cybrkitn
We called it Bonko
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2006
- Messages
- 7,412
We did and haven't regretted at all. DS13 was in private school (Lutheran) from Pre-k to 5th grade. We made the painful decision to transfer him to public school starting in 6th grade after a nightmare of a 5th grade year. He got along with everyone in his class and made friends very easily back then, so that wasn't an issue. However, he was struggling with reading and had breakdowns/melt downs when he couldn't understand something. He was diagnosed with ADD in the winter of his 5th grade year, but didn't start any medication until that May (too late in the school year to start it).
The teacher he had was very strict with her students. DS was given a "quiet" place to catch up on work he was falling behind in b/c of his ADD. That "quiet" place was right outside the principal's office. While I understand what they were trying to do for him, it gave off the wrong message. He wasn't allowed to go to recess either b/c of the work he had to catch up on. I think he was able to go 3 times the whole year. In hindsight, we should have said something, but we didn't. I found out from someone else afterwards that it is illegal for a school to hold a kid back from recess. Don't know how true that is and if so, if it applied to private schools. Little by little, DS was becoming numb to school. He didn't care if he did good or not and he started to hate going to school. We also took him out for a little over a week for a Disney trip and to this day, both the principal and the teacher have never let us live it down. They still hold it over our heads. "Well, it didn't help that he missed a week of school.." Sorry, this was planned before the school year started and we were not changing our plans.
During the summer of that year, DH and I talked and decided that their middle school would not help DS and that we would have more of the same issue and he would further withdraw. They were still treating the kids in 6th grade like they were still in grade school. I've never heard of crayons being needed past 5th
. Colored pencils, yes. But not crayons. We also felt that DS was not going to be prepared for high school if we kept him in.
He started 6th grade in our district's middle school and had a wonderful science teacher who cares so much for the kids. He gently turned DS around and really made an impact on his attitude. By the end of that school year, we were going through his school papers and tossing them out since they were not needed anymore. While going through them, I had one of his science tests in my hand and was ready to toss it when DS asked me not to. I told him that the school year is over and he doesn't need it anymore. His response? "Yea, I know. But this is the test that I did good on and want to keep." I did a double-take! This is the kid who was so numb to school that he didn't care anymore, asking me to save a test b/c he was proud of the grade he got! He has continued to do much better in public school and even made honor roll the first quarter of 7th grade last year. All b/c one teacher cared so much.
The teacher he had was very strict with her students. DS was given a "quiet" place to catch up on work he was falling behind in b/c of his ADD. That "quiet" place was right outside the principal's office. While I understand what they were trying to do for him, it gave off the wrong message. He wasn't allowed to go to recess either b/c of the work he had to catch up on. I think he was able to go 3 times the whole year. In hindsight, we should have said something, but we didn't. I found out from someone else afterwards that it is illegal for a school to hold a kid back from recess. Don't know how true that is and if so, if it applied to private schools. Little by little, DS was becoming numb to school. He didn't care if he did good or not and he started to hate going to school. We also took him out for a little over a week for a Disney trip and to this day, both the principal and the teacher have never let us live it down. They still hold it over our heads. "Well, it didn't help that he missed a week of school.." Sorry, this was planned before the school year started and we were not changing our plans.
During the summer of that year, DH and I talked and decided that their middle school would not help DS and that we would have more of the same issue and he would further withdraw. They were still treating the kids in 6th grade like they were still in grade school. I've never heard of crayons being needed past 5th
. Colored pencils, yes. But not crayons. We also felt that DS was not going to be prepared for high school if we kept him in.He started 6th grade in our district's middle school and had a wonderful science teacher who cares so much for the kids. He gently turned DS around and really made an impact on his attitude. By the end of that school year, we were going through his school papers and tossing them out since they were not needed anymore. While going through them, I had one of his science tests in my hand and was ready to toss it when DS asked me not to. I told him that the school year is over and he doesn't need it anymore. His response? "Yea, I know. But this is the test that I did good on and want to keep." I did a double-take! This is the kid who was so numb to school that he didn't care anymore, asking me to save a test b/c he was proud of the grade he got! He has continued to do much better in public school and even made honor roll the first quarter of 7th grade last year. All b/c one teacher cared so much.
