kids that are not stressed to the point of ulcers and mental break downs at the age of 10. There is a time and a place for stress and IMO it is not right to stress kids out to the point that its affecting their overall health.

The school (ours anyway) is building a generation of kids reliant on technology so it wont matter if he cant add the charges for the invoice cause the computer will do it for him anyway so why bother teaching them to do manual math? They are teaching that all their work has to be done on a word processor so why bothering teaching them the are of penmanship and writing cause the computer will spell check for them any way and you can pick your font so it wont matter what your handwriting looks like. i was TOLD not requested... TOLD that I must provide a computer for my son to complete his assignments on. ooo and internet access for him to do research because the reference section of the library has been removed to allow for extra computers. Now talk about dividing kids based on the financial status of the household.

He is still going to need the basics. He is still going to have to know "manual" math, he is still going to have to be able to spell. My kids have access to computers, printers, etc but when it comes time to do a report, before they type it, I want to see a hard copy that has been hand written. Technology will not be able in every field of employment so better to teach now then to have them get out in the "real" world and learn the hard way.

 

[Dar]

I agree 100% they need the basics but at what cost?. Surly not the cost of their health.

when my son hands in a report the school does no want it on paper that want is saved onto a zip drive, rough copy, good copy everything. if its printed out they will loose marks

this is their idea of being "green" less paper. when we got out back to school e-mails a jump drive was on the must have list.

now this is for jr high keep that in mind... wee ones still use paper

please dont misunderstand me... my son has the basics to get by. if he could not add and subtract bla bla bla... i would be worried and request an IEP and go all the way with special education..BUT the school does not want that...it brings the average of the school down they want everyone to be the same on their own...

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Quote:
I disagree. Not all parents are going to work harder to make sure their child isn't punished for something that was their fault. A lot of parents become upset that the schools punished their child for what the parent failed to do.

It is NOT a child's responsibility to parent the parent. What the child is learning is that they are being punished for what their parents failed to do, because for all the teacher knows, the child did ask mom/dad to sign, and mom/dad just didn't.

It's like if you are under someone at work, and you and a they have an assignment together. You complete your part, and you keep reminding your supervisor to do their part, but they don't. Should you be punished even though you had no control over your supervisor's actions? I mean, you did tell them that the assignment had to be completed, right? Would it be fair if you both lost your job?

I took my kids out of public school because I wanted to be an active part of their learning, and I wanted to have say over what they were exposed to. Plus, I got really tired of having my kids come home telling me, "Mrs. _________ said we should do things this way even at home." Well, Mrs. ________ doesn't live here, nor work my farm, and she doesn't have any say on what goes on in my home.

I hope everyone remembers 2 things:
1) you the parent are your child's first teacher and
2) There are some wonderful teachers out there, and a lot of them are parents, too.

 

[briana1975]

Our school has similar rules. The planner must be signed each day, homework folder each week, no talking or running in the hall between classes, due to other classes being in session. They can talk at begining and end of day though. If the kids are 15 minutes tardy they are marked absent for half a day or if you pick them up due to an appointment more than 15 mins before end of day it is marked half day absent. That one upsets me because I do try to make Dr. or Dentist appointment as late as possible but if I wait till the bus drops them off everything is closed. Drop off isn't till 4:45pm. Poor kids are on the bus more than an hour. We are out in the country.

On the other hand we watched my cousins kids for a week. She had to work out of town. They needed their planners signed too so when I signed I noticed it had only been signed 2 other times the whole school year. Yes she is a single mom but she is usually home at some point. She just really doesn't care about the school stuff much. Her 11 year old boy still can barley read, but she doesn't want to get him help or help him herself. School to her is a free sitter so she can work. She said it is the teachers faults that her kid does bad in school. The school has wanted to put him into a special program but she refuses. There are all kinds of situations out there but I think this is the schools way to get parents involved in their childs education.

 

[claud]

Quote:
I think they were referring to a child with a learning disability. If that child has to sit down for 3-4 hours every night after struggling all day while the other children are able to complete it in an hour or less the learning disabled child learns to hate learning/school/homework.
My daughter went through this and it was terrible - she should have been spending time improving basic reading/writing but she was spending entire nights memorizing vocab that she'd never use and studying ancient culture etc.

Thankfully, after getting an IEP things improved enormously.

I know what they were referring to. My son was tested and he was found to be emotionally impaired which affected his learning abilities. We worked with him, and that is the big difference. We never allowed this to be an excuse, a disability. Parents of children with learning disabilities need to take the time to sit down with their children and help them. I know the school systems make special allowances for these kids, but that doesn't mean they can get away without doing their homework or following the rules.

We did sit down and work with her every night. She was not able to do it on her own. It wasn't an excuse - it was an inability which was robbing her of actual learning.

 

[PattiXmas]

Quote:
I know what they were referring to. My son was tested and he was found to be emotionally impaired which affected his learning abilities. We worked with him, and that is the big difference. We never allowed this to be an excuse, a disability. Parents of children with learning disabilities need to take the time to sit down with their children and help them. I know the school systems make special allowances for these kids, but that doesn't mean they can get away without doing their homework or following the rules.

We did sit down and work with her every night. She was not able to do it on her own. It wasn't an excuse - it was an inability which was robbing her of actual learning.

It's great that you were able to recognize and work with the school to help her. What about the other kids that parents don't care? By having a homework log signed, it opens up communications between parents, children and teachers. It may be a pain in the butt, but honestly it only takes a few minutes to check over their work and sign the sheet.

 

[mamagardener]

I work at the school, and I try to remember that some children have it very tough at home. For those kids sometimes school can be an oasis in the middle of a desert. I try to be fair and nice to all children, because children can be hurt so easily. I am not saying coddle them so that they can't function in society, I am only saying give them some attention and compassion. Sometimes that's all it takes.

 

[claud]

Quote:
We did sit down and work with her every night. She was not able to do it on her own. It wasn't an excuse - it was an inability which was robbing her of actual learning.

It's great that you were able to recognize and work with the school to help her. What about the other kids that parents don't care? By having a homework log signed, it opens up communications between parents, children and teachers. It may be a pain in the butt, but honestly it only takes a few minutes to check over their work and sign the sheet.

A homework log was great - we used it all the time. It was just the amount and the type of homework was draining her and would have ruined her education if we hadn't stepped in with the IEP. We didn't have a problem with signing things. I think the original poster was sticking up for the kids that were being punished because of what their parents didn't do.