In short:
My son is frustrated in school.
His teacher is frustrated with him
We are frustrated with the teacher.
Our son also frustrates us. (We probably frustrate him too).
--
The longer version:
Z has a difficult time getting his work done at school. He is a class I, top-level procrastinator that has a difficult time staying on t...
(what was I doing?).
Oh, so I know where he gets it.
It doesn't make it less frustrating.
Z's first-grade teacher has been doing the good fight all year. She is pregnant and tired. And, she is getting frustrated with trying to prod him into action. And, it shows... to us and to him.
We are frustrated because... he is reading three grades over level, he is doing math and science over his level and we know that some of the issues have to do with abject boredom. The rest of it is that Z is really hard to prod into action.
So, I have a first grader that literally walks around with his head in his book. We catch ourselves saying things like "put the book down and eat". Until last week, he was nearly on the bottom of his class for accelerated reading (the AR program).
On the flip side, although the teacher knew all year that Z was reading tons at home, she never pointed out that he could get AR points for this home stuff. We were under the impression he could only do that at school. When I reminded her that we aren't concerned if he sometimes doesn't finish reading his sentences with his book buddy... uh, because he just finished the first five Harry Potter books and the first 12 Lemony Snicket books at home - she said... "Oh, now that I think of it, some of those might be worth AR".
So, in three days, Z has gone from near the bottom of his class with seven points to somewhere upward of 65 AR points. This leaves me both happy for my boy... and, frustrated because he has read over 250 AR points worth of books this year, but may not remember all of them well enough to get the recognition because we didn't know until now.
Also frustrating, teacher isn't posting his points as he is earning them... so, he isn't "feeling the love" that is earning 44 points in one morning (Order of the Phoenix) - he deserves to get the recognition.
AAARGH.
So, what's eating you today?
1 comment:
That's a loaded question.
I've got a boy who loves to read (has been caught smuggling a book to GYM CLASS). I wished he'd do better in his courses. Doesn't help that he's got learning difficulties and is hell-bent for leather on avoiding almost anything school related, or things that he perceives as hard.
Also doesn't help that my ex-huz and his household have often let this guy off the hook about being a responsible person. But that's another rant.
With child-unit number two - the beauty and the brains go hand in hand - again, like you say about Mr. Z ... not a lot of motivation. Sometimes it's there, some times it's not. Though on her report card she got mostly As and Bs (great for her) she got a C ... in gym. For goodness sake, who gets a C in gym. This chickmaiden has taken gymnastics, and dance class and diving, and has been to volleyball camp week. It's not like she's uncoordinated!
Child-unit 3 has a case of the impossible 4s. Caught in the middle of two age groups - she's the first of the two youngers (the olders are older by 6 and 8 years). So, her bedtime frequently slips to meet theirs because we're chasing them around the house to make sure they're bathed, and ready for school tomorrow. She's a beast when she's tired. Beast - meet the ogre. That's me, when I'm tired.
Then we've got child-unit aka "H the last". That he almost broke the bank on his arrival (10 lbz, 12 ozs), he's been running around like a tank this last year. At 14 months, he looks like a two year old and outflanks many of them. He says "meh" to bedtimes and is a rebel. He'd wear leather, have tatoos and piercings right now, if we'd let him. He's a lovely child at daycare. Bring him home and he's ... amazing. (I'm trying to invoke Barbara Coldarosa right now, can you tell?)
Right now he's rearranging the recycling.
I'm back to making six lunches, cleaning up the dinner dishes (for a dinner I made and never got to eat). And here comes CU-4 with some of his booty. Nice. Two squeezy bottles from plum sauce.
Frustration ... that word some how covers much of what I'm feeling. So glad you asked.
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