Parents and school involvement
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| Thu, 08-23-2007 - 8:49am |
My question stems from a personal experience. My middle child is starting kindergarten next week. I've become fairly close with one of my dd's friend's moms- this is her first child entering the school system. She WOH, I do not, plus I have experience with the school, so she's been calling me with questions and comments.
It started to go bad when she called to complain that the kindy orientation is during the day- when she is working. Then it led to complaints about the parents' read aloud program (when the kids are in library) and other opportunities for volunteerism in the school. I get that these things aren't convenient for her, but I'm getting annoyed with the complaining. How can the kids have an orientation at night when they go to school during the day? None of these events are mandatory for parents or kids. And plenty of activities are scheduled for evenings: Back to school night, the PTA picnic, etc.
She thinks because she can't participate, no one should be able to, apparently. Plenty of WOHP do show up for these things. I think she's being unrealistic if she thought she could put a couple of kids through school without ever taking a vacation day. Am I wrong? Am I missing something here?

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That's possible. I think it is basically because I want my children to excel and do the best they can, like most other parents. I just let the school do what they need to, to educate my daughter as they are more aware of what needs to be taught for a good education. I have never had a problem with the teachers not telling me if my daughter needed extra help or extra work because she is ahead of the class (this is mostly because she goes very fast and finishes before everyone-not good all the time-lol!).
I think good communication with the teachers and if it has to be done, the principal. I think if the school is good enough, there will be enough resources to help the child.
Maybe sometimes the standards of people are too high and I think that affects the child also.
You probably have a child that learns well in a traditional setting. So do I; dd is like that. It doesn't take much work to keep her in a good way. I can rely much more on the school alone with her.
Ds? No. He's an odd duck. He's adanced in math, but slightly behind in reading/writing skills. He's not a particularly social kid and doesn't enjoy group participation. He also has an innate need to be moving while working and learning. He is not a natural fit for a traditional classroom. For this reason, we've explored other options, but have been able to make things work for him in the traditional public school. But it has taken much evaluation on our part and much communication with the teachers and principals to make it work. We very possibly would have moved him if there had been better non-traditional schools here. There are very few alternatives (partially because the public system IS so good) to choose from and none seemed more capable of solving the issue than the public school.
However, had we still been in AZ where dd went to K and 1, he would not have been in the traditional public school. Dd went to, and ds would have too, to a charter school that had completely different curricula, learning styles and atmospheres than the traditional public. It was an atmosphere and style that I think would have suited ds well.
My youngest ds is doing well in school, on regular tests, state tests and is on level where he should be; I don't doubt that the teacher his teacher is doing her job. Socially, after a few rocky years, my 7yo ds is on target.
But the school is nowhere near to meeting his true academic needs. BTW - He's not gifted, he's just different and he does not qualify for sped. So my choice is to find another school, or ignore what I find lacking(I guess), or supplement his education with a partial homeschool curriculum. So far, we're trying for the latter because he's making so many strides socially and I've got a great mentor for homeschool supplementals.
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