Randy's probably going to be a 6th grader again next year. He's already failed science two quarter, and reading and ancient civilizations one quarter each. It doesn't look like he's going to pass either of those this quarter. From what one of his teachers told me, the middle school will take him if he fails one class, but not two. He can make up two classes in summer school, but not three. I've been warning him for the past two months about this, but I guess he just didn't take me seriously. He was in tears this morning, so it's finally sinking in. Too little, too late. The problem is not the academics--it's orginization and turning work in. His teachers all agree he's smart. Too bad that's not enough. We'll have lots to work on next year.

We decided a couple months ago that Robin would be doing 8th grade over next year. He just keeps falling further behind. The school refusal is terrible. I think I'm going to have to pull him out of COVA (the virtual academy) and just homeschool him next year. What I'm thinking is we'll do unit studies--where you pick a topic or subject that really interests the child and build the curriculum around that topic for about a month. I will supplement with some math and history (and maybe science).

I guess both my kids will go from being the youngest in their classes to being the oldest. They have August and October birthdays. Robin probably should have waited another year to start school way back when. Oh well. You know what they say about hind sight.

By Tink on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 03:41 pm:

{{{Cat}}} Out of three kids, I only have one that I haven't had to worry about school. My oldest is too smart for regular ed, too sensitive for gifted classes and you know about my concerns with Seth. Since my youngest is in kindy this year, I don't think I've had enough of a chance to worry yet.

I HATE not having kids that skate through a traditional school curriculum like most kids. I wouldn't trade them in for a different model but why, oh why can't they just fit the mold??? I'm sure you've felt the same way. Will you be able to leave school behind this summer and just get a break from all the stress it's caused this year? Good luck with the homeschooling next year. I think some kids do really well with unit studies. Robin may be one of them.

By Tarable on Friday, May 18, 2007 - 03:44 pm:

By Cat on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 06:24 pm:

Little update: Randy's not going to have fail the 6th grade completely. He did end up passing everything except Ancient Civilizations (Social Studies) so he'll be going to summer school for that and Science. It'll be 7:30am-12:45pm for four weeks and it's going to cost us $350!!! Ya know, when I was a kid, summer school was free! So he'll go to work with dad in the morning and I'll pick him up at 12:45 and he's going to have extra chores plus a friend of mine is going to hire him to do some yard work to pay for some of this. I talked to his teacher this morning and she said she wished she could pass him but he only got a 44% in her class. The work just wasn't turned in! She also said holding him back in 6th grade, knowing him like she does (pretty well) would NOT be a good thing. She agreed that he's smart--he just needs to work on getting organized. She also said it is a pretty common problem for 6th grade boys. Maybe a month of summer school will do him some good. He's not happy about it, but he doesn't have much of a choice. Their last day is this Friday and he'll start on June 4th. *sigh* I guess it could be worse.

By Tink on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 09:12 pm:

Sounds like a bit of a mixed blessing. On one hand, he will get to move on with his class but what a hassle for you, dealing with transportation and the cost. I think it's a great idea to have him work off some of the expense and summer school is certainly a natural consequence he has to face for his undone work. All's well that ends well, I guess.