He's been very stressed out by this & has had stomach & neck problems due to it. I don't want him to go through an entire year of misery.
2006-12-22 07:33:32 · 17 answers · asked by AimS 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
I'm going to take a bit of a different stand with my answer. Your son's teachers may not be able to "back off" because they have the curriculum they are expected to cover. They have only so many hours of instructional time to cover the work. That doesn't mean that they can't be understanding and sensitive to individual needs. However, my first thought would be to find out why your son is struggling and whether other kids in the class are having the same problem. If this is a common problem, you may find that it happens to most kids at this grade level and they mature through the year and learn to handle the heavier work load. If you can, talk to other parents and find out what they think.
It is the teacher's responsibility to consider your son's needs and to take appropriate steps if there is a problem. If he is performing differently than the other students, and differently than he has in the past, there is cause for concern, and you do need to discuss it with the school. Try to identify with the teachers what the problem is, and what all of you can do about it.
It may turn out that the best thing you can do is to help your son more with his schoolwork or even get him a tutor for a couple of days a week. Help him find ways to be more organized and efficient about his schoolwork. Is some of the homework assignments that he doesn't get finished in class? Is that part of the problem? The work load does get heavier as kids progress through school, and schools are under pressure to keep standards up and to make sure kids achieve.
I hope this is of some help. Best of luck to you and your son.
2006-12-22 12:32:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion, you can't just sit back and then complain when the teacher hands out a little extra work than you would prefer your son to do. First, become an avid role IN school. Perhaps join the PTA, attend as many parent/teacher meeting as possible (and don't always let the teacher be the one to schedule them), perhaps call together some personal meetings for you and the other parents (without the teachers) to see if other parents share your views.
I will be one of the few here that agree with you on the basis that schools do hand out a bit more homework than they should. But this doesn't mean that it is the teachers fault. Mostly, teachers have an obligation to stick within the school's curriculum. If you feel that strongly on this issue to where you might want to take action, I would highly recommend you follow my advice that I have given you above, and rather than going straight to the teacher, I might go to the school board- as it is a stronger possibility that they could handle the situation more to your liking.
I wish you the best of luck.
I also feel compelled to say that even if your requests are not met, this should not influence you to allow your son to slack off in the homework category. Though I am sure the homework is nearly overwhelming, this IS the real world and once college begins (if that should be his goal in life), there is no going to the teacher to complain.
2006-12-22 09:16:15 · answer #2 · answered by michellerose_barkley 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To be quite honest, I do not think that the teacher should slack off at all. When your son gets into the real world, no one will allow him to take a break whenever he feels like it. If he is experiencing so many physical problems due to the homework load, maybe he ought to see a doctor or even a tutor. Hard work never hurt anyone!
2006-12-22 07:40:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps your son's learning style is incompatible with the program used by his middle school? If you have already apporached his teachers about this and they are unwilling to change, then I would put him in another school or class that better meets his learning needs and style. When I was teaching, I had the odd parent who would complain to me about their child's homework. While I understand that children can get stressed, our school was an academic school and I felt it was my job to prepare the kids for university. I felt it would be a disservice to the other kids to cut back and I wasn't willing to give special treatment to select kids. Not every school/program is the right fit for every child. There are some very bright children who just learn better in less formal and traditional academic settings. Maybe you could look around for a program that your son would be happier in rather than asking the teachers to change the program that they already have in place? I hope everything works out for you and your son. Good luck!
2006-12-22 07:53:53 · answer #4 · answered by jar 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I really wish my secondary education was more stressful than it was. I went to easy schools and when I got to college I did not know how to write papers or study properly. It's better to be stressed earlier than later. I spent almost 3 entire years in the library before I started to get decent grades compared to many friends that had good high school educations. The hard work now will pay off in the future. Just make sure that he does have some fun on the weekends!
2006-12-22 08:13:23 · answer #5 · answered by dally1025 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Um, if the question subject weight problems on my own, then confident, there is an weight problems concern in usa. in case you opt to speak to the numerous, call the college and shop hounding them until they provide you the numerous (no longer an answering gadget the two). often, they're going to say the numerous is in a "assembly;" ask whilst it is going to end and say you will call lower back then (b/c some principals often are certainly of their place of work no longer eager to take calls; i understand b/c I worked in a center college place of work previously). the instructor's remark substitute into beside the point yet i would not assume the college to do something previous slapping her on the wrist. instructors are additionally often allowed very numerous leeway with how they grade assignments. apart from, your son ought to be delivering issues on-time. I had a instructor that could purely fail you on the paper in case you grew to become it in previous due. the point of school is to learn and broadly speaking enhance psychological knowlege (i.e. basketball isn't the optimal purpose of school and faculties have those limits in place to motivate scholars to substantiate they shop up with their instructions).
2016-10-18 21:15:06 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't really unless you take it to the Board. At my school every class you took was allowed to give you an hour of homework each night and one 'project' to do a week. I took nine classes and usually had 6to 10 hours (depending on how much English and Math) of homework each night, in 7th and 8th grade. It got worse in High School. If you talk to your school's Board and tell them that you think your child, and the children at your child's school, is being given too much homework then they'll tell you that they'll take it into consideration. After that time how long it takes your child to get done with their work, from start to finish, and how much actual work (s)he's being given for a while before taking the matter before the Board again.
2006-12-22 07:46:06 · answer #7 · answered by babylovesu06 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Either he can do more work than he is doing or you can put him in simpler classes than he is taking.
If he has the capability and is not using it, better that he should fail now than fail in high school.
If he is in advanced classes that he can't really handle, talk to the guidance counselor about having him drop back to normal classes. Similarly, if he is in normal classes that he can't handle have him drop back to remedial classes.
The one thing you shouldn't ask is that the teachers change their homework policies to suit your son. If it was one teacher and a bunch of parents were upset, you might have a case, but since the problem occurs with multiple teachers you need to face the fact that it's your son's problem.
Either that or it's your problem and you have unreasonable expectations for him. Not everybody is going to be a Rhodes Scholar.
2006-12-22 08:08:57 · answer #8 · answered by Dave P 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Thank your son's middle school teacher for doing so much to help your child. Remember also that this is not costless for the teacher in question who must assess all the homework and projects of your son and your son's classmates.
2006-12-23 02:08:22 · answer #9 · answered by CanProf 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can stop by letting him know that you are supporting his excuses to learn more. If every kid in the class can do it, so can he. Try to support the teacher than your son and see how that turns out for a change.
If he is getting neck problems, get him a better work table, chair with comfortable seating position and better lighting to learn.
2006-12-22 07:45:05 · answer #10 · answered by Jeyan J 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋