Question for parents of elementary school kids...

[malta blue]

Little MB is in third grade. Her kindergarten and second grade teachers were convinced that she was gifted. She was in private school until this year.

So this week she came home with her first spelling and math tests of the year. She got a 74 on spelling and 72 in math. :wow:

Her lowest marks until now were 94 and 90. I did not say anything but I wonder what is going on...any suggestions on how to tackle this one?

[redqueen]

1. Get more directly involved...

study those subjects with her. Had the exact same experience with my youngest... I think might partly be just getting back into the swing of school... cause after a few nights studying together, she was back to 90's and 100's.

Good luck!

[malta blue]

4. I usually go over the spelling words with her at least twice

a week. The math part...well I hate math too. :(

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Could be worth having her talk to a counselor or someone, even a teacher

see how she's adjusting to the change in schools.

She could very well be gifted, but be feeling lost/confused/angry/disappointed/whatever because of the change in schools.

Could be a medical issue, too.

Or, that private school could have been screwing you over, though I'd think the chance of that is pretty small.

Have you noticed any behavior differences or problems?

[malta blue]

3. No behavior issues at all, in fact

she is listening more and as sweet as always.

I was thinking that she could be feeling awkward because of the change. She also has to learn cursive writing again. She learned in second grade, but here they teach it in third. She told the teacher she had already done the workbook but she still has to do it again. I told her to keep her chin up, there are worse things than having good penmanship.

If the next set of tests come back like this, I will surely talk to the teacher. I am disappointed already that she gives such a small amount of homework. Little MB spends about 20 minutes a day on it. Last year we were up to an hour and a half.

Thanks for the suggestions.
:hi:

[Mythsaje]

5. Gawd, what is it with that stupid cursive crap?

It does NO good for anything but signing your name. It's a waste of education time. IMO.

[malta blue]

6. But if your handwriting is anything like mine, you might encourage

a little extra practice. My writing rivals my doctor's.

[Mythsaje]

7. I print VERY well...

No one accepts anything in cursive anymore. It's useless past grade school. A BIG waste of time and resources.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

9. I had never thought of this

until you posted it.

You are correct. I wonder what all the fuss is about?

Who needs it?

I quit using cursive in college since I hated the way it looked --- I learned to block print (architectural style) and use it for everything - except for my shopping lists which is a strange combo of styles..


I like your take on this.

[malta blue]

11. You do make a good point, but I wish my handwriting was better.

I still like to read handwritten notes. :shrug:

[tigereye]

17. I for one love the 10 minutes of homework per grade rule!

I think some kids just take a while to get the hang of new surroundings and grades - and I think 3rd grade is challenging in some ways. My son had a heck of a time with writing at first when he was in 3rd and just didn't click with the teacher.

[malta blue]

19. the problem is that I know she can handle much more

than that. Perhaps the new school may be an issue, but the homework should not.

[tigereye]

30. I'm not a big supporter of more homework than is useful -

research says it doesn't make a lot of difference anyway, but practicing some skills probably can't hurt. My son has very little homework now in his 6th grade class - he does most of it in study hall. It's a big change from last year, when the teacher gave too much, IMO.

I want kids to have time for fun after the long school day is over.

Suum quique.....

[kath]

21. 1 1/2 hours of homework in 2nd grade?!?! That's way out of line - every recommendation I've read

says that about 10 minutes per grade is about right - so 10 min for first grade, 20 for 2nd, etc. (and if your little girl is bright, what takes her 20 minutes probably takes most of the others kids 30 min.or more)

We did VERY, very little homework in grade school back in my day - other than reviewing 10 spelling words on Thursday night for Friday's spelling test, and in the upper grades the occasional report copied out of World Book Encyclopedia, or salt map or science fair project - and we turned out just fine. What the heck do some teachers do in the classroom all day, that they feel the need to send so much work home??

[malta blue]

23. 1 1/2 HRS ...

that included the mandated 30 minutes of reading, the 20 minutes of handwriting practice and whatever else there was. She seemed to handle it well, it was me who was stressed by it - trying to shuttle her to tae kwon do (she's an 8 y/o brown belt), brownies, soccer and still finding time for dinner and homework.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

32. I agree

One and a half hours of homework, and I would be protesting. Second graders are CHILDREN who need time to play!

[AlCzervik]

8. in my experience 3rd grade is a big transition year, i remember when my daughter

went into 3rd grade and how different the amount of work was and the expectations were higher. One other thing, some children freeze up during tests, not saying she is but it may be something to look at.

[malta blue]

10. but she has less work than she used to...

she could be freezing up, not sure.

[AlCzervik]

13. well it could also be the adjustment period, last year my daughter started a new school

and the first 3 weeks were difficult for her, she really didn't know what the expectations were and she was uber stressed out over it and then one day something clicked and things got better but it was after lots of tears and talking to the school counselor.

[malta blue]

15. I may give the counselor a call tomorrow just to see what s/he

has to say. Thanks for the heads-up.

[AlCzervik]

16. it's totally worth it because the counselor will have a heads up and if there are some

adjustment issues you'll be able to sit down with he/she and discuss it, the counselor i met with was really wonderful, she really made a difference and helped me to help my daughter. My being tense was making my daughter even more so and then it would rebound back on to me so it was a bad cycle, i swear i needed to carry around a paper bag with me.

[Blue Diadem]

12. My granddaughter began the year much the same way.

It was like she'd forgotten her math skills and seemed overwhelmed with the increase in homework. We have limited time with her since my daughter and her ex do the shared parenting..two days here, two days there thing. Both my daughter and I used the flash cards we have, but her tests were timed so I found this link and gave her a kitchen timer.

http://www.thegreatmartinicompany.com/

I'd find her playing it like a game while I was making dinner..she passed her 100 problems in 5 minutes test and seems to be on her way again.

We also always practice her spelling words for several days before her test. Her teacher sent home the list of words for the quarter at the beginning of the year.

Has your daughter shown any signs of anxiety about the change in schools? That also may have something to do with it.

Third grade here was a big adjustment..a lot of homework every night, I assume because this is the year for the big standardized test, 400 questions in 2 1/2 hours here(or so granddaughter told me). I don't know what it is in other states. My granddaughter just took it.

[malta blue]

14. Thanks for the link.

You may be right about the new school thing. She is much more fashion conscious - she wore a uniform until now, but heck there is no better dressed 8 y/o than that kid...that is for sure. She broke my credit card with the back to school shopping this year.

There is a standardized test this year, and they are timing her on the test (she just informed me) so perhaps that is the major contributing factor, since I know she can answer the questions.

[tigereye]

18. yeah, I've encountered some of that timing stuff - I think that puts a lot of

pressure on kids.

They don't do that (thankfully) at my son's school.

[malta blue]

20. I think it is practice for the standardized tests

for the state...maybe NCLB crap...

[Redstone]

22. How do I tell you this without offending you? Private school was your first mistake.

You're paying them. You think they're going to send your daughter home with lousy grades, after you gave them all that money?

Think about it.

Redstone

[malta blue]

24. Perhaps in the higher grades, but it is hard to

gift an A on 20 simple addition problems. They either know it or they don't.

I knew of several kids who got "left back" at the private school - kids who were not doing well.

If there is a genetic disposition to being "bright" Little MB surely has a good chance at having inherited some good genes on that front.

Not offended.
~peace~

[tigereye]

35. that isn't always true

my son attends a private school and they pull no punches. If there's an issue, they tell you, and they don't sugarcoat anything. When my son did not do well in certain subjects, it was reflected on the report card.

[qanda]

25. Try this program called Spelling Time to reinforce her spelling words

I homeschool and use it for my children. It does cost $4.99 a month, but it may be worth it to see if it will help her. You can alter each lesson to input her words from school. They also have a Math Time version too, but I haven't used that for my children yet. Here's the link: http://www.spellingtime.com/

I'm sure she's as gifted as always but this teacher may not be teaching to her style of learning. I hope things work out okay.

[Kali]

26. gifted does NOT equal good grades

check eyesight, boredom, classroom/personal dynamics with teachers AND fellow students

sleep, time of day, blood sugar can affect test-taking abilities

[yellowdogintexas]

33. boredom could be part of this, not challenging enough after

the prior school.

Do you still do the nightly reading? and a vision check should be in order. 3rd grade is often the time eye problems first surface


Mine was in Gifted/Talented too. and had absolutely NO math skills beyond basic checkbook and how to figure out the size of the room math. It kept her from pursuing college, it freaked her out so badly. However she is a VERY talented artist, very articulate and a good writer.

She is a tattoo artist now, at age 23. Not what I had hoped for her, but she is happy.

The homework wars we had were amazing, mostly due to her anxiety, and very much inborn sense of perfectionism. Dammit I tried so hard to NOT instill in her perfectionism but it was genetically imprinted on her. did not want my help with any thing in homework said if she couldn't learn it on her own what good was it (she was 11 when she said THAT!)

[SarahB]

36. Definitely

My three oldest have been identified at one point or another as "well above average" or "gifted" as was I as a child. Sometimes shear boredom with the curriculum and their peers lead to serious slacking off. I make sure I have extra enriching activities at home and discuss the need for more challenges with the teacher.

[electron_blue]

27. Just talk with her and her teacher. If any thing is 'going on', you'll find out.

[KitchenWitch]

28. Were they pretests?

What is the level of difficulty compared to last year?

How did she feel about the scores?

All of the above questions will tell you what you need to know.

:hug:

[SmokingJacket]

29. She's hit the age where natural smarts only go so far.

She's probably been cruising until now, because it's been so easy for her. Also, it's possible her second grade teacher didn't do as much as the public school teachers, so she's a bit behind.

I'd just get involved, help with homework, find out when tests are and study with her. No biggie -- she'll catch up!

[IndianaJones]

31. being bullied? nt.

[woodsprite]

34. I would think maybe a difference in teaching.

I just had a meeting with my son's 2nd grade teacher yesterday. My son probably shouldn't have passed into 2nd grade due to reading issues, but he was soooo borderline and came up on his benchmark testing from a 4 to a 15 in 1st grade. On Dibble testing, he unfortunately only scored a 19/17 when they're looking for 100/50. They expected most students to come in to first grade benchmarked at an 8-9 and go up to a 16-17.

This 2nd grade teacher gives 10 spelling words each night M-T-W, then a pretest on Thursday, a final test on Friday with 1 additional bonus word. These words are studied using Spaulding Phonics methods (phonograms). They also have another 5 word list of "Word Wall" words that they work with all week and get tested on Friday. My son, who is the lowest level reader in his class, scored a 100 on the 30 word spelling test. He scored a 2 on the 5 word spelling test. She said this is typical to see such a difference. Other kids had other results, but for C, they're going to continue with Spaulding phonics. If you google it, you'll come up with alot of info, but your daughters' score differences may be something as simple as the teaching approach.

[Sweet Freedom]

37. Third grade IS a big transition year.

My daughter has been in a gifted/talented program since first grade and she went from all A honor roll to A/B honor roll in third grade (she brought home a couple Fs that year).

Changing schools is huge as well. She just may need time to adjust.

Anyway, I think this is normal.

If she is truly gifted/talented it does not necessarily mean she is smarter, it means she thinks differently. One of the characteristics of GT kids is perfectionism. Maybe you can work with her on her testing skills. If she doesn't know something, she needs to move on and not linger trying to get the answer perfect. She can always come back to it. (My daughter would do this and then she would miss the last 5 questions because she never got to them.)

Another thought...Work on spelling rules. Her teacher may have an accent or way of talking that sounds unfamiliar. She may be hearing something different, so if she knows spelling rules (drop the y, change to i, or i before e...) she can rely on those skills instead of the way her teacher talks.

Where is she sitting in class? Maybe she needs to move closer to the front, or away from the obnoxious kid. My kid is left-handed, so I always have to remind teachers to place her so her left side is open. She may just be uncomfortable or distracted.

Good luck!