Teachers – Be Ye Forewarned – Do not Take this Personally
Posted on Aug 19, 2009 06:44:17 PM
Ok, so you knew it was coming, right? Let me first introduce this bit of information by saying that over-all the experience here in the second week of school has been ok. I’ll get to my complaint later because I would not be me if I told you nothing but good things now would I?
And, just in case someone happens to be reading this and wants to blame my child for my opinion, then I want them to understand that my feelings are not personal. As I introduced myself to the Assistant Principal (he is new this year), we discussed the websites, (both the first grade one and the school one), we discussed me teaching the STI over-view at the first PTO meeting and we had a nifty little conversation regarding all things of this nature.
Before leaving however, I made sure he understood that I am more than willing to do what I’m asked to do. However, I do have an alter ego who suffers an enormous disdain for homework and when I feel someone is not being honest with me, I have no problems speaking my mind. He chuckled and we parted ways.
Now, that said, please meet the alter ego. This homework crap is for the dadblasted birds. I explained to the good man what research had proven to me (he was a junior high math teacher last year and for a few years prior) and his rebuttal was that he believe that homework had it’s place but that he never gave a lot of it himself. At that point, we were interrupted and the topic changed.
However, I am willing to even concede to the research that says ten minutes per grade level. That being the case, my son who whizzes through his homework with ease is apparently in at least the third grade or maybe the fourth. I have a website that I set up and devoted to purely information for my son’s grade. His teachers were kind enough to spread the information to the other parents (they asked me to write the letter but they did send it home) and they expressed thanks to me for doing so.
So, I am reluctant to complain so early in the year but if it starts out like this, can it or will it possibly get worse? I suggest that you guys go look, PhD in First Grade will take you there and you can see what’s happened in the first 7 days already. Amazing stuff. I assured the teachers and the parents that the site would be for information only and not for any malicious content. I did however explain to the teachers that I had plenty of sites where my malcontent would be discussed. They chuckled…or more like they coughed.
Anyway, I made the decision to approach the school year in a different manner than last year. Never mind that I had mono when school started last year and didn’t have the energy for a lot of things plus, heck, everyone needs a learning curve, right? Last year I simply let the school do their thing, I complained, I complimented, I hollered, I cheered but I took no action really except in cases where I was unhappy. I didn’t join the PTO, I didn’t do much of anything by the way of being involved.
This year, I have joined the PTO, I am the head room mother for my son’s room, I am going to teach a few quick sessions on how the parents can use the board of educations system to monitor their child’s school work, attendance, notes from the teacher and I’m going to start by doing the first session at the PTO meeting. Since I have worked on the teacher side of the whole process and have one year under my belt on the parent side, the suggestion was made that I serve as a parent/teacher liaison and I jumped at that opportunity.
I do believe that having my foot in the door on some minor issues will give me the chance to express my opinion and that of many researchers on issues such as homework. As I posted here from the facebook conversation (or possibly it was before the blog moved), sending home these mass amounts of homework is more than unacceptable. For one, the parents who are going to babysit their child while he does homework is going to read with their child and encourage learning regardless of what the teacher assigns. And, the parents who are not going to do it, are not going to do it just because it’s homework assigned by a teacher. And the problem lies therein…….if I do not sign off on my child’s homework assignments, he loses one point for each time I don’t sign and thus his grades suffer. In my opinion, this is more than unacceptable.
I went to first grade once. I’ve now been to kindergarten twice and looks like I am repeating First grade again some 34 odd years later. And, of course, there is another child. At this rate, I will have spent 3 years in every grade by the time my kids graduate. And, this…….does not make me very happy.
Again, I want to emphasize what good people the teachers seem to be. They are louder and a bit rougher than kindergarten teachers but that’s to be expected. The expectations are higher in general. And, my son has already, 7 days in complained about the fact that the teacher talks “loud”. He has yet to say she yells, but he has made it clear that it upsets him when she talks loud.
Acting as that liaison I mentioned, she has 12 boys and 7 girls. If she were to tell them they were having ice cream she would have to say it loudly or they would never hear her, even if the ice cream bucket was on her desk. It’s just the nature of the Y chromosome I think.
Cindy Schultz, The Mom Maven Talks To Us About “Back to School” Homeschoolling style.
Posted on Aug 18, 2009 04:52:00 AM
Cindy Schultz is the author of The Mom Maven and you can find her on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at
For most families back to school means buying supplies off a list the school posted on their website, getting some new clothes and shoes, and maybe organizing the student’s desk at home so they have a place to do their homework. Back to school for this homeschooling family starts before the previous year ends. As we are finishing up our school year, I evaluate the curriculum choices we made for this year and look ahead to what I feel would work best the next year.
From grades pre-K-8 this task was based loosely on a scope and sequence of what topics I felt we should cover as a family in history/social studies and then adding grade appropriate math, language arts, science, the arts and PE around it. Once the boys entered high school we have had to follow a few more rules to make sure enough credits are earned for graduation. This requires a 4 year plan so that nothing is missed and everyone graduates on schedule.
Once I have the basic subjects/topics for the year then I start shopping for curriculum. Our huge state homeschool convention is at the end of May so, if I plan on attending I need to know in advance what topics I am shopping for. Our local homeschool bookfair is usually the first Friday and June so again, I must have a plan early in the summer. I then spend May-July watching for sales/deals and eBay finds to fill out our school year.
As my orders arrive then I have the privilege of creating lesson plans for every subject and each student. When August arrives I usually have most of my planning done and I have decided what supplies/notebooks we need for the year. First we dig through the school cubby to see what supplies on our list we already have and then we hit the stores for the back-to-school sales.
This year my 16yo high school senior is dual enrolled at our local community college. Dual enrolling is a great way for advanced student to earn high school and college credit at the same time and the state pays for the classes!
First semester he is taking English 1101 and Spanish 1101 at the college, Economics with our senior pastor and Christian Worldview and Piano with me. Second semester he will be enrolled as an early admissions student at the community college and he will be taking Spanish 2, U.S. Government, Music History and Intermediate Algebra as well as Christian Worldview and Piano with me. My 14yo high school sophomore is taking Economics with our senior pastor, and Algebra II, English/Lit 10, Biology, World History 1455-1707, New Testament Survey, Health/PE, Spanish 1, Piano, Drama and Art with me.
Back to school means change and a fresh start for every family no matter how they choose to educate their children. I hope you and your family have a great 2009-2010 school year.
Cindy Schultz
TheMomMaven.com
14 year homeschooling veteran