I am in the midst of a war with myself. I continually vacillate between being extremely happy with the kids' school and wanting to pull them out and homeschool them.
For the record, Aaron is enjoying first grade, and we are enjoying his teacher. This is the second go-around with her. Zoe had Mrs. G for first grade, and we loved her then. We still do. All teachers have their pros and cons, but Mrs. G has been teaching for so long, she has her stuff together. That isn't to say she can't adapt, though. We have seen some differences between what Zoe did and what Aaron is doing in class.
One of the things I like about Mrs. G is her no-nonsense communication. She tells you what to expect and when and she sticks to a schedule. Each week, we know when the homework will come home, and when it is due, since it doesn't change from week to week. She also records a weekly message that we listen to on Monday afternoon. For the most part, if Aaron misses out on something, it will usually be due to something on our part, not that of Mrs. G's. There have been times when she has stumbled, but really, she is pretty efficient and works like a well-oiled machine!
As for the girls, I haven't yet written about them this year in too much detail. This is the first year we've put them together, and while I like their teachers (they are sort of team taught) the girls are distracted. At conferences last week, it was apparent that Tim and I and the teachers all agree that something is distracting the girls, and that they should be doing better in school. We think it is partly due to a boy, but they are also in the same class as their best friend. Boy, best friend, sister...will any learning get done?
Now, I should say that fourth grade material is more difficult, but the girls are bringing home papers with careless errors. If you take away those careless mistakes, they actually understand the material and do pretty well with it. I am keeping everything in a box, and I've looked at their papers in length. Part of the issue, it seems, is that the teachers are getting picky. So no spelling errors, no capitalization errors, no incomplete sentences, etc. Talia spelled all of her words on the test last week correctly, but there was a space between the words in two compound words (so they looked like two words) and therefore, they were marked wrong. Zoe capitalized a letter that should not have been capitalized, and therefore, it was wrong. I am not going to quibble here. Those are the rules, and my kids, along with everyone else, should adjust. Better to learn about making careless errors now than to wait until later in life, if you ask me.
But unlike first grade and Mrs. G, the communication is really lacking in fourth grade. We get a weekly letter that gives us a vague idea of what is going on, but that is it. There is nothing written as far as homework in the planners, and to be honest, I don't see that much work coming home to understand what they actually are doing during the day! I do understand that our kids should become more responsible and that they should develop the skills to take what the teacher says and relay it to us. But it isn't completely working, and lots of things are getting lost in the mix.
This week, the girls came home, on a Wednesday, telling me that they needed to get a certain book from the library for Thursday. Each child needed a different book, of course! I told them I might have to request those books, which could take a couple of days. "Why didn't you tell me before today?" I asked. Both of them weren't sure. The girls added that the book is going to be used for their reading contract during STAR time. STAR time is a reading group based on ability, to make it short. It is different from what we know as guided reading time. I think this is the difference between them:
Guided reading: the kids within one class are split according to ability and they do their separate lessons with the teacher.
STAR time: the kids of the same ability come together as a group and work on lessons with the teacher (they can come from different classes).
But in short, this is what I understood the girls to be asking:
I called a friend to see if she had the book that Zoe was going to read. She did and said we could borrow it. Furthermore, she was headed to the bookstore to see if she could find her daughter's pick and she would check to see if the store had Talia's book.
We got hold of each other again, when we realized that neither of the options were Sci-Fi, but Fantasy. Ugh. So, the friend called another friend to see if that friend had a book that Talia and Zoe could borrow that was in the Sci-Fi genre. She did. My friend (thank goodness for good friends) eventually dropped all of them by the house. But, I ran around our house finding realistic-fiction stories, too, in the event that they could change genres. I spent a lot of time and energy on this, and the other ladies did, too. Wait, there is more!
The next day, this is what I found out:
Are you confused? I am! Clearly the girls already had a book when the STAR teacher told them to look for a book and left the room. These kids are 9. Couldn't she have reminded the girls that the guided reading teacher had decided to use the same book? A gentle reminder to start reading, instead of wasting time on the computer? Furthermore, we can do searches online here. What are we paying those teachers for? To walk out of the room? And what if something had happened when she was out of the room? According to the girls, she was gone for longer than the time it would take to go to the restroom and get the mail. Perhaps she used the computers as a babysitter.
I think all of this could have been avoided if the following had been sent home by one of the 4th grade teachers. It is called a letter, and we can use them to communicate!
Even then, I still have questions! How many of these reading contracts are going to be done, and how frequent will they be? How many points are they worth? And what weight are they? Will some of this be done at home? Who actually chooses the genre? The kids as a group, the teacher, or the individual children? It is enough to make me go batty. My heart rate is increasing just thinking about it, and I am usually pretty cool and laid back.
Ah, so I apologize for my rant. I am all for wanting kids to become independent, but you know what? My job is to help them do just that. You don't just throw them in the deep end and watch them flail! I need the information at my disposal to cultivate that independence. Not all of it, but at least some of it, and I don't feel like the teachers are forthcoming.
What to do about that? I don't know. I just don't know. The kids are resilient, so perhaps they will step up their game and work hard to get all of the information to us. But if they are so concerned with getting those details (again, back to the teachers being picky) will they actually be learning the content? I wonder if any other parents, besides Mrs. D and myself (and our spouses) actually care? Perhaps I just need to sit back and go for the ride. I'll try to do that before I haul the kids out of school, but each day, I am just that much closer to getting out the tow truck.
For the record, Aaron is enjoying first grade, and we are enjoying his teacher. This is the second go-around with her. Zoe had Mrs. G for first grade, and we loved her then. We still do. All teachers have their pros and cons, but Mrs. G has been teaching for so long, she has her stuff together. That isn't to say she can't adapt, though. We have seen some differences between what Zoe did and what Aaron is doing in class.
One of the things I like about Mrs. G is her no-nonsense communication. She tells you what to expect and when and she sticks to a schedule. Each week, we know when the homework will come home, and when it is due, since it doesn't change from week to week. She also records a weekly message that we listen to on Monday afternoon. For the most part, if Aaron misses out on something, it will usually be due to something on our part, not that of Mrs. G's. There have been times when she has stumbled, but really, she is pretty efficient and works like a well-oiled machine!
As for the girls, I haven't yet written about them this year in too much detail. This is the first year we've put them together, and while I like their teachers (they are sort of team taught) the girls are distracted. At conferences last week, it was apparent that Tim and I and the teachers all agree that something is distracting the girls, and that they should be doing better in school. We think it is partly due to a boy, but they are also in the same class as their best friend. Boy, best friend, sister...will any learning get done?
Now, I should say that fourth grade material is more difficult, but the girls are bringing home papers with careless errors. If you take away those careless mistakes, they actually understand the material and do pretty well with it. I am keeping everything in a box, and I've looked at their papers in length. Part of the issue, it seems, is that the teachers are getting picky. So no spelling errors, no capitalization errors, no incomplete sentences, etc. Talia spelled all of her words on the test last week correctly, but there was a space between the words in two compound words (so they looked like two words) and therefore, they were marked wrong. Zoe capitalized a letter that should not have been capitalized, and therefore, it was wrong. I am not going to quibble here. Those are the rules, and my kids, along with everyone else, should adjust. Better to learn about making careless errors now than to wait until later in life, if you ask me.
But unlike first grade and Mrs. G, the communication is really lacking in fourth grade. We get a weekly letter that gives us a vague idea of what is going on, but that is it. There is nothing written as far as homework in the planners, and to be honest, I don't see that much work coming home to understand what they actually are doing during the day! I do understand that our kids should become more responsible and that they should develop the skills to take what the teacher says and relay it to us. But it isn't completely working, and lots of things are getting lost in the mix.
This week, the girls came home, on a Wednesday, telling me that they needed to get a certain book from the library for Thursday. Each child needed a different book, of course! I told them I might have to request those books, which could take a couple of days. "Why didn't you tell me before today?" I asked. Both of them weren't sure. The girls added that the book is going to be used for their reading contract during STAR time. STAR time is a reading group based on ability, to make it short. It is different from what we know as guided reading time. I think this is the difference between them:
Guided reading: the kids within one class are split according to ability and they do their separate lessons with the teacher.
STAR time: the kids of the same ability come together as a group and work on lessons with the teacher (they can come from different classes).
But in short, this is what I understood the girls to be asking:
1. I need X book for tomorrow.
2. It is going to be the book I read during STAR time and use for my reading contract.
3. We picked the Sci-Fi genre, so it is a Sci-Fi book.
4. The teacher told us to use the computers to find a book and left the room.
I called a friend to see if she had the book that Zoe was going to read. She did and said we could borrow it. Furthermore, she was headed to the bookstore to see if she could find her daughter's pick and she would check to see if the store had Talia's book.
We got hold of each other again, when we realized that neither of the options were Sci-Fi, but Fantasy. Ugh. So, the friend called another friend to see if that friend had a book that Talia and Zoe could borrow that was in the Sci-Fi genre. She did. My friend (thank goodness for good friends) eventually dropped all of them by the house. But, I ran around our house finding realistic-fiction stories, too, in the event that they could change genres. I spent a lot of time and energy on this, and the other ladies did, too. Wait, there is more!
The next day, this is what I found out:
1. For STAR time, the kids are using an entirely different book than the one they each picked. This one was picked by the guided reading group teacher (different than the STAR group teacher).
2. Therefore, they'd be reading the same book for STAR time and guided reading (supposedly it is a difficult book and they didn't want to overload them).
3. They wasted an entire half hour looking for a book, when they already had one.
Are you confused? I am! Clearly the girls already had a book when the STAR teacher told them to look for a book and left the room. These kids are 9. Couldn't she have reminded the girls that the guided reading teacher had decided to use the same book? A gentle reminder to start reading, instead of wasting time on the computer? Furthermore, we can do searches online here. What are we paying those teachers for? To walk out of the room? And what if something had happened when she was out of the room? According to the girls, she was gone for longer than the time it would take to go to the restroom and get the mail. Perhaps she used the computers as a babysitter.
I think all of this could have been avoided if the following had been sent home by one of the 4th grade teachers. It is called a letter, and we can use them to communicate!
Dear Parent:
We are starting our reading contracts with the kids. These have never been used before, so please be aware that we need to work out all the kinks.
We have decided that there will be a couple of ways for the kids to choose their books. 1. Children can use the same book as will be used for the monthly book report. 2. The guided reading teacher can request that the same book be used for both STAR time and guided reading. 3. A student can select a book from the library or one of those that the teacher has.
Please be sure to remind your child to find out which of the ways above applies to them, and have them write it in their planner. Each time, it might vary. If they have questions, they should ask either the STAR teacher or the guided reading teacher.
Thank you for your support.
Your teacher.
Even then, I still have questions! How many of these reading contracts are going to be done, and how frequent will they be? How many points are they worth? And what weight are they? Will some of this be done at home? Who actually chooses the genre? The kids as a group, the teacher, or the individual children? It is enough to make me go batty. My heart rate is increasing just thinking about it, and I am usually pretty cool and laid back.
Ah, so I apologize for my rant. I am all for wanting kids to become independent, but you know what? My job is to help them do just that. You don't just throw them in the deep end and watch them flail! I need the information at my disposal to cultivate that independence. Not all of it, but at least some of it, and I don't feel like the teachers are forthcoming.
What to do about that? I don't know. I just don't know. The kids are resilient, so perhaps they will step up their game and work hard to get all of the information to us. But if they are so concerned with getting those details (again, back to the teachers being picky) will they actually be learning the content? I wonder if any other parents, besides Mrs. D and myself (and our spouses) actually care? Perhaps I just need to sit back and go for the ride. I'll try to do that before I haul the kids out of school, but each day, I am just that much closer to getting out the tow truck.
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