Parents and school involvement

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-17-2003
Parents and school involvement
2586
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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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:42pm

"i have my kids totally bomb a test yet i knwo they know the material, they know they know the material and the teacher knows they know the material - that makes the test score pretty irrelevant to me. what i care about is are my kids learning, looking at a report card does not tell me that. daily converastions with them, wathcing how much effort they are putting in, listening to the questions the ask, frequent contact with their teachers, those things all tell me much more than a grade on a piece of paper."

I wouldn't say the score was pretty irrelevant. That is basically showing me that there is a problem lying somewhere if you know the material but can not get a good grade. So if they get D's and F's on their report card, that is ok as long as they know the material?

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:43pm
Actually, we have the exact opposite problem. In our state, they test "mathematical reasoning" and the kids are given problems to solve and their answers are scored from 1 to 5. They can get the answer totally wrong, but as long as their reasoning process was right, they can get partial credit. I am OK with that, but what bugs the heck out of me is that they can get the RIGHT answer, but if they don't show their reasoning correctly, they also only get partial credit. So a kid can get a long, drawn out word problem that basically asks them to find the area of a triangle and add the area of the triangle to the area of a square to get the answer, and if they don't write out a whole long problem but instead just abstract it out, do the algorithm, and solve the problem, they only get partial credit. And if they are strong in math but weak in English and don't explain the problem in full enough detail so the examiner can understand their reasoning step-by-step but still get the right answer, they only get partial credit. So the kids, who might already know how to solve all the problems in their own ways, or in traditional ways, have to solve them EXACTLY the way the test wants them to, or they end up not getting full credit. So instead of being taught "mathematical reasoning," they are taught "mathematical reasoning according to one method" which may or may not be the method that comes easiest to the children, and that bothers me greatly.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:43pm

Hey that means to of you all are with in 45 mintues of me....Anyone want to do lunch one of these days?...LOL

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2007
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:43pm
we have tickets to see the cardinals and brewers play later this month - really looking forward to it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-27-2005
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:44pm
Because I do not feel the need. If I did, I could easily speak to her. I do see her at PTA meeting. She knows who I am but I never felt the need or want to start a conversation.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2005
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:44pm
It is possible to have both. I wonder what kind of colleges a kid can get into with lousy grades but good social skills?
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-06-2004
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:45pm

Hi! Thank you!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2005
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:45pm
Do you know they are retaining beyond the test?
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2007
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:46pm
they were doing their job - they were following the mandate of the texas dept of education - that was the problem
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2005
Fri, 09-07-2007 - 12:46pm
If you aren't directly involved with the day to day how can you know there is a problem?

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