Renee in NC Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 My 12yo went to school Jan. 3rd after being homeschooled his whole life. He has always struggled and *hates* schoolwork of any kind. There isn't one subject he likes or does well in. I put him a year behind due to his issues. He likes the social part of school, but is struggling in the same things that he struggled with at home - reading carefully, keeping up with things, following directions, time management, etc. He has zero study skills and fails every test he takes. His math teacher has decided that he is lazy and would get better grades if he would work harder and apply himself. Maybe it is true - I don't know. Part of me is happy that it isn't just me!:tongue_smilie: The other part of me is irritated that she said this to him.:glare: At the same time, there isn't enough money in the world to get me to teach middle school, so I'll extend some grace. The guidance counselor scheduled a conference for Friday so that everyone can be on the same page regarding his homeschooling and test results. I am not looking forward to this. The last thing I need is 4 people telling me he just needs to apply himself.:001_rolleyes: Great, he needs to apply himself - anyone got any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I would want to set up some type of system so that I could hold him accountable for his homework daily. Maybe a weekly chart that tracks his daily assignments that needs to be signed-off on by both you and his teachers? You really can't control what's going on at school, but you can make sure they're assigning him appropriate homework (at his ability level) and that he's completing it with accurancy at home. My 12yo went to school Jan. 3rd after being homeschooled his whole life. He has always struggled and *hates* schoolwork of any kind. There isn't one subject he likes or does well in. I put him a year behind due to his issues. He likes the social part of school, but is struggling in the same things that he struggled with at home - reading carefully, keeping up with things, following directions, time management, etc. He has zero study skills and fails every test he takes. His math teacher has decided that he is lazy and would get better grades if he would work harder and apply himself. Maybe it is true - I don't know. Part of me is happy that it isn't just me!:tongue_smilie: The other part of me is irritated that she said this to him.:glare: At the same time, there isn't enough money in the world to get me to teach middle school, so I'll extend some grace. The guidance counselor scheduled a conference for Friday so that everyone can be on the same page regarding his homeschooling and test results. I am not looking forward to this. The last thing I need is 4 people telling me he just needs to apply himself.:001_rolleyes: Great, he needs to apply himself - anyone got any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 His math teacher has decided that he is lazy and would get better grades if he would work harder and apply himself. Maybe it is true - I don't know. Part of me is happy that it isn't just me!:tongue_smilie: The other part of me is irritated that she said this to him.:glare: At the same time, there isn't enough money in the world to get me to teach middle school, so I'll extend some grace. I'm going to say something that may get tomatoes thrown at me. IN MY EXPERIENCE math teachers are THE WORST at being able to accommodate a child with special needs. I fought with every math teacher my son had though all of his years at PS. They are very black and white. They are the epitome of the mass manufacturing of students. (Caveat) this may just be lower grades-meaning a college level math prof may allow more creativity because they know their subject better and know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. One teacher yelled at me that there is only *one way* to teach Algebra. :confused: If you have an IEP in place, it make take some hard advocating to get the math teacher to go along with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 I would want to set up some type of system so that I could hold him accountable for his homework daily. Maybe a weekly chart that tracks his daily assignments that needs to be signed-off on by both you and his teachers? You really can't control what's going on at school, but you can make sure they're assigning him appropriate homework (at his ability level) and that he's completing it with accurancy at home. We're working on the system. The homework is listed online and he is (supposed) to write it down in a school provided planner. I didn't go behind him everyday because, frankly, I don't have time to. But, I will make it happen. Just add it to my list of things to do.:glare: As for "appropriate homework" - he doesn't have an IEP yet, but even if he did I wouldn't want his homework modified. It isn't that necessary for him. My 9yo - yes. This ds can do the work, even if it takes him awhile to do it. They don't accomodate college that way, so I don't want him to get used to that. I'm going to say something that may get tomatoes thrown at me. IN MY EXPERIENCE math teachers are THE WORST at being able to accommodate a child with special needs. I fought with every math teacher my son had though all of his years at PS. They are very black and white. They are the epitome of the mass manufacturing of students. (Caveat) this may just be lower grades-meaning a college level math prof may allow more creativity because they know their subject better and know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. One teacher yelled at me that there is only *one way* to teach Algebra. :confused: If you have an IEP in place, it make take some hard advocating to get the math teacher to go along with it. I don't want accomodations for him, just more understanding, maybe? Don't take an LD kid and try to shame him into working harder. I'm all for keeping the expectations high. I want him to do the work, but he might need a little more time. She doesn't know about any LDs or anything else, though, so I'll wait until after the conference (when she will know.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 IN MY EXPERIENCE math teachers are THE WORST at being able to accommodate a child with special needs. I fought with every math teacher my son had though all of his years at PS. They are very black and white. They are the epitome of the mass manufacturing of students. QUOTE] :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Just wanted to let you know, they WILL accomodate in college. Get him an IEP now, and they will work with him in college. I have a friend who is dyslexic and in college they gave her extra time for tests and such to accomodate her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 (edited) would skip their homework. I know you have your hands full with a lot going on in your life right now, but taking that extra 10 minutes nightly to double check the homework will probably payoff bigtime. Edited January 20, 2011 by Stacy in NJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 would skip their homework. I know you have your hands full with a lot going on in your life right now, but taking that extra 10 minutes nightly to double check the homework will probably payoff bigtime. I didn't let him get away with it and wouldn't. I just don't want to have to go behind him every single day, checking websites, emailing teachers, etc. *He* is capable of doing that. Hold him accountable at school and I'll hold him accountable at home, but don't expect parents to be responsible for a middle schoolers homework! (However, I realize that I am fighting a losing battle here, as it is just an expectation that the parent will do the homework with the child - unfortunately, that means 3-4 hours of homework a night for ME!:glare:) What I want her to cut him a little slack on is that it takes teaching him something 4-5-6 or more times got him to really get it. Don't call him lazy or make fun of him (why are you staring at that girl instead of your book?:confused:) Just teach him again - if I wanted to teach him he'd still be homeschooled! As for the IEP and accomodations, I meant that in college he'd still have to do whatever the work was - they don't give "modified assignments" in college. You can get more time on tests, etc., but you still have to do the work. You don't get to do 1/2 the other problems that other students do because it takes you longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Conference went well and the teachers are very understanding. They realize the IEP process is in the works and there are things they are willing to do for him in order to help him succeed. At the same time, they know that I don't want to give him any excuses for not doing the work, either. I think we are on the same page now.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 As for the IEP and accomodations, I meant that in college he'd still have to do whatever the work was - they don't give "modified assignments" in college. You can get more time on tests, etc., but you still have to do the work. You don't get to do 1/2 the other problems that other students do because it takes you longer. I don't know if it is still like this, or if my college was somehow different, but in college, the only thing that counted for the grade was tests (this would be for courses in science and math, where there were problem sets assigned as homework). So a kid with LDs could self-modify the assignments and get an extra time accommodation for the tests. Now for the humanities courses, there were papers assigned throughout the course that were graded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 I don't know if it is still like this, or if my college was somehow different, but in college, the only thing that counted for the grade was tests (this would be for courses in science and math, where there were problem sets assigned as homework). So a kid with LDs could self-modify the assignments and get an extra time accommodation for the tests. Now for the humanities courses, there were papers assigned throughout the course that were graded. When I was in college, math and science (especially math-based science) required assignments turned in. I was thinking the same would be true for engineering. If not, then you're right - it won't matter. However, since he struggles with retaining, I would think less problems to practice on would make things worse, not better. We'll see how it goes, but he is able to get all his homework done in the 2 hours I have alloted - he just doesn't want to spend the 2 hours!:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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