"Hire a tutor" said the Algebra teacher

[missypie]

DS13 is smart but has Aspergers Syndrome and is way ADD. None of us in the family are"math brains." After only a month of school, he is really struggling in Algebra. The teacher says that she has commitments right after school and can never give him any special assistance, so we should hire a tutor. Fortunately, we can afford to hire one and he had his first session today.

But it really sort of bugs me. Teachers, do you consider it your obligation at all to make sure that all of your students who are really trying understand the subject matter? His teacher's attitude is " I explain it in class. If he doesn't get it, hire a tutor." Seems like as a matter of pride, she'd want to work with him a bit before passing him off to someone else (at our expense).

I know that teachers are stretched to the max. Two years ago there was a "math club" where anyone could go during their advisory period for extra math help. But then with budget cuts, none of them have a free period to staff the math club, so it's no more.

This is really our first experience with major academic struggles (thank goodness). I guess I thought we'd get more help than being told to hire a tutor!

 

[Serena]

That's what I was told for my daughter too. I could not hire one, so she relied on friends. She ended up taking it over and for some reason it clicked that time. And my kid is pretty dang smart. I know I sure couldn't figure out how on earth to do those problems.

The teachers have goals they have to stick with, and don't have time for helping anyone. Or that's how it seems.

 

[2BigKIdz]

I had the exact same experience in algebra. My teacher basically did problems on the board and that was it. She constantly called my mom about my grades and finally recommended a tutor. I spent 2 hours with the tutor, she could not understand why I was there, when she explained I understood right off. She told my mom she would be wasting her money if I continued to come. I failed algebra that year, the next year I ended up with 104 average with a different teacher. I just did not relate to this teacher's method I guess.

 

[mudnuri]

Around here...

We have highschool students who tutor elementary and middle school kids during recess and free periods...

DD's have never had to use them, however I do have names/numbers of some of the staff I had working for me this summer who are super smart in math etc..

We also have in our school "recess readers" If the kids dont do their reading homework each night, they are not allowed to recess- they spend recess in the library with a few aides, and do their homework (unless you send in a note)

I do not think that ANY teach here, stays afterschool to help the kids...thats not a bad thing, in my mind...????

Brandy

 

[Beth76]

I can understand if your child is having a problem with one part of Algebra, then yes the teacher should help out. But, it sounds like he's just generally having trouble. You can't really expect the teacher to make a long-term commitment to stay after school to help your child. Besides, sometimes it takes a different perspective for someone to "get it". So, hiring a tutor could end up being more beneficial than your son's teacher.

 

[year2late]

I have no problem with a teacher asking a parent to seek outside assistance. There is nothing written in stone that says a tutor has to cost money. You can check local high schools for students willing to tutor - many will have programs to help younger kids.

I don't think public schools should hand everything to a child (and their parents) on a silver platter. If they do, just watch your taxes go through the roof!!!!!

 

[browneyes]

How many kids are in the class? It's hard to do one on one during the alloted time sometimes.

I struggled with Algebra in hs. Hated the blasted subject. It was more difficult for me to realize I was slowing the class down by not grasping it than it would've been for me to have had a tutor.

It took me 20 years later to learn Algebra, now my dd is punishing me nightly to give her problems to solve.

The major problem I had with Algrebra is I had not heard the phrase Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally until I took a qbasic course. I tell my dd11 to write PEMDAS on her math homework, classwork to remind herself everything in Algebra has to see Dear Aunt Sally first.

 

[GEM]

Honestly, no I wouldn't expect a teacher to stay after school to help my struggling child. If it was something that could be fixed by meeting once or twice after school, then maybe. This doesn't sound like that kind of situation, though. That teacher may have several kids who are struggling. Should she stay after school for several hours each day to make sure everyone gets extra help? When ever we were having trouble with something at school, my parents spent extra time at home (or in the case of something like math) hired a tutor. If you have a local university, that's a great place to look for tutors who are willing to work cheap. Good luck getting him some extra help. It sounds like you're a great parent!

 

[tidoublegger]

Originally posted by GEM
Honestly, no I wouldn't expect a teacher to stay after school to help my struggling child. If it was something that could be fixed by meeting once or twice after school, then maybe. This doesn't sound like that kind of situation, though. That teacher may have several kids who are struggling.

I agree...and I commend the teacher for trying to guide you in the right direction while it's still early in the year! Good luck!

 

[poohandwendy]

Teachers, do you consider it your obligation at all to make sure that all of your students who are really trying understand the subject matter?

I think yes, if the problem is just a minor struggle and a few extra explanations would help. But, I think it is likely that the teacher knows that it isn't just a matter of your son being slightly behind, but that he really is struggling to the point where he needs more personal attention than she could give him in class. I would be thankful that she didn't brush it under the rug and assume he would catch up eventually.

Algebra is one of those things that what you don't 'get' this week will surely make next week confusing and the week after that impossible, etc. If his aspergers and/or ADD are a factor in this, it is very likely tutoring is the best way to go, IMO.

 

[Karel]

Originally posted by browneyes
The major problem I had with Algrebra is I had not heard the phrase Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally until I took a qbasic course. I tell my dd11 to write PEMDAS on her math homework, classwork to remind herself everything in Algebra has to see Dear Aunt Sally first.

OK, I confess, I took the super slow route (1 1/2 years) and barely squeaked through Algebra.

What is PEMDAS?

Thank you. It may come in handy later. I've got to get my daughter through it someday.

 

[janette]

Unless he has an IEP the school isn't obligated to provide tutoring. It's nice when teachers do that but I don't think we can expect it.

 

[Beth76]

Originally posted by Karel

What is PEMDAS?

Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Addition, Subtraction

this is the order of how you work problems

 

[browneyes]

Originally posted by Karel
OK, I confess, I took the super slow route (1 1/2 years) and barely squeaked through Algebra.

What is PEMDAS?

Thank you. It may come in handy later. I've got to get my daughter through it someday.

Mathematical order of operations: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction. Everything has an order to it in math problems. My problem with Algebra in hs is I didn't know there had to be an order. I just worked problems left to right, and you can't do that in Algebra.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I would not expect a teacher to help my child more than a couple of times. If they couldn't get it after that then my child would need other help.

At our HS we had study rooms for math, english, history, and science. During each period a teacher, not teaching class, would be in there and would help any student who came in with questions. It might not be your specific teacher, but at least you could get some guidance. We were allowed to go here during study halls.

 

[Serena]

Well, I took 2 years of algebra and that little solution never came up. I'll have to remember that for Kelsea.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

What's PEMDAS?

I don't think the teacher has any obligation to give high school students extra help. Perhaps parents have an obligation to make sure the funding is available for that sort of assistance before their child is the one that needs it.

As for Algebra... I think Algebra and geometry are two classes districts should find a way to provide extra assistance for the students. Some people can teach it beautifully...and some can't.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Originally posted by Beth76
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Addition, Subtraction

this is the order of how you work problems

Ah! Of course this is something that probably should be taught before algebra comes up in the first place.

 

[KathiWithAnI]

PEMDAS means the order of operations ie parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.... it tells you waht order to work problems in....
the biggest problem I run into is that many teachers don't take the time to fully explain ( or at least they didn't used)... to explain that mult and div have the same importance and add. and sub do too... in other words, don't skip over division to get to mult. just because the M comes first in the sentence, you should work left ot right for those choices...
example:
26/2*3 you should do the 26/2 first getting answer of 13 then multiply by 3 and your final answer is 39
but many people take PEMDAS too literally and would do the 2*3 first and get 6 then divide 26 by 6... which is a wrong answer... hope that made sense!!!

 

[danacara]

I loved math, I was an engineer in college, and I think a big part of succeeding in math is getting through seventh or eighth grade with no significant gaps. You really can't waste a year on a bad teacher, in math, unlike for instance history, it hurts you later because ever step builds on the last. I had Sister Mary Deangelis. Seventh grade, she sat us down on Day 1 ... all five feet five and ninety pounds of Sister Mary ... and started again with addition, taking us on a fast track through the last six years and filling the holes. Lots of drills, quizzes. I remember converting 100 fractions to decimals and back in five minutes. Memorize everything, orders, factors, squares, angles. At the time I thought it was an enormous waste of time - and I was entirely wrong. It comes in handy literally every day of my life (granted I have a very mathematical job).

I find that most people, especially women, remember the name of that one cruddy teacher who took them off track with math, and they never got back on again.

I'd suggest finding a high schooler to tutor your son - call the HS, ask for the AP calc teacher, drop him or her a note - they'll tell you the name of the nice smart kid who could use the money. Way back when I tutored Erin Lamm in geometry ... she had cerebral palsy, couldn't hold a pencil, so she couldn't draw, which is a substantial obstacle in geometry ... whatever math I may have taught her, my proudest achievement is finding her a prom date. A tutor might be a nice social connection in high school.

Last thing, I don't think a teacher has an obligation to provide free tutoring once school is out for the day. They're humans too, they eat, they have expensive hobbies, they like to go to Disney. If my boss asked me to stay late regularly to bring along lagging coworkers, without overtime, I'd secretly start to resent it. Nothing against the coworkers, but time is money. I know, brutal, right? Such a mathematical way to think.