SOMWaD: The Unsolved Problem
We've got a month left of 5th grade and I'll be so glad to see it
go. This has been the most difficult scholastic year for my son (and
hence my family). Adapting to middle school has been a challenge to say
the least. (I still think 5th grade is way too young to go to middle
school and have multiple classes/teachers, "cycle classes" that last
for 6 weeks and Day 1 or Day 2 which continually confuses me, but thankfully my
son has it down.) I am praying that 6th grade will be an easier year.
While my son (and my family) have overcome many hurdles this year,
one problem that we just can't seem to lick is math. Let me be completely
honest here: I HATE MATH. I am NOT good at Math. (And it's
not because I'm a girl...even as a struggling student I didn't believe in that
crap.) My husband is much better at the subject, so it is a good thing
that he is the one who helps out with the homework. We have a tutor who
comes in and works with him on Sunday afternoons. Yet as we enter the final
marking period of the year, I still see the same problem...His grades on a
regular basis during a marking period run from F (lowest test/quiz/assessment
grades have been in the 50s) to A. (Homework grades have been
consistently high and my husband does review his work before he hands it in.
With that said, he has also gotten As on in class assignments and
quizzes, although overall I think he trends more to Bs.) In all other
classes his grades remain steady. In general I know what to expect.
But when it comes to Math, I never know. It seems neither
does he; and that is part of what worries me.
Today he came home with a D on a math test. I am not
surprised. In looking over the homework that preceded the test (and the
melt down that came with it), I know I would have flunked too. The math
problems were something like this:
3 2 +(4 x7)-(6/2) x 8 =
(I made up that example and I didn't bother to try and solve it.
Bonus points and a big tip of the hat to the person who does.)
Maybe there are 5th graders out there who see something like the
above and are not fazed. (Although this isn’t the case for the majority of 5th
graders and their parents that I know.) As an adult (who is reasonably
well adjusted or so I'd like to think), I'd freak out if I someone asked me to
do that. Maybe I'm showing my age here, but I don't recall anything like
that when I was in 5th grade. Have our children advanced that much that
they should be doing problems such as the above in 5th grade?
Now while I'm not a fan of math as a whole, I do recognize that
it's an important part of life. In my work life I deal with numbers and
spreadsheets. As an adult, I am able to pay my bills and balance my
(electronic) checkbook; yet I don't think I could do some of the order of
operations problems that my son faced.
I'd also be less concerned if my son wasn't bouncing around like a
run-away pinball in the subject. He's up; he's down. I have to ask
IF he's really learning or just getting enough information shoved into him that
he can sometimes regurgitate it out for a test or a quiz or an assessment.
My fear is that he ISN"T learning or understanding. (That’s what he NEED to do in ALL his
subjects.) My fear is that he is coming to dread the subject so much that
just hearing the word math will be enough to set off an anxiety attack.
It's a fear that I don't want to see come to fruition.
The school year is almost over. At this
point, I just want him to get through it and I hope (and pray) that next year
will be one of a more even keel. If it's not...well then my family
will have some serious decisions to make.
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