Should I address this problem with my sons new teacher?

Question

Last year my son was in 3rd grade. He was really bad about not turning in homework obviously during the last semester, because during the last semester his report card would be really bad and when I called his teacher she would tell me he was missing alot of assignments. He would also have disapline marks on it as well. She would never address these with me ahead of time so that I could deal with the situation before it affected his grades and report card. It seemed to me that after not turning in papers for a week or so, she would have contacted me. But she waited until about 3 days before the end of the six weeks to tell me he was going to fail the six weeks if he didn't do about 15 assisgnments in 2 days. I wonder if I should address this with his new teacher to make sure she tells me early on if my son is doing this again, instead of waiting to the very end of the six weeks

Answer 1

OMG...the same exact thing happened to me and my son who is in middle school!! These teachers should be reprimanded for doing such a thing!!

You wouldn't expect your boss at work to give you a bad review saying that "you haven't done well at all in the last 2 months, so we'll have to fire you!" I say confront her and do it yesterday!!

Answer 2

I'm a teacher and I can tell you what "probably" happened. We are given deadlines for our grades. I technically only have to turn in a midterm grade and an end of the term grade. Sometimes I get way behind on grading and I don't realize that a student hasn't turned in X number of assingments. As teachers we should try and do better but I deal with 6 classes with 25+ students and sometimes it just happens, I get behind. I'm sure if she had realized he was that far behind she would have contacted you. Yes, I would tell the teacher he has had problems in the past, BUT, I would work out a system in which I took the initiative in the situation. Again, it's sometimes hard for a teacher to focus on one student when she has 25 to worry about. Have him write down his assignments and have the teacher initial them, so you know what is due. That way you can make sure he does his homework of the night. Check his back pack each day and make sure everything is put back before bedtime so he will have it before he leaves the house. Third grade is young, and the homework issue will only get worse. You should start working with him on taking responsibility for his assignments. I teach junior high and high school, and once they reach that age, I do not allow make up work. If you fail to turn it in, you get a zero. It would be a great time to start working on the issue, especially since you know it could be a problem in the future. Good Luck!!! :)

Answer 3

I am a teacher and I can tell you that I would ALWAYS rather have a parent come to me early on with any concerns they have. That completely opens the door for constant communication. You can offer an email address so that she can quickly send you an email and let you know if there is missing homework or assignments. You can ask for a mid-marking period notice of his grades half way through the marking period. You could ask if it would be okay for your son to make a list of the assignments he has to turn in and then he can cross it off when he does - this will help him see what he needs to do yet also. It is better to have him write the assignment name then to have the teacher do it - it helps him gain more responsibility over the task and holds him accountable for completing it. All he would need is a sheet of paper each day or a notebook to write each days assignments in. It wouldn't need to be anything official that his teacher checks or anything - just something to help him know what he needs to do. I know I always feel better when I cross things off my "to do" list.

Thank you for being a concerned parent and helping your child do their best. It really takes both the parent and the teacher working together and your son will benefit from your involvement. Thank you!

Answer 4

Some teachers are just really lousy at communicating. You need to be proactive. Most likely, the teachers at your son's school have e-mail. A lot of schools also offer a web page where you can see the class assignments for yourself. If the school or district doesn't have this, then you need to take it a step further, go to the school board meetings and be one of those "squeaky wheel" parents. You also need to get on a track with your son, asking every day, first thing, what are your assignments. Keep track, write down if he says there's no homework. Go through the backpack, etc. etc. It's a lot of work, but a lot better than letting him flunk out.

Answer 5

You might want to take it up with the principal, and possibly ask some of the other parents if they have similar problems. Growing up I had a teacher that would constantly lose papers of ours, and then give us a very short time to return them in. Granted you know thats not the case, but still you might want to bring it up that it's a major issue with this teacher. Also, if you have any younger children, try and make sure they do not get this teacher in the future, she's obviously not well organized or she would/should have told you sooner about the missing homework.
Or I could be off base and she is just a mean butt :) either way...

Answer 6

Bring it up but in a nice way. Explain that you had the problem last year and that you want to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Seems to me that you could be a more involved parent though. Maybe sit down with your son at night and make sure the assignments were done and maybe buy him a planner and have the teacher write down the assignments/initial it. You have to take responsibility so that its not all on the teacher........

Answer 7

You don't have to wait for a teacher to contact you. My sons school has all of his info right online. You can tell if any classes were missed, if he is finishing his homework, what his latest grades are etc. You should check with your school system to see if this is offered, if not, you can call the school once a month for an update on his progress

Answer 8

I would, but wait to parent-teacher meeting. All you would do is show your are a concerned parent. I hated it when my kids teachers did that. One time one of my kids brought home a project to have me help with it. I didn't found out 'till several weeks later, that she wouldn't get credit for it because of her taking it out of school. By that time she was already failing that class. Who do I get mad at? The teacher or the kid? Not only wasn't the teacher willing to help her in class, but penalized her for finding help elsewhere. So. go ahead and make some of your expectations clear. After all as a parent you should have some input in your childs education.

Answer 9

Personally as a parent I would! You are the parent address it ahead of time. So that if it does happen again it won't seem like you are a bad parent. Take charge of your child education.

Just let the teacher know you had a problem last year, and you are not willing to go through this again, and if your son is slackin she/he should notify you immediatly.

Answer 10

before you involve the teacher...have a session with your son...in the 4th grade he should have an assignment notebook to write all daily assignments...you check it every afternoon and he can be rewarded for recording all assignments such as 1/2 hour on the computer or with video games or whatever he likes...when there is no assignment-teach him to write"none"...then you will have a visual every day to look at and ask "where is ___?"...if the assignment is a worksheet then he can write "ws on____"
by the 4th grade...HE can be taught to be responsible for his work.
and you can follow up each week or 10 days or 2 weeks with a quick email to the teacher asking about assignments and grades.