one more reason I'm glad we are homeschooling...rant inside...

[ktgrok]

One of my biggest peeves is the total disorganization of the public schools. I know they think they can get away with it with the kids, but I'm an adult and I expect things to run fairly smoothly, or at least be planned well. We had numerous incidents last year where I was flabbergasted at the lack of forethought. Well, this year we are homeschooling, but my son will attend the gifted program one day a week. We like this because he can still see some of his friends, and the theme is Ancient Civilizations, which is great because we are doing year one of TOG. So the gifted teacher said we could see her new classroom on Meet the Teacher day. In her defense she did mention the date of the 20th. However, the information from the school was that 5th graders were to "Meet the Teacher" on the 18th. So we scambled to change clothes, find my son an outfit that was significantly "cool" enough, get the baby in the car, etc, and get over there. We go into the main lobby to find out where the new gifted portable is. The lobby has all the 5th grade teachers sitting at tables with folders for the students, and the principal wandering around looking smug, and PTA type people at the desk. I walk up and ask how to get to Portable 7, and they discuss this, and then show me one of the photo copied maps that they have....there are at least 100 copies, you would have thought they could have given me one rather than just show it to me and take it away. But then as I am walking away they call me back to say that the teacher isn't in the classroom, none of the teachers are. I say, oh, ok, she told me she would be able to show me her classroom, but fine, which table is she at? They all huddle and confer, and say they don't know, they don't even know if she is there. That I should ask the principal. So I walk up to her and say hello, and she turns away. I say her name, and she turns back. I tell her that my son and I are looking for Mrs. P, the gifted teacher, we'd like to see her new classroom. She tells me "oh, she isn't here tonight." I said, well, she emailed me that I could come see the classroom at meet the teacher night. She says oh, yes, on Friday. Friday is the 3rd and 4th grad Meet the Teacher night. Apparantly if you have a 5th grader who is in gifted you are supposed to go to both nights? It never occured to anyone that there might be gifted 5th graders? Ugh.

[misidawnrn]

sorry you had such a hard day. I definately wouldn't want my kids going to a school with such arrogance either! SNOBS!

[chiguirre]

Yup. I got a somewhat threatening phone call from the local middle school saying my oldest needed to come and pick up his packet immediately. Umm, he's never attended the local ISD. The only reason they know he exists is that he gets 1 hour of speech at his private school that is funded through the school district. If they can't get something like enrollment status straight, I can't imagine giving them my largely non-verbal kid for 8 hours a day.

[lisamarie]

I am seeing this myself. My DD will be starting K on Sept 7. So far we have received nothing from the school such as a supply list, what class she will be in, an open house date, etc. I called the admin office yesterday to see if maybe we got missed and they said that I won't get any of this information until the week before school starts. I was flabbergasted to say the least. They couldn't even send me a supply list so I can buy stuff on sale? Instead I have to scramble the week before school starts (with Labor Day weekend in there) and buy what we haven't already gotten that I think might be on the list. Needless to say I am less than impressed and it has made me second guess our decision more than once.

[KidsHappen]

My 8th grader has been in school one week as of today and has had three schedule changes so far. She spent one whole period in art the first day and then was informed after the fact that she had been changed to PE and should have been there. She came home today to tell me that they had changed her to Algebra I and she wanted me to fix it. I had a hard time feeling sorry for that one. The 6th grader has two PEs when she was only supposed to have one. Luckily, neither one of them are this term so we have time to fix it and her counselor is aware of the problem. We have had scheduling problems at this school every year for three years now and every year they say next year they are going to get their act together. I am not holding my breath. :glare:

[justasque]

OP, I've been in the same situation as you - my child participated once a week at the local gifted program. We have had various mix-ups, but I try to consider that we are the "odd ones out", and that sometimes communication won't be perfect, in either direction. They are gracious enough to over look my errors and our crazy schedule which sometimes interferes with my dd's participation in the class, so I try to be gracious enough to over look problems from their end.

 

I know it's hard to do that when you've gone out of your way and it's been for nothing. We've had our fair share of getting up early and driving to class only to have to drive back again 5 minutes later because class was canceled for some reason and no one told us. On the other hand, it's a great program that is a perfect supplement to our homeschooling, the teacher is excellent and very flexible, and I can often borrow materials from her not only for my dd but for any classes/workshops/co-op activities I may be teaching. My kid gets to hang out with gifted peers, do great hands-on activities that I'd never attempt, and go on excellent field trips. Plus, the class is free (except for our normal school taxes, which we'd be paying anyway, of course).

 

I find that it helps to double-check with the teacher just before any "special events" in case of changes, and to ask each week at pick up about the next class (time, activity, anything special they need to bring, etc.). I've had one or more kids in this class for over 10 years now, and it's been well worth it in the big picture, if a bit frustrating now and again.

[Journey]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

[misidawnrn]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

 

not to start a fight but really???? what is this about?:confused: I reread the original post and she talked about the gifted program and the gifted teacher and only mentioned that her son was gifted a few times, and that was in a non-bragging way. When she referred to the gifted program and the gifted teacher I would imagine she meant it as any other program like if she was going to see the PE program or meet the PE teacher. I think this was a little harsh!

[pooh bear]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

 

 

She mentioned the word gifted 6 times. Is there a limit to the amount of times that you can say one word in a post?

 

It is not like she was bragging about how gifted her son was, she was just making the point of why she was having problems.

[Harriet Vane]

not to start a fight but really???? what is this about?:confused: I reread the original post and she talked about the gifted program and the gifted teacher and only mentioned that her son was gifted a few times, and that was in a non-bragging way. When she referred to the gifted program and the gifted teacher I would imagine she meant it as any other program like if she was going to see the PE program or meet the PE teacher. I think this was a little harsh!

 

:iagree:

[ktgrok]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

 

Is there a different term you would prefer? :confused: I was trying to explain that the 5th grade teachers were there, but not the teacher that teaches the once a week gifted program. I was trying to clarify and I don't think it would have made sense otherwise.

 

If it helps he also has a learning disability.:tongue_smilie:

[PiCO]

I think most public schools are disorganized and snooty because customer service does not have an immediate affect their bottom line. They make you mad, but what can you do? They don't care if you pull your kid out, they still get the property taxes.

 

OTOH, the headmistress at dd's private school 8 years ago was the snootiest woman I've ever met. She didn't want to bother answering my questions regarding curriculum, teacher training and retention, etc. She pretty much asked my why I needed to know that, and told me whe just wanted a yes or no answer by noon, so they could notify the next person on the wait list.

[Mimm]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

 

Ha! Insecure much?

[tiffijo1]

Public schools can be very disorganized..sorry for your troubles!!

[pooh bear]

Is there a different term you would prefer? :confused: I was trying to explain that the 5th grade teachers were there, but not the teacher that teaches the once a week gifted program. I was trying to clarify and I don't think it would have made sense otherwise.

 

If it helps he also has a learning disability.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

Oh no, you mentioned the "G" word again.

 

You do realize that you have used up your quota for the "G" word, and now you must pay a penalty?

 

Instead of Gifted how about

 

Endowed

With a flair

Sagacious

Clever

Smart

Intelligent

Perspicacious

[....]

I can't help but notice how many times you mentioned that your son is in the "gifted" program.

 

My 8 yro is gifted. Let me tell you, those kids are considered special needs too. I actually thought for a while that my daughter had Asperger's. My daughter would crawl under a chair or table and GROWL at people. Some of them have a really difficult time getting through their day when they go to public school. I was picking my daughter up from the nurse's office at least once a week when she went to ps. People need to be able to discuss these kids without everybody getting all defensive. I have not the slightest clue what to do with my kid, because anytime you try to talk about it, people get all upset and defensive.

 

Like their existence is some kind of cultural faux pas...

[cdrumm4448]

It isn't just public school. I went to dd's Kindergarten Orientation Night at her school last night. The teacher let us know that nothing has been decided regarding what to do about hot lunch or milk for the all day kindergarteners (my dd is 1/2 day, so it doesn't apply to her) but school starts TUESDAY. She also mentioned they have a brand new $900 science curriculum that got for free to try out. I asked the teacher who the publisher is, and she said she doesn't know. So, have you even looked at the material yet? Again, school starts Tuesday.

[LisaC]

not to start a fight but really???? what is this about?:confused: I reread the original post and she talked about the gifted program and the gifted teacher and only mentioned that her son was gifted a few times, and that was in a non-bragging way. When she referred to the gifted program and the gifted teacher I would imagine she meant it as any other program like if she was going to see the PE program or meet the PE teacher. I think this was a little harsh!

 

:iagree:

[ktgrok]

\My daughter would crawl under a chair or table and GROWL at people.

 

Wow, my son did that too! He just didn't know how to handle people. He still has some issues, but much better. And yes, being in a gifted classroom with a teacher experienced with his needs helped tremendously. In fact, one of the reasons we are homeschooling is that his current school only has the once a week pull out program, not a full time program. Behavior and grades have deteriorated because of that.

[Supertechmom]

My 8 yro is gifted. Let me tell you, those kids are considered special needs too. I actually thought for a while that my daughter had Asperger's. My daughter would crawl under a chair or table and GROWL at people. Some of them have a really difficult time getting through their day when they go to public school. I was picking my daughter up from the nurse's office at least once a week when she went to ps. People need to be able to discuss these kids without everybody getting all defensive. I have not the slightest clue what to do with my kid, because anytime you try to talk about it, people get all upset and defensive.

 

Like their existence is some kind of cultural faux pas...

 

:iagree::iagree: And maybe we need to start a group for growling gifted kids. I have two that did that. Drove me batty the first time and now driving me INSANE with this one. And mine have never been in school. They do this to us under the kitchen table, the crib, wherever they can shove their little bodies. People give us the :blink: look quite a bit. And there is no one to talk about it to. We started homeschooling because the school interview went over like a lead balloon and the look they gave was :scared:.

[EthiopianFood]

If it helps he also has a learning disability.:tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, although if he is in a wheelchair, it would be even better. ;)

[....]

Not to get off-topic, but they need to come out with an Instruction Manual that explains WHY my daughter plays the same song over and over on the piano, why she needs to chart out her day on paper :confused:, why she's filling up paper listing different species names of reptiles and someone Please tell me why she came home from school everyday and screamed/kicked the wall for 45 minutes. I didn't know if something was happening to her or if public school was too stressful or if there was something wrong with her...:confused:

 

Oh, yeah, here's a new one. My daughter "slinks around" when I'm talking to people. Yeah! Slinks! I can't even describe it. She'll hide behind my back and then she'll look around my side and then go back behind me. She'll do this the entire time we're talking. I'm like, "What the heck are you doing? If you're going to do this during college interviews, let me know now." :confused::confused::confused:

 

This is one of the BIG reasons why we don't go to ps.

 

Good luck, Everybody. :svengo: I'm completely in the dark on this one. Between her and the Boy who does combat rolls and shoots me with Nerf guns as I pass through the room, one of these four kids is bound to give me a heart attack soon. :ack2:

[ktgrok]

 

Oh, yeah, here's a new one. My daughter "slinks around" when I'm talking to people. Yeah! Slinks! I can't even describe it. She'll hide behind my back and then she'll look around my side and then go back behind me. She'll do this the entire time we're talking. I'm like, "What the heck are you doing? If you're going to do this during college interviews, let me know now." :confused::confused::confused:

 

:ack2:

 

Yup, mine slinks too. Drives me nuts. We are covering ettiquite this year as a subject. I'm hoping some direct instruction will help him at least not act rude. He currently doesn't stand behind me, but looks at his feet or keeps a hat on pulled down to block anyone's vision of him. ugh.