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Parent-Teacher Conferences

Ken and I met with the boys' teachers on Wednesday night. First, we had the Kindergartener. After arriving way too early and sitting in the hall on teeny, tiny chairs for too long, we were ushered into the classroom. The boys sat on a chair nearby while Ken and I went over the little guy's report card with his beloved teacher.

I'm happy to report the little guy is doing great! He still has a few things he needs to work on, mind you, but nothing worth worrying over. He's already learned quite a few of the sight words he needs to memorize and he's doing well in math and such. The only thing he really needs to focus on is learning to identify his letters. Yep. He can recognize words but not letters...it's weird.

The third grader did not fare so well. In fact, he seems to be failing EVERYTHING. The only good mark he received was in math: problem solving. Can't do simple addition and subtraction, but he can problem solve. Right now the school uses a grading matrix of 1 (90% and above), 2 (71-89%), and 3 (70% and below). In area of academics my child received almost all 3s. The only 1 he received was in problem solving in math.

Now, I've known he's been struggling with science. He flunked his first geography test and had to do a retake. I worked with him all that week. By the time Friday rolled around (the day of the retake) he was able to get 8 out of 10 questions right on a mock test. Yet, when he got to school and actually had to take the make-up exam, he received a whopping 34%. I don't get it. I used the same exact questions (randomizing so he couldn't memorize the answer location on the page) as the teacher. He should have done much, much better.

This is just one example.

On the upside, he did complete the 6 mandatory AR (reading) points required by the end of the marking period. He's reading. Just not as well as the teacher would like. Or as well as we'd like. Comprehension seems to be a major issue when he has to pause to decode the words.

Fearing things may only get worse Ken and I have decided to contact Sylvan Learning Center. We're going to get the child a tutor--someone trained to help kids who are falling behind the curve. The center guarantees he'll be at grade level by the time they're done, if not above grade level.

Of course these services don't come cheap. But that's beside the point. If we don't get control of this situation now, it's only going to get worse.

So, if you've a mind to, say a little prayer for our little guy. He could use a little extra help.

Comments

  1. My niece has been going to Sylvan for several months. You're right, it's not cheap, but sometimes kids just need a little extra one-on-one time that busy teachers just can't provide. She's working on her reading, and over the summer was able to catch up to last year's grade. She's still going now to keep caught up with this year's grade. I think her parents are pleased, if not thrilled -- for the money, I think they were hoping she'd zoom ahead -- but she is succeeding. Hopefully they can help your little guy too!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope so. I feel so bad for him. He always thinks he's doing well and is stunned by how terrible his report cards turn out. With any luck, this will be the little extra somthing needed to get him out of this funk.

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