Have you ever had your child Moved from his class mid-year? (long vent)

[Pembo]

My son's 1st grade teacher is terrible. Or I should say she is just boring. Everyday ds says school is boring and he doesn't like school. I have to admit it seems boring to me too.

The kids sit in three rows, as they have since the first day of school. They do worksheets, lots of them, everyday. They RARELY do any creative work projects. He has never mentioned using the computers in the room. They are no "centers". His reading books are way too simple. There are no ability based reading groups.

The only challenge for him is learning his math facts which with a little creativity at home, he is mastering quickly. But in school they just do they math workbook pages!

And his other challenge is spelling because they started the silent letters words (eg. tone). Prior to last week he could spell all his words the day he got them. We only worked on the bonus words.

He's so bored and very turned off to school. I have an appt with the teacher next week to ask about what else we can do to stimulate him but from past experience I know she's not going to offer much. (I requested a conference at her earliest convenience and she scheduled for over a week away.)

DH talked to a friend who is a 1st grade teacher in another building. She said it is possible to move a child mid-year. She was going to look into it for us. Interestingly enough, this friend's son had my son's teacher 18 years ago and she taught the same way then. AUGH!

I have to say that my ds's teacher is one of those that gives teachers a bad rap.

Thanks for listening.........

 

[peg2001]

If you can move your son into a more stimulating, creative classroom. Do it!! The slight set-back in socialization (he'll need to make new friends) will be worth it.

Good luck.
Peggy

 

[4greatboys]

My oldest ds is a freshman. We had a horrible time with his geography teacher. He worked hours on his maps. I watched him and checked the maps, they were great. The highest grade he rec'd from that teacher was a D. I called her to see if I could get info that would help me, help him to do what she wanted--we never found out what that was.
He changed classes after the 1st semester and now that he has a new teacher he does the same work he did before and has not made under a B in the class (????).
I say its never to late to change classes especially if it's going to benefit your child. Good luck!

 

[tkd lisa]

It's absolutely possible to move mid-year.

We actually moved schools entirely once, and moved classes once.

Our DD is ADHD, very intelligent, but VERY difficult to motivate. She went to Catholic schools K through 1/2 of 2nd grade because we originally lived 1 hour from our work and the kids came in with us to go to school. We sent the kids to private schools since we were in a different county. We moved into the county where we worked when DD was in 2nd grade, but didn't want to move the kids out of their schools.

Her 2nd grade teacher was terrible! She was very mean, and inflexible. We were working hard on different medications and she WOULDN'T provide any feedback to help us determine what was working. The last straw was when the teacher and principal forced our DD to call me while I was on business travel to tell me "I'm not doing my work and I won't pass 2nd grade"! I pulled both kids at the semester break and put them in the public school serviced by our day care. We worked with the public school principal to put her in a challenging but flexible classroom.

The next year, when she moved into 3rd grade, they had all new 3rd grade teachers except one. They put DD into the returning teacher's class because they didn't know if newly graduated teachers could meet her needs. Unfortunately, that class got all the difficult children, and the teacher was having some personal problems, so DD had a really rough time. We met with the principal and again moved her to a different classroom mid-year. She did much better.

So the bottom line is that it is possible to move mid-year. But I would start with the principal. Be polite, calm, and firm. Explain what your child isn't getting, and make it clear that you will take it higher (superintendant) if need be.

 

[Kallison]

In our school district it would be next to impossible to move mid-year unless there were some serious issues - and a boring teacher wouldn't be one of them. Unfortunately there are bad teachers, usually we just suck it up and ride out the year. My DS had a horrible 3rd grade teacher. Now oldest DS is graduating elementary in 6th grade this year and I can honestly say he had the best teacher in his grade level every year. Guess we were just lucky with him.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We can request teachers before the year starts... and we have also pulled DS out to dual-enroll when his teacher called him bilious (bad tempered) in a smart alec manner.... well, he knew the definition of the word and was out of there the next day. This was in 5th grade.

Some people just should not teach!

 

[JohnTBap]

Insist that he be moved before she kills his love of learning!!! ACK! It's funny- I am completely the opposite. In fact - in FEBRUARY - the copy lady STILL doesn't know my name - because she RARELY does work for me!!!! The parents, though, seem to WANT me to give out worksheets!! (They think that the way they were taught must be best practice.)

 

[Pembo]

the copy lady STILL doesn't know my name - because she RARELY does work for me!!!!

Boy the copy lady at my son's school must be VERY close to his teacher!

I'm calling for an appt with the principal. Thanks for your words....