Am I wrong about this?????

[toodles]

My dd is in 1st grade. She has had a little trouble with her math assignments...and I honestly believe a lot of it has to do with her teacher. The reason I say this, is because when she has math homework, she doesn't have any trouble doing it at home. She seems to understand it and rarely needs my help with it.

Well, the teacher wrote on her report card 2 weeks ago that she is not completing her math work. So I sent the teacher an email asking her to explain this to me a little better. She said that Trinity often doesn't finish her math work at school..and that she thinks she is having difficulty understanding it.

Let me also add that Trinity has never had problems in school...she has always done well academically. Well, anyway...my problem today is that when I looked in her backpack today, there was a math workbook in there with a note that said "Trinity is not completing her math work at school. I looked in her book today and she should be on page xxx. Please have her catch up at home and send this back when she is completed."

well....my problem is that there are roughly 20 pages of work that is not completed. We are in the final 6 weeks of school and the teacher is JUST NOW looking to see if she is finishing her work in her book???? I think that is a bit lax, if you ask me. sending a 6 year old home with over 20 pages of make up work...work that should have been completed in the classroom...I just don't understand it. I am not a teacher and maybe the teachers are just too busy during the days to see if the kids are finishing their work, but I think that she has let this go on too far. IMO she should have noticed this a long time ago and tried to correct it earlier in the year...instead of now...with only 6 weeks of school left.

am I wrong??? I mean...if she had noticed this earlier in the year...I could have been aware and been working with Trinity to correct this.

I'm just irritated. I have not liked her teacher since the day I met her before school started this year...and this just adds to my frustrations with her. Maybe I just got spoiled with her teacher last year because she was really on top of things!

anyway...just needed to vent...and wondering if I am out of line here....

[DianaB]

Just have your daughter finish the homework and then figure that you'll never have to deal with that teacher again. Like you said "you're in the final 6 weeks of school". Yes, she should have contacted you earlier about it.

[Marilyn]

I agree with Diana. My thought on getting so many pages accomplished is to set aside some time and make a game out of her getting it done. Maybe a break and a treat or a prize after she does so many pages, it won't be such a chore for her and she will get caught up. Make it light and talk about math being fun, it's like doing a puzzle.

[toodles]

well, we finished all of the work tonight. it was very easy and she had NO problem breezing through all of it.

my thoughts on it are just that if the teacher were grading the kids' papers daily...weekly...or even monthly...she would have caught this a long time ago and we could have been working towards correcting the problem...whatever it may be.

i have talked to my daughter about this extensively and expressed to her how disappointed I am that she isn't doing her work in class...and how important it is...

but i honestly feel like the teacher has dropped the ball here. and I do plan on talking to her about it. this is her first year back after being gone for 4 years...and I think she is having to "re-learn" how to teach first grade. I think she needs to know how I feel about this....maybe she will not have the same problem with another kid next year.

[Emmsmom]

Honest opinion here.... The teacher sounds like a moron. How on earth does she let 20 pages go by and not send you a note home about it. I subbed for a 2nd grade class once and you have to really stay on top of ALL of them to get their work done. They are still babies in my opinion and still need a lot of help. If she is a talker (like my daughter) then the teacher shold move her so that she can get her work done. I have moved many desk for just this reason.

I just have a problem with the teacher letting all this work go by and NOT catching it or NOT say anything to you about it. I would keep a very close eye on her work and maybe even start sending the teacher an email once a week asking how things are going. You daughter might not like the teacher very well either. That could be because of you. Let me explain. I HATED my daughters second grade teacher. She was a very distant teacher. She gave no hugs, refused to put a hairbow back in a child's hair, and she always talked very cold to them. One day she told me that my daughter wasn't reading on grade level. So I went in and got Emmie to read for me IN FRONT of the teacher. The teacher looked at me and said I have never heard her read like that before. I later found out that Emmie heard me talking to my hubby about her teacher and how I couldn't stand her. Well my sweet daughter determined that now she didn't like her either. So much so that she even went to school and TOLD the teacher so. She also informed her that I didn't like her either. I have never been so embarrassed in all my life. So I can understand EXACTLY where you are coming from. I would just do the best you can to help her at home and just realize that there isn't much that can be done this late in the game. (Not your fault) I would check out the teachers in second grade and see if you can find one that will suit your daughter's personality. My daughter responds well to someone who is very loving and kind yet strict when it comes to school work.

I hope things are much better for you next year.

[Tink]

Well said Emmsmom.
It stinks when the student and teacher aren't a good match, but this late in the year you can just use it as a lesson for the child in how to cooperate and succeed in spite of it. We all know that later on they're going to have bosses they don't click with either... so let this be a good building block for that time.

[judy]

I know I'm answering this very late, but I just found it, and just wanted to share my teaching experience with you. I'm so glad that Trinity knew the work and found it easy to do. In the end, that's all that mattered.

I taught for years, and if the subject is easy for the student, and they knew it well, why bother with having them "make it up?" She may have had some perception that she needed to do a notebook check, or some other nonsense. Luckily, Trinity is almost finished with her.

I have to say that there are some teachers who do not ever see the big picture. They have such nonsense and trivialities as their priorities.

My best advice to you is to always be on top of Trinity's learning process, and, as long as she's doing well, either appease her teacher, tell him/her no, or ignore her. There were many times in second and third grade when I did Jessie's work for her. She had the same, most neurotic teacher both years. She gave them 32 pages of work to do in 2nd grade over Spring vacation! Most of us mothers calmly did most of them ourselves and gave the kids the ones we thought were useful.

[teri88]

Did you ask Trinity why she doesn't complete it in school? What was her excuse? Yeah, just grit your teeth and get through the last few weeks. The teacher dropped the ball for sure!