DS has to re-do Math homework......

[jrmasm]

I would support the teacher while thinking to myself that it was stupid.

I still think it's stupid.

 

[MELSMICE]

I am still curious. For those that agree he should be punsihed for doing all the problems, what should the OP have done instead when faced with his not knowing for sure what to do?

I mean c'mon now lets be realistic. The child is going ot forget again. He's human and he's a child. So, he get excited about the weekend and forgets to write down his whole assignment. Should she just tell him not to do any of it? Is that a better solution?

If he can't call someone (maybe he doesn't have their numbers? all of dd's friends ended up in a different class one year, it was later in the year before she had some people to call), and the assignment isn't posted online; what should they do? (we have assignments posted online, IF its kept up with which its not most of the time)

If the teacher is going to punish the child for coming up with a solution for not knowing what to do then she should have alternative suggestions.

As a parent I would have told my child that they should have written down the assignment correctly. Because they didn't somehow they needed to find out what it was. There are ways to do that. It's the perfect opportunity to teach your child to be resourceful. Someone, somewhere must have written down the assignment correctly.

If all avenues failed then I probably would have told them to do the entire packet also, with the understanding that if that was incorrect they would probably have to redo it or may get a zero.

I would have told them that they need to take responsibility for themselves & write the assignment correctly next time.

Yes, he's a child, he's human, he makes mistakes. We learn from our mistakes though. In this case he needs to learn that he has to responsible for himself & copying assignments correctly. He should not be learning that mommy is going to talk to the teacher when there is a little bump in the road.

I don't think she did anything wrong. But I think that her ds needs to own up to the fact that he didn't properly record the assignment, so he was "punished" for it. You can't shield your kid from every punishment.

Agreed!

 

[PlutoPony]

My son takes piano...he played a few pieces ahead in the book, and the teacher told him not to go ahead until he was taught the pieces. He did not say this to crush my son's enthusiasm, but he explained that we learn habits, and if he goes ahead and plays the music he may be "learning" things wrong and then practising it the wrong way, then it becomes a hard habit to unlearn. Better to wait and be shown properly.

You know, you may be onto something with this thought. I'd forgotten until you brought this up but in 6th grade, my son's math teacher only assigned a handful of problems each night. At Back to School Night, she told the parents that she did that because the purpose of homework for her was to find out if the kids understood how to do what she'd taught that day. And if they got the problems wrong, thus showing they didn't understand, it wouldn't be a difficult for them to "unlearn" the wrong way than if they'd done pages and pages of problems. Once they demonstrated they'd learned the concept correctly, THEN was the time to do larger number of problems to practice.

Guess this still begs the question though of whether it matters WHY the teacher gave the directions that she did or should a student be expected to follow teacher directions, regardless of whether the reason for them is apparent or reasonable in the eyes of the student / parent.

 

[disfan07]

It's called following directions. Learning how to write down their assignemnts in their planners. Something that I learned to do in 1st grade. By 4th grade, yes we lost points on assignments if we didnt follow directions. Heck, that started in 2nd grade. 2nd grade we got 2 warnings. Ex: if we didnt follow the directions on an assignemnt, we got a warning. If we did it again the next assignment, we got a 2nd warning. If we did it again, we got points taken off. By 4th grade their were no warnings. If we didnt follow directions, we lost points AND had to redo the work. In 5th and 6th grade we had lost points, got recess detention AND had to redo the work during detention. I managed to survive and I am very organized when it comes to school work. I dont understand what the big deal is.

He didnt follow directions. He didnt write down his assignemnt. He's old enough to do that. The teacher shouldnt be signing their planners. He messed up, he faces the consequences. It really is that simple.

 

[mjkacmom]

I am still curious. For those that agree he should be punsihed for doing all the problems, what should the OP have done instead when faced with his not knowing for sure what to do?
.

I can't imagine not having the phone number of a single child in your class (even if there are no directories). However, if not, take a guess, and take a chance you might not do the correct problems, and do the time if you do it wrong. Part of the actual assignment in 4th grade is writing down the assignment. Last year, in 3rd grade, dd9 got points taken off a completed assignment if she didn't put it in her agenda pad.

As a PP mentioned, 4th grade is all about learning to be independent, and not having the teacher hold your hand. Dd9 will be forgetting to write down assignments this year, or forgetting books - and will learn from her mistakes. This is a tough year in regards to personal responsibility.

 

[kirbsam]

10 pages about a nothing topic. just do the work over and be done with it. hope this helps.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Actually, I would say that if you found a way to do it better, you speak to someone BEFORE you do it differently then you are told. There may be a real reason that you were given the directions you were given and who knows what you might mess up if you take it upon yourself and do it "your way".

NEVER would I just decide to do something as not directed.

That totally depends on what your job is. I wouldn't still have mine if I did things that way.

10 pages about a nothing topic. just do the work over and be done with it. hope this helps.

Can you share the list of approved discussion topics with us?
Thanks!