Grandson update ...

[blueriver]

My question to the school and teacher would be why did you wait this long to tell me there is a problem? They knew there was a problem and they should have told you.

We have had this conversation with our school as well. A kid would be doing ok, or even well, but then a bad attitude and work ethic would happen so the grades dropped. By the time we found out it was report card time. The teacher saw this happening and told us NOTHING until we saw the report card. At that point it is a bit late.

Later,
Dan

Interesting that you would say this ... I just came back from the School office. I asked the Principal if they would mind getting the file to see if all my contact info was up to date ... sure enough, home phone, my cell, wifes cell and my email address. Then she asked is there a concern or a problem !!!

I responded by expressing that any student who brings home an F with a 34%that yes I do believe there is a problem ... both with the child as well as the teacher and I would appreciate any forms of communication regarding such a performance ... should I recieve updates or perhaps performance reports I would be aware of issues and could address them .. THEN I was given copies of 3 progress reports that never made it home...dam if I didn't feel stupid. I suggested in the future that maybe I could get a call or perhaps an email so I could be looking for said reports.

Well this evening I believe grandpa will be asking about progress reports and trying to fiqure out whats going on.

[rsewill]

I got a feeling his evenings are going to be book involved.

My two kids had no TV, no non-school related computer use and no phone after 8pm on school nights once they started 7th grade. Neither are very bright (standardized tests) but one made National Honor Society and the other had perfect attendance K-12.

After a few years of my policy my wife suggested I was too strict. My son immediately said that no, he didn't want any changes. He didn't trust his willpower.

This took a fair amount of parental involvement, especially by me but it was worth every minute. I think I learned more from my kids books than I learned from my school books way back when. And I never missed one conference nor did my kids who were always in tow and often embarrassed, especially when they were juniors and seniors.

Good luck.

BTW, the reason I was so strict was because I wanted better for my kids than what I managed in life.

My kids' school had a very nice on-line system where we could monitor every grade for every assignment. It was easy for me to make a call to teachers (who always welcomed my calls.)

[dmccarty]

Interesting that you would say this ... I just came back from the School office. I asked the Principal if they would mind getting the file to see if all my contact info was up to date ... sure enough, home phone, my cell, wifes cell and my email address. Then she asked is there a concern or a problem !!!

I responded by expressing that any student who brings home an F with a 34%that yes I do believe there is a problem ... both with the child as well as the teacher and I would appreciate any forms of communication regarding such a performance ... should I recieve updates or perhaps performance reports I would be aware of issues and could address them .. THEN I was given copies of 3 progress reports that never made it home...dam if I didn't feel stupid. I suggested in the future that maybe I could get a call or perhaps an email so I could be looking for said reports.

Well this evening I believe grandpa will be asking about progress reports and trying to fiqure out whats going on.

The school should still communicate with the parents or in your case the grandparents. Nothing to feel stupid about, how were you to know there were progress reports if you had not been told?

Our kids have gone to a variety of schools and each one them sends out numerous emails during the week. Frankly it is a bit much. I think we get an email if not every day, every other day. Gracious, I do not think my parents got a note a month when I was in school. However, one piece of information in the email is when progress/report cards are being sent.

The teachers have email and also send out notes from time to time but some teachers are better than others. It is very helpful to know that a project is due soon so we can ask the child how the project is going. If not for the teacher we would not always know there was a project. I bring this up because once our child's grades did a sudden, drastic drop between reporting periods. There was no way we could know this happened and we found out when we saw the progress report/report card. The teacher could easily have send us a short note saying the child was slacking off.

The school wants us to be involved with school, as do we, but one cannot be involved if there is lack of communication.

Later,
Dan

[bdeboer]

Our school district uses Progress Book

ProgressBook Parent Access


This lets us see grades, what homework was assigned, and missing items. If nothing else you can check at your convenience. The biggest issue is that some teachers do not update it on a regular basis, so that surprises do happen.

[blueriver]

Our school district uses Progress Book

ProgressBook Parent Access


This lets us see grades, what homework was assigned, and missing items. If nothing else you can check at your convenience. The biggest issue is that some teachers do not update it on a regular basis, so that surprises do happen.

Thats a great deal ... I'm calling in the morning to see if they have anything like that...Thanks.

[dmccarty]

This week I got one of the several weekly emails from school.

I thought of this thread when the email said that reports cards would be sent home soon.

Later,
Dan

[Western]

BR, maybe ask the school if they believe in "No child left behind" different context, but they sound like "poster" school for an advertisement.

On another front, I keep thinking of Steve Jobs among a few other "brainiacs" that said they struggled in school, a few even dropped out while in college! They ended up doing "OK". Not the norm, but a few bad semesters in my mind doesn't make the child, how the kid "comes" back will define him.

With all the detractions these days, it sure pays to be proactive and more involved then in the past I think.

[dodge man]

Yeah, I can get on line and see my kids attendance, tardies, current grades, what they had for lunch, pretty much everything. It helps keep them in line.

[jinman]

Our little country school has what they call a "parent portal" on the web for letting the parents keep updated. They also use "Study Island" for self-paced learning from home.

Blueriver, I can't be sure, but there are lots of reasons a teenage boy would suddenly grow sour on school. Certainly, taunting is one. Sometimes it's being put down by a girl or humiliated. In such small classes and a small school, you often can't blend in and move on. You have to face the same kinds of things every day. It can be disheartening. From what you've said, your grandson sounds like the kind of kid who can do what he puts his mind to. Something has his mind distracted in my opinion and it has risen to a level far beyond just minor acting-out. Hang in there and good luck getting over this hump.