New plan of action (Math)

Heard back from Drew's teacher regarding the information I submitted in the previous post. She too has revised Drew's schedule so that we can slow her down in Math.

Consequently, I am currently rerunning the scheduler every morning so that the Math assignments do not show overdue. Instead, we are working out of our workbooks or creating our own worksheets for the kids to refresh what they have already worked through.

I have backed-up Wolfie (7th grader) to refresh some of his basic multiplication and division until he is comfortable (maybe a few more days of this), and then will move forward into some of the algebraic mathematics we had touched on in the beginning of this year.

As for Drew (3rd grader), we have reverted back into adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers as well as multiplication of one-digit numbers. She did very well last night, and again I believe a few more days of this, and they will feel they have mastered these processes.

I don't know how much time was actually "bought" when our teachers revised our schedules, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for now, and staying focused on our current plan of action.

Although Thanksgiving holidays are just around the corner, I'll probably be the "mean" parent and have the children continue to work several of those days off, just to keep them focused as well as an attempt to get them caught up in a more timely manner. No matter, they'll still have plenty of time off.

Happy holidays!

Letter to the teacher

In my previous post, I expressed a concern I had over the kids moving too quickly through their Math assignments. Since, I sent the following letter to Wolfie's teacher and another similar in content to Drew's teacher.

"Wolfie is struggling with the recent Math quiz. I wanted to express my concerns (which not only apply to Wolfie but also my 3rd grader). You're just the "lucky" teacher I decided to poe it too, and hopefully you can provide some direction for us.

As Wolfie (and I) worked through the last few lessons, he did really well. He seemed to grasp everything quite well. Although, it is my opinion, he is moving through the lessons too quickly (each one introduces something new) and he doesn't have time to just stay with one lesson for a day or two longer to let it really sink in and allow him to be comfortable moving to the next lesson (comfort is important, I think), and this is causing a problem then later when he needs to recollect the processes. (My 3rd grader is having the same problem. She ends up in tears because she gets so overwhelmed.)

I'd really like to see them slow down. I mean, at this rate, they'll be doing calculus by 9th grade. *chuckling* I reeeeally don't think that's a good idea for them though. We could end with just a complete knowledge of all things algebraic and I think they'll still be doing really good (I did).

I know there is no deadline to turn in assignments, but there is a deadline to complete a course and we've had to double-up on math (for both students) in order to reach that goal. It's just SO not working for us. I got so frustrated and fussed at Wolfie last night (made him cry) because he couldn't recall what he had learned for the math test - and I know, it's not his fault. He just needs to back-up and do those lessons over again and dwell on them for a day or two before moving on.

Any help? Any suggestions please?

Much appreciation!
Karen"

It wasn't long after sending this email that our teacher responded with a call to me. She made several suggestions and modifications to Wolfie's schedule which, hopefully, will allow him to spend more time absorbing the lessons before moving on. She was absolutely wonderful and expressed a sincere appreciation for my communication as well.

Relieved as I keep my fingers crossed now.

(I have not yet heard back from Drew's teacher, but I'm sure I will tomorrow.)

As for today's work, they both completed their priorities pretty timely. Wolfie worked some math problems from his workbook for previous lessons, rather than the scheduled assignment today. We are literally going to go back over previous lessons so that he can refresh.

School work, school work, & more school work

WOW! The workload is much bigger than I expected. It seems lately, that as soon as we think we've got a good flow of things, something else is added to the list. The kids easily spend 8+ hours a day on schoolwork. We finally get into the flow of the daily class schedules, and then we have live lessons for each of the classes to fit in (each of these last 30 minutes). While attending every live lesson is not a requirement, I do like to see the kids attend as several a week. Then there is the AskAMI live lessons, which is a math tutorial. It's a wonderful tutorial, but lower on our priority list because of all the other demands. Now we have TAKS live lessons as well, these are higher on the priority, because they are meant to help the kids with that test.

I'm a little disappointed too, that we seem to be pushing the kids along in the some of the courses for fear of getting too far behind. While most of the time, there are not (immediate) deadlines to turn in work, there is a deadline for completing each course. I am the sort that likes to stay on top of things, stay the course, and I put a lot of pressure on myself (and the kids) when I think we may fall behind. If we do not get all the work complete on the day it is assigned, not only is there the overdue lesson notice blasting at me from the front page, but we also must fear the smiley face transforming into the ever dreaded frowning face. Ugh!

Specifically, math seems to forge on with new lessons, when I would prefer to see both of the kids spending more time soaking up some of the other math lessons. For example, Drew has moved on to math lessons envolving multiplying 3 numbers (4x7x5=), while I would prefer to see her spend more time on adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers (369-137=) and basic multiplications (4x3= & 12x3=). I just think she needs to dwell on these areas a bit longer until her esteem is comfortable enough with it and then move forward. She tends to get discouraged and upset easily if she is overwhelmed, and Wolfie faces the same dilemma as well.

Note to self: contact the teachers about my concerns.