6th grade report card vent

[mom2of2]

Hi All,
My DS12 just finished up 6th grade and what a year it has been! Group projects up the wazoo (HATE THEM!) a ton of reports w/ note cards, outlines, rough draft, final copy and illustrations. Add in hormones and it has been a he!! of a year.
DS has this issue with homework, he looses it all the time,winds up doing it in a rush prior to class and it's sloppy. I am on him about it all the time and have gone so far as to take the homework to the class and hand it to the teacher! This is unreal! For the 3rd marking period his english teacher gave him a 91 and said that if he handed in his assignments on time that his grade would have been higher, personally I was happy w/ the 91 but told DS that he NEEDED to hand in stuff ALL THE TIME ON TIME!
Go to about 1 1/2 weeks ago same teacher announces to the ENTIRE class that my DS has handed in every assignment on time and asks for a round of applause. I'm NOT happy with that at ALL! That ticked me off big time, but did I say anything to the teacher? nope..I let it go figuring school is almost over with why start crap now? we are DONE with her. So....yesterday DS comes home with his report card and guess what she gave him in English???? a 76! 1 above a D!!! Ok now I'm mad. She also puts a glowing comment in there about how hard he has worked blah blah blah. So DS's thought is now...I don't hand in assignments I get a 91...I work hard and hand in everything I get a 76? Why bother!! Can't say I blame him but didn't let him know that. I told him he was promoted so lets put 6th grade behind us, enjoy our summer and deal with 7th grade in September.
I hope and pray that he lets go of that attitude and starts fresh in 7th grade but what are teachers telling our kids when they announce something like that and then give them barely a passing grade?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I can relate with that, except it was my dds 6th grade Math teacher!!!

I told dd the first time she hands in something late next year I am driving her to school and picking her up.

 

[Talking Hands]

Well it is good that he turned in all his papers but if they were sloppily done and only merited a C then what is the teacher to do? Obviously he worked harder the previous semester when he got a 91 in spite of not tuerning in all work.
Sorry but in my opinion your anger is misplaced.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'm not sure I understand.

Is the grade in the class based only on whether or not all the homework is handed in? Did he do well on all of his quizzes and tests?

In my son's classes the majority of the grade is weighted on test and quiz performance. Homework counts for about 10%.

 

[disneyjunkie]

What grades did your son get on the work that was turned in? What about test scores?

DS completes the 6th grade next Thursday. In all of his classes homework counts for about 10% of his grade, test, and projects carry much more weight.

 

[Mary Anne]

Are you sure the teacher put the right mark next to his name. Not for anything but I've had a wrong mark put in a couple of times. Once I actually said to the teacher, I guess he's not doing very well with only a 75 in a subject; she answered "oh no he's doing very well that's why I gave him an 85". Yeah well it SAID 75 on the report card.

Personally I'd question it.

 

[luvdzny]

At DD's school homework is not graded - unless it is a project. Their grades are based on test scores and project grades. Even if all homework was handed in on time it would still be possible for the kids to get a low grade. Did you have a chance to see any of his grades during the last grading period? I know it is too late for this year, but I would try to find out what the teacher uses to determine report card grades for next year.

 

[nativetxn]

Isn't it a relief to have 6th grade over and done? I hope your son has a terrific year next year. Will he be going to middle school or junior high, or does his elementary school go through 8th grade?

 

[LindaR]

Perhaps you need to "bite the bullet" and stop covering your son's rear. He needs to learn to be responsible.

Maybe you should set some rules (and stick with them - the hard part!). You know your son and what he is capable of. Set goals, tell him what you expect, and tell him consequences of failure to comply (i.e. no television during the week). The really hard part is enforcing and not caving in to his pleas.

He needs to learn to be responsible for his actions and that there will be consequences when he fails to do so.

Once he enters high school, you will have a really hard time changing his habits then.

I have never, and will NOT, gone to school to turn in homework. My daughter does not come to my work and return my phone calls either! Each person needs to learn responsibility.

It will be hard, but something important he needs to learn.

 

[BrerMom]

Originally posted by mom2of2
Hi All,
My DS12 just finished up 6th grade and what a year it has been! ......... DS has this issue with homework, he looses it all the time,winds up doing it in a rush prior to class and it's sloppy. I am on him about it all the time and have gone so far as to take the homework to the class and hand it to the teacher!

For a 6th grader???

I've done it once for each kid. And they know it's their only shot. Both kids "cashed" their favor in during 2nd grade. Are they perfect turning in homework now? Nope, but it's their responsibility to do so.

 

[CEDmom]

It sounds like your son could use some help with time management and organizational skills. My DD isn't in school yet so I don't have 1st hand experience with this but IMHO his troubles are only going to get worse if he doesn't get it together now. I think the teacher's intentions were good with regard to the clapping. She was just trying to give him some positive reinforcement. If he were my son I'd get hold of every piece of graded work to see what happened before another school year starts. Good luck

 

[floridaminnie]

Being a 6th grade teacher, very few 6th graders are not organized. There are a lot of changes going on in 6th grade, larger school, changing classes, lockers and we won't even go into the hormones. I would ask the teacher about his grades, b/c with a glowing compliment on the report card, it could be wrong. I've bubbled in the wrong bubble before by mistake. Also why are you taking homework to school for him. I can understand a major project or paper. No flaming here. Just a question.

 

[Mskanga]

My DD just finished fourth grade, and I will not bring her homework to school , that is her responsibility. She had a problem just this year when we went on vacation and she was quizzed for a concept that was introduced while we were gone, in this case I questioned the teacher more than anything to find out if she had a problem and how we could help her, turns out the teacher forgot that she wasn't in the class the week before, DD didn't speak up , but I told her, from now on if she doesn't speak up , she will have to deal with the consequences.
The problem with DD is , she will not speak up because she thinks she's getting in trouble.

 

[DocRafiki]

Please. My mom wouldn't even bring my lunch money when I forgot it in THIRD grade. I am always amazed at how involved some parents on this board are in their kids' lives. My parents only knew of projects when they had to drive me to someone's house to do it or they saw me working on it. Usually they would never know about them (or tests or any other assignment) until I had to bring the grade home to have it signed. Can't kids do anything for themselves these days? And saying the teacher "gave" him a D? I'm sure it was all subjective, and had nothing to do with his "earning" a D. Furthermore, I was never surprised by any final grade I ever got. You know what grades you've made on all your assignments and tests. We started taking finals in 6th grade and were told what the grading scale was, so I knew exactly what grade I had to get on my final in order to get an A,B,etc in the class.

 

[RitaZ.]

Being a 6th grade teacher, very few 6th graders are not organized.

This is true. My DS just finished 5th grade (magnet school) and they were expected to be organized. If they forgot their homework, their grades were affected. Some teachers and schools are better at enforcing organizational skills than others. One of my DS's friends (same grade, different school) didn't turn in 15 assignments, he wouldn't even bring them home. I think he will have difficulty when he starts 6th grade next year.

The one problem that I had with DS is that he was taking way too long to finish his homework, it was ridiculous. I sat down with DH and came up with a homework contract for DS. It was simple and to the point. We allowed him 2 hours to complete his homework and there were also rewards if he fulfilled his responsibility. If he wasn't finished within the 2 hours, I would remove the books and that was it. He would have to face the consequences the next day. I thought the contract was fair. We discussed it with DS and the 3 of us signed it.

It only happened one time and I'll never forget that day. He played around, I reminded him that he had to finish the homework and the two hours passed. I removed the books from him and locked them in the van. He was all upset and wanted to have the books back to finish the homework. I really wanted to give him another chance to do it, but then we would have lost all credibility. He got his act together really fast, though. I think the reason it worked is because DS cared about having the homework done. On days when his homework load was heavy, we extended the time. It worked well and I plan to use it again for next year.

For your own peace of mind, I would contact the teacher to make sure a mistake wasn't made when she entered the grade. If there wasn't, just let it go and explain to your DS that his final grade is a result of the work that he completed or didn't complete.

I know it's hard, but the more we do for our children, the less they do for themselves.

 

[wdwnutze]

DD just finished 5th grade today. We had a major homework problem in the beginning of the year. MY dd was doing the homework and then not turning it in. Homework accounted for a good portion of her grade. I came up with a very black and white rule for her homework. She was to do it and pass it all in. I was to get a note home every Friday with all the teachers signatures saying whether or not she passed in all her work for the week. If anything wasn't passed in, she had nothing ie: no tv, no phone, no computer, no outside, no parties(yes, I made her miss a b-day party) NOTHING! She went from b's and c's to straight A's. I followed that rule throughout the year and 2 terms in a row she got straight A's. I will do the same thing next year too. If I had given in even 1x, I would have lost my credibility with her and it wouldn't have worked. She ended up telling me that once she figured out that I wasn't kidding, she figured she better get her act together.

 

[Mishetta]

Originally posted by DocRafiki
Please. My mom wouldn't even bring my lunch money when I forgot it in THIRD grade. I am always amazed at how involved some parents on this board are in their kids' lives. My parents only knew of projects when they had to drive me to someone's house to do it or they saw me working on it. Usually they would never know about them (or tests or any other assignment) until I had to bring the grade home to have it signed. Can't kids do anything for themselves these days?

My parents never helped me with homework or knew what was going on in school either, until the report card came home. Things are different now though. I think it's great to be involved in my child's school work. This way there are no surprises when the final grade comes in. I knew all year that my DS was struggling in Math & my DH & I would make up additional math problems for him to solve. He ended up with a B+ in Math!! School is tougher today than it was when I was in school. So if he needs my help, I'm giving it to him!

 

[laceemouse]

To the OP...I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!! My oldest DD just finished 6th grade also, the first year of jr. high here. She is very smart, had an IQ test in Florida in 1st grade and is eligible for MENSA, but she is a disorganized mess!!! She often leaves things at school she needs at home and vice-versa. I try not to get too involved but it is HARD! When I was in school my parents did not do anything for me except sign the report card and I did great. School is much harder now (I think there was another thread on this!!) I agree that kids need to learn to be responsible for their own stuff but it is hard for me to sit back and see her wasting her talents! She gets mostly A's, but should be getting ALL A's!!! I think it is just some peoples personalities to be a mess, we all know adults like that!! I just try to stress the importance of doing your best to all my kids. I am organized and worked hard to make straight A's in school. 2 of my kids are like me, the other 2 are not. I just try to make the best of it, it is their life after all!!!

 

[Patio]

I would definitely inquire if your son received the correct grade. My daughter's friend got a '66' on her report card and it should have been an '84'. The teacher made a mistake. It affected her final average by 3 points and now she made honor roll.

Laceemouse, my daughter just finished 8th grade, near top of class, taking high honors courses, in gifted program, but the most disorganized kid I know. She can never remember anything and loses everything. I don't know if it's true or not, but, someone told me very intelligent people are like this.