Anyone else disappointed in Elem. school?

[Fairy Mom]

Hi. I am extremely disappointed in my daughter's public elementary school. And I was wondering if anyone else feels the same way.

Do I have any options? I can't afford private school for her. I am still trying to put myself through college. Don't know about homeschooling...

I am fed up. Anyone else sending their child to a school that doesn't feel like a good?

I know that I have been very vague in this post...I'm just too upset. I want more for my child.

 

[luvmy2sams]

We had serious problems with our daughter's elementary school for her 2nd grade year (last year). She was in a private school, which made it doubly irritating that we were paying for such a lousy education. There were mornings when DD would cry all the way to school because she knew how bored she was going to be. The teacher was unqualified...I could go on and on about all the problems we encountered in what used to be our "perfect" school.

My only advice is to check out all your options. We visited several public elementary schools in our area and found one that beats the pants off of any of the private schools we visited. I have serveral friends that homeschool, and we contemplate that route, but the public school is best for everyone right now.

I'm sorry that you're having to go through this. It's frustrating that the school system has deteriorated so much in some instances.

 

[krismom]

oh yes. And what's worse, I am a teacher in a public school! In the school I work in- there are some excellent teachers and some that should have retired long ago. I also pay unbelievably high taxes (Long Island NY) and my kids have no cafeteria or specials classes like art, music and gym at the kindergarten level. They went from half day to full day about 5 years ago and the school can't accommodate everyone. (Think they should have though of that before having 24 little kids in a cramped, stuffy room for 6 and a half hours!)
My daughter is in third grade and begs every night to stay home from school. We have tried everything- but she has nothing to draw her in... her teacher is cold, the girls in her class are catty and she's a very good student who isn't being challenged- they spent the last entire school year learning how to take the state tests, pre testing, learning test taking strategies, etc....sound exciting? Where's the "hand's on" science? the cooperative learning, the exciting projects? My twins are in first grade and seem to tolerate it better- but it's still not a place they like going... and it breaks my heart that I work so hard to come up with fun imaginative lessons for my students- while my kids are doing endless worksheets.

 

[mylilnikita]

Wowsers, my DD's public school is very good, except she is in 4th grade this year and her 2 main teachers I have had problems with. Example, no actual homework for Social Studies and Science, just study guides and those are not even filled up half the folders. So, I have a meeting with them and I make up homework for her to do that incorporates the things on the guides. And for Reading they listen to a audio cassette because the teacher Doesnt't have time to have them read it every day or even a couple days, so guess what? I have a reading book here at the house and she reads the story thruogh the week. just other issues, but she has brought up all her grades since I did this.
She has been in the same school since Kindergarten and always had library, pe, art, music.
I have a friend who's 4th grader attends private "Christian" school, but she has homework every night even on weekends, then say if they have a break for spring or the holidays they get the homework that they would have done had there not been a break, so that is too excessive so she is doing homework on the breaks. And her grandparent pays for this school and they give her all that work.

 

[DisneyWacker]

I realize there is a wide disparity in public (and private) schools and largely it depends on the quality of the individual teacher. I am a firm believer that homeschooling is a much, much worse option than public (or private) schooling in that the child will most likely be taught by a parent who has virtually no teaching education or experience. The child also loses out on the many social aspects of school that are virtually impossible to replace completely, even with a "homeschool community" of a group of homeschoolers that occasionally do group activities.

My wife is a kindergarten teacher. From her many stories, what I hear is that the children who do the best are the ones that obviously have parents who care and take an active part in their education. Her best students have parents who frequently volunteer to assist in her classroom (a good way of knowing what type of education your child is getting, IMO). So, my recommendation is to get involved as much as you possibly can. It sounds like you are one of the "good" parents who obviously care about their child's education. While your child may not be in the best school or have the best individual teacher, I'm sure your school can not argue with you if you want to volunteer to help in your child's class. Other than that, I'd leave your child in their school and take part as much as possible in assisting them with their homework. Take an active part in their projects, and even supplement with your own assignments if you feel its necessary.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well, when I was a kid I sure was disappointed in my elementary school!
*********
Social experiences from school: total humiliation on a daily basis from putting feet in mouth, from knowing the answer but being afraid to answer EVERY question and look like a know-it-all (I was "Hermione" but without the guts to be myself), not wanting to look smarter than the boys (even though you are), being soooo bored in a class going too slow, having to hear the kids read out loud when they were horrible at it, but being so shy you rarely wanted to read out loud even though you were very good at it. When put into the "gifted" program, it meant leaving school a few times a week and being at the junior high, which was SCARY, and there was a disconnect with regular school and I just never really understood what I was supposed to be learning. Breaking open your crush's bag of skittles while trying to flirt (middle school). Turning blotchy by the end of every day by the difficulties of being social all day. Oh, the joys of the social life at school...

There's socialization which means learning to be a good part of society, and I gained that by hanging out with my mom's friends. One spends maybe 12 years around one's age-peers. Then one spends the rest of one's life around people of vastly different ages. I think I'll go for the socialization with vastly different ages, thank you!

Then there's socializing which is what you get in school, and is not PART of school but rather what you do during passing period and recess (and can be gained elsewhere).
**********

Look into your state's info about homeschooling to see what is required.

In my state, my education qualifies me to be a sub, so it certainly qualifies me to teach, and I'm far beyond the homeschooling regs. Per the homeschool regulations, even my hubby who had less than 2 years of college is qualified to teach our kiddo, and he certainly will be teaching DS math! I can't explain math, even though I earned a math minor in college.

My mom always wanted to homeschool me (I would have benefited greatly from 100% learning and 0% junk...at the same time, my brother absolutely thrived, being 3 years behind me in the same schools, different teachers) but felt scared b/c she hadn't had college. Hadn't had college b/c her parents moved x-country twice while she was in HS and credits didn't transfer and she was bumped from the college-track to the no-college-track, and lost her confidence. She ended up getting married before walking through graduation (diploma was mailed to her) and just never felt strong enough to teach me, even though she absolutely could have done so, and very well. Unfortunately she also was a single parent by that point, and needed school as a form of free daycare (which is all it really was, for me), and after spending all day with me in school and her at work, it never really occurred to her to teach me more.

 

[RMulieri]

Unfortunately, with no child left behind , alot gets lost.Add to it over sized classes,special needs children, lack of teachers and materials and things kind of get left by the wayside.I am not sure what the correct thing to do is.Our twsp currently has the crisis of a population explosion with no growth in the schooling system.So there are kids in trailers for classrooms,no cafeteria,no gym and not enough materials.They even suggested bussing our children to a school district 30 mins from here ( obviously not going over well to those of us who have lived here a long time and live next to one of the schools)I understand your frustration.

 

[karajeboo]

OH, I've found my home! Yes, I have MAJOR problems with DD's school - and it's not the teachers or the curriculum, it is the school and administration! From the chaotic, and dangerous, parent drop off/pick up lines, to the cafeteria (my DD was denied lunch one day because she ran out of money in her cafeteria account and I was never informed!!!), to the speech therapist, etc. Yes, the cafeteria ladies apparently hand stamp the kids when they run out of funds, but stamps wash off! I had to take lunch up to her (luckily her teacher called me!).

DD is in first grade and we just moved to this school in November. Prior to this, we came from the most wonderful school ever imagined! The principal and VP still email me to check up on my DD - how's that for personalized attention!!! They were truly wonderful to students, parents, teachers, etc.

Now I have a school in which my DD has never met the principal or VPs, the teachers don't seem to have a good rapport with each other, let alone the parents! And I'm not the only one to complain. We moved to this area because all the research I did showed this to be one of the best school districts in the state!

She is pulled out of her resource classes (music, PE, art, computers) for speech therapy, instead of taking her out of some "quiet" time in class. So now she dreads speech class because she knows what she is missing! When I met with her speech teacher, the district speech therapist, and DDs teacher, they looked at me like I had two head to be requesting that they change their schedule?

And for two weeks the older kids had state testing, so none of the younger kids were able to go outside during the day - might make too much noise - and DD told me that she didn't have speech either because they weren't allowed in the hallways - again, too much noise!

I'm sooo frustrated by this! They are building a new school for DD that will be open at the beginning of her 3rd grade year. I'm hoping that will be much better. We're in a brand new area that is growing so fast that they planned for this by starting the elementary school out in the middle school building along with the middle school kids. That is okay (believe it or not!) and there is one elem school opening next year, then ours the year after, at which time the middle school will only have middle school kids in it. I'm hoping that all these problems are because the faculty just hasn't worked together long enough to develp that rapport that is so important.

 

[livndisney]

Unfortunately, with no child left behind , alot gets lost.Add to it over sized classes,special needs children, lack of teachers and materials and things kind of get left by the wayside.I am not sure what the correct thing to do is.Our twsp currently has the crisis of a population explosion with no growth in the schooling system.So there are kids in trailers for classrooms,no cafeteria,no gym and not enough materials.They even suggested bussing our children to a school district 30 mins from here ( obviously not going over well to those of us who have lived here a long time and live next to one of the schools)I understand your frustration.

Special needs children have the right to a good education too.

 

[Ellester]

Special needs children have the right to a good education too.

Totally agree, although I don't think the PP was implying otherwise. In our previous district I really felt the special needs kids were about the only ones who were getting a decent education!

For the OP:We became very disenchanted with our elementary school when our oldest dd was in 1st grade. It was also considered one of the better schools in the county with a waiting list. She was bored beyond belief, and yes, I did come in to help frequently. I would read to the class while the teacher read the newspaper! I have two younger children, so I couldn't always stay for long. She also experienced being stuck inside all day so there wouldn't be any noise for the kids taking the NCLB tests. They watched movies all day instead, my tax dollars at work! We decided to homeschool starting the next year and haven't looked back. The homescooling thread on this board is very helpful if you are seriously looking into it.

 

[junebugs]

Wow! This is a great post-you have obviously hit a nerve.

I am also very disappointed with my children's elementary school. Classes are overcrowded (26 in my daughter's 1st grade class) and they spend way too time preparing for standardized tests. Which brings me to my biggest complaint. They give the kids tests to show how they are doing and then when they show that your kids are gifted/not being challenged enough with the work they could care less about providing them with any additional educational opportunities? A half hour a day of self directed study is NOT GIFTED EDUCATION!!!!!!

What I have learned after questioning the school, meeting with guidance counselors and having my own testing done is that the only option for my children is to find them educational opportunities outsides of the school system. (No private schools in my area). I take my son (4th grade) to special workshops and summer camps offered by a highly ranked university that offers more advance science and math courses for elementary students than I'm sure he'll ever get in his school. It's frustrating because these classes can be expensive and are 1 1/2 hour drive from home, but I think it will be worth it to keep him at least interested in learning. Keep looking for other opportunities and don't rely only on the school.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Wow, doesn't anyone like their schools? We must be really lucky. Our elem. class size is limited to 20, most have 16-18. Our boys are in grades 2 and 5. Our teachers so far have all gone way above and beyond what I would expect.
I've had teachers call me on a Sat to update me on my sons' progress (positive comments too and very minor issues that she wanted me to be aware of.)

When ds11 was in 4th grade, all 4 graders (4 classes) scored Highly Proficient in math (possibly scores: highly proficient, proficient, below state standards)

No one is ever, ever denied lunch even if their account has a neg. balance. They send a letter home when funds run low. I'd be flipping out if my child were denied lunch.

National Character Education awards are given to only 20 schools nationwide and the middle school that ds11 will attend next year is one of them.

Yes, our taxes are outrageous but no way would I move. All our neighbors agree-we moved to our town for the excellent public schools. I may be the only one on the Dis happy about our schools but I know I'm not the only one in our community.

 

[ampc3]

yep, We disliked our kids old school sooo much for sooo many reasons, that we sold our house last summer and moved to a better school district.
I couldn't believe the difference night and day between what we were putting up with and our new school.
We figured it was cheaper to get into a better neighborhood/school district then figure out how to pay for 3 kids private education.

It is a horrible feeling day in and day out when you aren't happy with your kids education~ I feel your pain.

 

[Fairy Mom]

Thank You. Thank You. I feel so much better that there are other parents out there just like me. I've often talked with local friends about my concerns. And there seems to be no solutions to the problems. It's frustrating and it's sad, but for whatever the reason, I get the "we just have to deal with it vibe from them."

Well, I just can't accept this kind of thinking. I volunteer at the school and I supplement my daughter's education at home.

Are we forced to attend the school that we are assigned to? My daughter is asking me everyday to transfer schools. Is this an option for public school?

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Hi. I am extremely disappointed in my daughter's public elementary school. And I was wondering if anyone else feels the same way.

Do I have any options? I can't afford private school for her. I am still trying to put myself through college. Don't know about homeschooling...

I am fed up. Anyone else sending their child to a school that doesn't feel like a good?

I know that I have been very vague in this post...I'm just too upset. I want more for my child.

I have had these problems myself with my daughter's school. We moved her to a private school. Many private schools offer scholarships or tuition assistance. We are much happier with the private school.

 

[daisyduck123]

No, I'm not disappointed in my DS's elementary school.
But then, I'm a 1st grade teacher ...so I tend to really have a "laid back" attitude about little things that other parents really get upset over.

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

OH, I've found my home! Yes, I have MAJOR problems with DD's school - and it's not the teachers or the curriculum, it is the school and administration! From the chaotic, and dangerous, parent drop off/pick up lines, to the cafeteria (my DD was denied lunch one day because she ran out of money in her cafeteria account and I was never informed!!!), to the speech therapist, etc. Yes, the cafeteria ladies apparently hand stamp the kids when they run out of funds, but stamps wash off! I had to take lunch up to her (luckily her teacher called me!).

DD is in first grade and we just moved to this school in November. Prior to this, we came from the most wonderful school ever imagined! The principal and VP still email me to check up on my DD - how's that for personalized attention!!! They were truly wonderful to students, parents, teachers, etc.

Now I have a school in which my DD has never met the principal or VPs, the teachers don't seem to have a good rapport with each other, let alone the parents! And I'm not the only one to complain. We moved to this area because all the research I did showed this to be one of the best school districts in the state!

She is pulled out of her resource classes (music, PE, art, computers) for speech therapy, instead of taking her out of some "quiet" time in class. So now she dreads speech class because she knows what she is missing! When I met with her speech teacher, the district speech therapist, and DDs teacher, they looked at me like I had two head to be requesting that they change their schedule?

And for two weeks the older kids had state testing, so none of the younger kids were able to go outside during the day - might make too much noise - and DD told me that she didn't have speech either because they weren't allowed in the hallways - again, too much noise!

I'm sooo frustrated by this! They are building a new school for DD that will be open at the beginning of her 3rd grade year. I'm hoping that will be much better. We're in a brand new area that is growing so fast that they planned for this by starting the elementary school out in the middle school building along with the middle school kids. That is okay (believe it or not!) and there is one elem school opening next year, then ours the year after, at which time the middle school will only have middle school kids in it. I'm hoping that all these problems are because the faculty just hasn't worked together long enough to develp that rapport that is so important.

\


OMG We have the same exact problem!!!! We just moved from a school with high ratings to a district that every school in the county is title 1 I think!!! We picked a good school, but it does not live up to what we left behind. And yes we still hear from the old principals and teachers at the old school!!! Driving me nuts!

 

[mom2att]

I am a firm believer that homeschooling is a much, much worse option than public (or private) schooling in that the child will most likely be taught by a parent who has virtually no teaching education or experience. The child also loses out on the many social aspects of school that are virtually impossible to replace completely, even with a "homeschool community" of a group of homeschoolers that occasionally do group activities.

And I'm a firm believer that if a parent can survive teaching a child all s/he knows for the first five years of life, what's so magical about kindergarten that it suddenly requires a teaching degree? I have that degree--very useful for things like classroom management, assessment options and special needs populations, but not so useful when it comes to teaching my own offspring how to read, write, and spell. As their learning advances, the options available to assist me in my teaching are many and varied. And I'll happily bypass the impossible to replace social aspects of school--playground politics and cafeteria survival are not a necessary life lesson, in my opinion.

To the OP--don't be afraid of the homeschool option. It's a beautiful thing!

 

[RMulieri]

Special needs children have the right to a good education too.

I never said they didn't.But when you have 32 kids to a first grade class and one aide and teacher things can be difficult.I was not by any means implying or saying that special needs didn't deserve the same education or a good education, and since my niece is a special needs child herself, I would never even think that

 

[_queenie_]

We had some major problems when my DD13 was in third grade and my DS17 was in sixth grade (same year ).

My DD had one of the most difficult teachers I have ever dealt with when she was in third grade (I even had her). I tried explaining to her at the first conference that she's not overly outgoing and is very sensitive to harsh comments, but I think me saying that made her a target. She was very phony, she would sweet to the majority of kids, and would be nasty to a few (including my DD and a few friends' and relatives' children). I couldn't get over some of the "harsh comments" she made all of the time. One day my DD came home in tears because while in class when she was taking a sip out of her waterbottle (which were permitted), her teacher, who hadn't called on her or anything, had to say with the direct attention of the class "Oh, look at ___ sucking on her little baby bottle! Doesn't she look like baby everyone?" I have no idea whatsoever what her intention was by saying that, was she just trying to embarass a little girl who did not do anything to her? Again, my DD is far from a disruptive type, all of her teachers have said so, to this day I'm still trying to figure out why would want to make a fool out of a quiet student who apparently only talks in the middle of class after she has been "picked" on (loudly at least, maybe a whisper to a friend, and they are purposefully seated next to someone who they won't talk to anyway). These type of comments lasted through the year, mostly involving her watebottle, I did everything I could. The school would not allow me to switch what classroom she was in, no private schools were accepting no new students half way through the year, they wouldn't allow me to homeschool her for the remainder of the year, the principal/school board wanted my DD to stay right where she was and just said "Well, she can spend an hour at the guidance counselor every day if she wants." Talk about pretending to care. Every morning when I dropped her off I literally had to carry her out of the car, this woman was really bothering her. Luckily, the next year was much better.

We also had trouble with my DS's teacher at the middle school the same year, and this teacher was my DD's teacher's best friend! That's a very long story as well, let's just say we had trouble with his ADD and her following his 504 plan.