Don't care if it makes me a bad parent!

[Tramp68]

And sometimes the textbooks are just really, really crummy. My husband is an engineer and even he was getting frustrated trying to help my daughter with her physics.

We ended up borrowing a bunch of old physics books from her uncle, that were much better written and easier to understand.

And the same thing just happened again today! My daughter's taking Statistics with a teacher who has an impenetrable accent and a mediocre textbook. I was sorting through a pile of old books and what do I find but a barely used Statistics text! I gave it to my daughter and she immediately started reading it. She says it helped her figure out a homework problem she'd almost given up on, because her official text wasn't being helpful.

It really makes me wonder if textbook quality has gone downhill in the last decade or so...

It has. I keep saying that I am going to sit down and write my own text and publish it via the web. Maybe now is the tiem to do it since many school districts are looking for new common core materials...

I have severely hijacked this thread. It has gone off on a tangent...But I do enjoy the discussion none the less.

 

[Aliceacc]

I've done a lot of freelance writing. One year it was for a 5th grade math textbook. Let's just say it wasn't a good fit. I wanted lots of solid explanations and tiered examples. They wanted lots of "white space", pictures of the Alamo for the Texas edition and the Golden Gate Bridge for the California edition, and explanations that would be limited to 3 sentences.

Lots of math textbooks are written by writers, not teachers, and edited by people without a background in teaching. Please don't look to textbooks to educate our chldren; they are NOT the answer.

 

[Magpie]

I've done a lot of freelance writing. One year it was for a 5th grade math textbook. Let's just say it wasn't a good fit. I wanted lots of solid explanations and tiered examples. They wanted lots of "white space", pictures of the Alamo for the Texas edition and the Golden Gate Bridge for the California edition, and explanations that would be limited to 3 sentences.

Lots of math textbooks are written by writers, not teachers, and edited by people without a background in teaching. Please don't look to textbooks to educate our chldren; they are NOT the answer.

Personally, I'm rather fond of white space on a page. One of the best Elementary math series I know uses quite a lot of white space to very good effect (Singapore Math). It keeps kids from getting overwhelmed or distracted and makes it easier to use the text as a learning resource.

The text on the page should demonstrate HOW to subtract, not cram in fifty subtraction practice problems. Textbooks should provide the information, the teacher should be the one providing the bulk of the practice.

Being able to self-educate is an important skill, as we can't always look to the school system to educate our children. Fundamentally, the responsibility for educating our children rests with us - the parents. A really good textbook is invaluable!

Which is why it really ought to be our decision whether or not to take our children out of school for a week, for any reason. (And with that... back to the original topic! )

 

[SEA333]

The issue results from the lack of descriptive examples or definitions/formulas that come from class notes. It is very difficult for a student to teach themselves math under the best of circumstances, impossible when there is no instruction to back up the assignment. I would say that an easy majority of the parents claim that they can't help because they do not remember how to do the work themselves. even with a textbook as backup.

I guess that is where the debate goes from whether or not to take the child out to *which* children would be OK being out. My advanced math student can do long division in his head, but if he sits and watches his teacher do it on the whiteboard with examples, he's lost. He's one of those "superkids?" or whatever someone called them earlier in the thread - going into 8th grade and will be doing 10th grade math. I haven't been able to help him with math since he was in 5th grade! And yet, he still gets "A"s. And luckily, his advanced math teacher recognizes that all kids learn differently, and has never made DS "show his work". We love that the advanced teachers cycle with the kids for middle school, so who DS got in 6th grade has followed the class to 7th and 8th. Yay for common sense in a school!

Maybe I just know how to use my resources wisely, or my school district is really good about making those resources known, but so far, there hasn't been any question that my son or I haven't been able to look up on his teacher's website or on the internet to answer. Don't get me wrong - I am a huge advocate of education and will always partner with teachers and defend their profession (I was *this* close to being one myself when life got in the way and I changed my major after a several-year break from college). However, the world is much bigger than a classroom and there are opportunities to learn through experience every day. That fact doesn't diminish the role of the teacher by any means - I believe it enhances it. It's too bad that most parents don't think so.

 

[Magpie]

I guess that is where the debate goes from whether or not to take the child out to *which* children would be OK being out.

That's a good point! And it's not nearly as simple as, "My kid gets all A's, therefore it's fine," or "My kid's gifted, therefore it's fine."

My son has a learning disability (possibly dyslexia, we're still sorting that out) and struggles with his classwork. He's not a good student. A week off from school isn't going to put him further behind, nor is a week in school going to bring his grades up. Because in his case, the problem isn't a lack of understanding (in which case extra classroom time would help), it's an inability to communicate what he knows in an effective way.

No one ever begrudges him a week off here or there during the school year. In fact we've been told by his spec ed teachers that regular "mental health vacations" are necessary for him to decompress. (Sure, twist my rubber arm!)

Meanwhile, my high achieving daughter, who would look on paper like the perfect candidate for a week off school, almost turned down a Disney trip in grade 10, because she was concerned what it would do to her (already stellar) grades. Her Biology teacher was the one who convinced her to change her mind, saying, "What, are you crazy? Go, go!"

She did, however, decide that grade 10 trip would be the last one. Right now, school is the most important thing in her life. She's not even dating right now because she says, "Boys are too much work!"

There are SO many variables that go into the decision to take a child out of school, and each parent has to make that judgement call for themselves.

 

[mom2rtk]

She did, however, decide that grade 10 trip would be the last one. Right now, school is the most important thing in her life.

After "which student" you can move on to "which week". They are all not the same. My son took his last WDW trip in 9th grade. We went in late September, as that would leave ample time to catch back up before the end of the semester. Biology was his nemesis that year. The ones who came out on top of that class are the ones who ended up in the top 1% at graduation this spring. So a tiny slip-up in 9th grade would have had an impact on his final rank.

I LOVE going in early December and will be taking my daughter out of 7th grade for a week that month again this year. I imagine we'll do the same next year, then that we will need a new plan. Once grades start to "stick" I'll be far more selective, maybe adding a day or two to the 2 1/2 day fall break she has in October.

 

[Tramp68]

I've done a lot of freelance writing. One year it was for a 5th grade math textbook. Let's just say it wasn't a good fit. I wanted lots of solid explanations and tiered examples. They wanted lots of "white space", pictures of the Alamo for the Texas edition and the Golden Gate Bridge for the California edition, and explanations that would be limited to 3 sentences.

Lots of math textbooks are written by writers, not teachers, and edited by people without a background in teaching. Please don't look to textbooks to educate our chldren; they are NOT the answer.

I guess this is why I dislike most textbooks and wish that I had something better. I prefer to teach independently of the text and try to give different examples and such, but would like to know that a student who did not understand what I did in class (because of being at Disney?? )would have opportunities to look at what is done in a text and have a chance at deciphering what is going on by themselves or with assistance from a family member.

 

[Magpie]

After "which student" you can move on to "which week". They are all not the same. My son took his last WDW trip in 9th grade. We went in late September, as that would leave ample time to catch back up before the end of the semester. Biology was his nemesis that year. The ones who came out on top of that class are the ones who ended up in the top 1% at graduation this spring. So a tiny slip-up in 9th grade would have had an impact on his final rank.

I LOVE going in early December and will be taking my daughter out of 7th grade for a week that month again this year. I imagine we'll do the same next year, then that we will need a new plan. Once grades start to "stick" I'll be far more selective, maybe adding a day or two to the 2 1/2 day fall break she has in October.

True! We've also had good success with the last week before December break, as that week is usually taken up with parties and tying up loose ends, so it's easier to get all their work done beforehand.

Taking off in the middle of summatives or exams would be disastrous.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've done a lot of freelance writing. One year it was for a 5th grade math textbook. Let's just say it wasn't a good fit. I wanted lots of solid explanations and tiered examples. They wanted lots of "white space", pictures of the Alamo for the Texas edition and the Golden Gate Bridge for the California edition, and explanations that would be limited to 3 sentences.

Lots of math textbooks are written by writers, not teachers, and edited by people without a background in teaching. Please don't look to textbooks to educate our chldren; they are NOT the answer.

My son was very happy to find a lot of calculus tutorials on youtube last year. I'm so happy there are at least alternate means out there for getting help.

I love that you have offered math help to DIS kids. That's very sweet of you. You could hear from my daughter at some point. She's good at math, but not great, at likes to badmouth it. I'm hoping maybe that was just her teacher last year that she didn't like. But she gets mad every time I tell her she has to make friends with math. Part of me is a bit afraid she buys into the myth that girls just aren't great at math.

True! We've also had good success with the last week before December break, as that week is usually taken up with parties and tying up loose ends, so it's easier to get all their work done beforehand.

I haven't had good luck with that. Once high school hit, there only seemed to be a day or 2 of fluff at the end of the semester. And I could never get a firm schedule out of the school early enough to plan on. And there was no way I was going to risk messing with a finals schedule.

 

[Tramp68]

I guess that is where the debate goes from whether or not to take the child out to *which* children would be OK being out. My advanced math student can do long division in his head, but if he sits and watches his teacher do it on the whiteboard with examples, he's lost. He's one of those "superkids?" or whatever someone called them earlier in the thread - going into 8th grade and will be doing 10th grade math. I haven't been able to help him with math since he was in 5th grade! And yet, he still gets "A"s. And luckily, his advanced math teacher recognizes that all kids learn differently, and has never made DS "show his work". We love that the advanced teachers cycle with the kids for middle school, so who DS got in 6th grade has followed the class to 7th and 8th. Yay for common sense in a school!

Please keep a close eye on his prgress especially as he gets older. It has been my experience that kids that do their work in their heads and do not show their work and are confused by the teacher but can do it on their own will eventually "hit the wall" It may happen in 8th grade or maybe not until calculus, but eventually it doesn't work anymore. Typically these students do not know how to ask for help anymore or are too embarrassed or maybe they just figure that it will eventually just pop in their heads. Bottom line is it usually doesn't get noticed until it is too late. It starts with a bad test which gets expained off and then spirals.

In no way am I implying that you don't do this already or that it absolutely will happen to your son. I am merely just putting my 20 years of teaching experience out there.

Maybe I just know how to use my resources wisely, or my school district is really good about making those resources known, but so far, there hasn't been any question that my son or I haven't been able to look up on his teacher's website or on the internet to answer. Don't get me wrong - I am a huge advocate of education and will always partner with teachers and defend their profession (I was *this* close to being one myself when life got in the way and I changed my major after a several-year break from college). However, the world is much bigger than a classroom and there are opportunities to learn through experience every day. That fact doesn't diminish the role of the teacher by any means - I believe it enhances it. It's too bad that most parents don't think so.

As I continue to read everyone's well thought out responses, I have come to a realization: The type of parent that uses resources such as these boards to put together a quality family vacation are the same parents who are fully vested in their childrens growth. You are the people who look at their children holistically, as a student, a community member, a sibling, a son or daughter, a social being and a friend. You are the dream parents. The ones that I love to talk to, but rarely NEED to. You are the parents that will find help for their children when they struggle and praise them when they do well.

I was feeling a little down on education this year. I think I had a little less bounce in my delivery mostly due to the educationally unsound, rushed implementation of the common core forced on us by politicians. Everytime I start to even remotely feel this way, something comes along to snap me out of it. Usually it is a surprise inspirational phone call by a parent or student telling me how much of a difference I made in their lives. This thread has done just that for me. Thank you all for that educational pixie dust

 

[Aliceacc]

My son was very happy to find a lot of calculus tutorials on youtube last year. I'm so happy there are at least alternate means out there for getting help.

I love that you have offered math help to DIS kids. That's very sweet of you. You could hear from my daughter at some point. She's good at math, but not great, at likes to badmouth it. I'm hoping maybe that was just her teacher last year that she didn't like. But she gets mad every time I tell her she has to make friends with math. Part of me is a bit afraid she buys into the myth that girls just aren't great at math.

.

There are some phenomenal resources out there.

Tell her to have a look at www.teachertube.com , www,khanacademy.com and
http://www.regentsprep.org/

 

[SEA333]

Please keep a close eye on his prgress especially as he gets older. It has been my experience that kids that do their work in their heads and do not show their work and are confused by the teacher but can do it on their own will eventually "hit the wall" It may happen in 8th grade or maybe not until calculus, but eventually it doesn't work anymore. Typically these students do not know how to ask for help anymore or are too embarrassed or maybe they just figure that it will eventually just pop in their heads. Bottom line is it usually doesn't get noticed until it is too late. It starts with a bad test which gets expained off and then spirals.

In no way am I implying that you don't do this already or that it absolutely will happen to your son. I am merely just putting my 20 years of teaching experience out there.



As I continue to read everyone's well thought out responses, I have come to a realization: The type of parent that uses resources such as these boards to put together a quality family vacation are the same parents who are fully vested in their childrens growth. You are the people who look at their children holistically, as a student, a community member, a sibling, a son or daughter, a social being and a friend. You are the dream parents. The ones that I love to talk to, but rarely NEED to. You are the parents that will find help for their children when they struggle and praise them when they do well.

I was feeling a little down on education this year. I think I had a little less bounce in my delivery mostly due to the educationally unsound, rushed implementation of the common core forced on us by politicians. Everytime I start to even remotely feel this way, something comes along to snap me out of it. Usually it is a surprise inspirational phone call by a parent or student telling me how much of a difference I made in their lives. This thread has done just that for me. Thank you all for that educational pixie dust

In no way am I implying that you don't do this already or that it absolutely will happen to your son. I am merely just putting my 20 years of teaching experience out there.

Yes- thank you!! We (he) found that out in 6th grade science when the teacher (a male, when he never had a male teacher before!) used a completely different teaching style than DS ws used to, and he actually had to study for the first time in his life. Same with Spanish - he started Spanish in 6th grade and will be in advanced Spanish classes in high school, but it is HARD for him and he has to study for that A. (technology has been a wonderful tool to help him learn Spanish - his teacher uses a great website to help with literacy and pronounciation). Math has been OK so far since that is DS's forte, but I'm sure by senior high school when he is in higher level math, he will need to ask for some help!

I'm glad to see that positive comments do make a difference to you - I try to send out emails to my kids' teachers several times a year just to say thank you or acknowlege something fun that my child liked about a lesson/activity. I remember when student teaching and then going on to teach preschool/latchkey for several years when my kids were younger, that the positive notes and "pull aside for a minute" conversations between a parent and I were better gifts than any coffee mug or body soap - and really made me want to work harder and prove that I could make a difference!

 

[mom2rtk]

There are some phenomenal resources out there.

Tell her to have a look at www.teachertube.com , www,khanacademy.com and
http://www.regentsprep.org/

Thanks! I'll give those a try. We're going to need some extra resources this year with the math whiz brother leaving for college. I'm going to be very sad not to be able to say "Run upstairs and ask Timmy". I'm going to have to step up my own game and those sites will surely help.

 

[rharper1496]

She's not even dating right now because she says, "Boys are too much work!"

Smart girl!

The way that the curriculum tends to work the same topics tend to be taught at the same time of year. Therefore, being pulled every year during the same time period creates a gap in math skills.

Fair enough but I was more talking about a week once every few years or so, not the same week every year. As for the other thing, I know it' not quite the same, just the best RL example I had at the moment. Honestly though, a week wouldn't even bother me but I also know the subs in our district are good. I know many of them personally and they're fantastic teachers who happened to graduate into an over saturated job market that values seniority.

I have noticed a lot less textbook use in the school my niece/nephew/son and eventually daughter attend, even in the older grades. It seems like they're moving more towards the SmartBoard, computer based programs and a lot of more specialized programs. My niece was one of the test classes for a new math system last year. For the second grade kids it was based around different math games using cards, marbles, etc; and her math skills improved a lot. I'm not surprised, she's a hands on learner and texts and worksheets are frustrating to her. Most of her science classes were based on experiment first and then discussion and lessons and she really enjoyed those. I'm the same way, I can read directions a million times but it won't click until I have the chance to do it myself. If this is the way that education in this school is moving then I'm 100% for it.

 

[Magpie]

I was feeling a little down on education this year. I think I had a little less bounce in my delivery mostly due to the educationally unsound, rushed implementation of the common core forced on us by politicians. Everytime I start to even remotely feel this way, something comes along to snap me out of it. Usually it is a surprise inspirational phone call by a parent or student telling me how much of a difference I made in their lives. This thread has done just that for me. Thank you all for that educational pixie dust

And thank you for being a dedicated teacher! You guys make a huge difference. Not only by teaching the kids the material, but also by teaching them how to continue learning on their own, outside of your class.

My daughter texted me this today, from her Statistics class (summer school):

Me: So, I was wondering what I did wrong with this question.

Teacher: Well, you were counting each of the other categories separately when you didn’t need to.

Me: Okay, I can see that… But shouldn’t I have gotten the same answer anyway?

Teacher: Hmm… Give it to me, I’ll take a look at it.

Later:

Teacher: Well, you did everything right. I don’t know why you got the wrong answer, but you can have an extra two percent.

***
So now I have a 93 on that test. Yay? I still want to know what I did wrong, so I can, you know, *not do it again*.

Right there, I know that her expectations of her current teacher are as high as they are due to having had several very good teachers in the past. Thanks to them, she's learned it's not enough to just pass, and that an extra two percent doesn't mean a thing if you don't know the material.

I'm grateful that she's had teachers like these in her life! I know the lessons they've taught her will carry her through the occasional difficult class.

And thank goodness for the Internet, too, as she'll have to go searching online for help with that problem tonight.

 

[Tramp68]

I'm grateful that she's had teachers like these in her life! I know the lessons they've taught her will carry her through the occasional difficult class.

And thank goodness for the Internet, too, as she'll have to go searching online for help with that problem tonight.

Email me a scan or photo of the work she did, I will see if I can figure out what she did wrong. You can also have her text it to me, I will give you the # if you PM or email me. rjackson@hvc.rr.com

 

[HowardTheDuck]

Aside from breaking a law, I'd be all for it! My mom almost took me out of school for WDW the same way several times when I was in my 3rd-5th grade years! ... But she chickened out till I was halfway through 4th or 5th grade and I was 9 years old. Then, that year, for my birthday, the whole family went to Universal and WDW for the first time. Since then, we have been 3 times in total. The last time was when I was 18. I'm now 20 and we will be going to Disneyland for my first time for my early birthday this year in the first week of October for the Halloween festivities. I have four obsessions: Cartoons, Walt Disney, Tim Burton, and Halloween. For my birthday, the trip is going to be all about Walt Disney, Tim Burton, and Halloween! <3 I'm gonna be sooo stoked!!! I can't wait!!!

 

[Magpie]

Email me a scan or photo of the work she did, I will see if I can figure out what she did wrong. You can also have her text it to me, I will give you the # if you PM or email me. rjackson@hvc.rr.com

Yay! We'll send you an e-mail shortly.

Thank you SO much!

 

[Tramp68]

Yay! We'll send you an e-mail shortly.

Thank you SO much!

Sorry for the delay in responding to your email. I just watched Silver Linings Playbook with my daughter and went out for ice cream!

 

[Magpie]

Sorry for the delay in responding to your email. I just watched Silver Linings Playbook with my daughter and went out for ice cream!

Oh, no worries! Life always comes first, especially when it involves movies and ice cream.

My daughter's already been marked on the problem, so there wasn't any rush. She just wanted to understand where she went wrong, so she can do it right next time.

And, by the way, I believe your explanation has helped a lot! She's very appreciative of the assistance, and she'll look it over again tonight.