Kids of EB

[Supe]

Yikes. Kind of late in the game to just get this information. Is she going to fail school and need summer school/be kept back because of it?

I don't believe so, her grades were high with the exception of a note on the report card stating that she was behind on some math facts test they have to take. Their communication as to what the finish requirements are for her grade are very poor, so I don't know whether she has to finish X in order to move on. They also have a policy in their grade of not correcting spelling mistakes, not checking content in their answers, etc., unless it's a test for that specific thing. I think that policy is complete bullshit, and is a large part of why she gets away with it without any real consequence at school. I swear, she could take every school assignment she has, write "I like turtles" on every line, and as long as she didn't leave any blanks, there'd be a smiley face drawn at the top of the f*cking thing by her teacher.

Even at home, she would get in the habit of rushing through, expecting us (her mother) to tell her what was wrong, and then quickly erasing it and writing in another (usually half-assed) answer in hopes that she could go play sooner.

Now to the point where when she brings the homework home, I copy the blank assignment on the printer. I make her do the assignment on the copied sheet, and if she a) skips any questions because she didn't bother to read or look at both sides of the page, b) puts some BS answer because she didn't bother to read the question, or c) has more than one re-do after being told how to fix it, I make HER rip the paper up and start over.

She's also been informed that if she doesn't have her shit together and an apparent attitude change, that she will be spending the week of the 4th of July at home with ME doing school work, instead of going with her mother to their annual Vermont family reunion/vacation.

Mom caves to the whining, Dad doesn't mess around with this sh!t. Of course, I have to rely on Mom to enforce most of this, since I am rarely through the door prior to 8PM or so.

 

[matt267 PE]

Stay strong Supe, and yes, the attitude from an 8 year girl is over the top.

Edit:

Don't laugh Mike. You're next.

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

Hope this isn't what I have to look forward to. Right now I've been designated the hard-ass, make him do work parent. My wife gets to be the fun, mommy caves to everything one. It probably will change (he's only 2 after all) but right now I'm working with him on letters, colors, numbers, and basic words every day when I get home from work. My mom babysits for us during the day and she does that and reads with him then.

Looks like he definitely took after my wife in the 'do you like reading' department :/

 

[Supe]

She's definitley too smart for her own good. Average at math, way ahead of the curve on reading, reads a lot on her own for fun. Unfortunately, she also has her mother's attitude, zero work ethic, and the attention span of a crackhead with severe ADD.

And she's also obviously going to be an "early bloomer", so I'm sure there are already some pre-teen hormones rapidly approaching off the starboard bow that aren't going to make my life any easier.

 

[matt267 PE]

In reality, most kids would rather play than do homework. That's were we come in. :whipping:

Hopefully she'll appreciate it someday.

 

[Supe]

I hope so. I do what I can. I even have her stand up on the couch periodically to read assignments off, etc., just to get some experience with speaking in front of a crowd. She would always get complements at "international night", etc., at her school for how well she spoke.

 

[envirotex]

My kid went the entire semester without turning in any math assignments. He is doing them now while all of his friends are playing and doing end-of-school year stuff. Natural consequences...

I should also mention that he got commended scores for math and science on his standardized tests. Feels like something is wrong with the system...Just saying.

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

Being a know-it-all is a problem I'm already having with mini-Ram. He knows how to count to 10, knows A - H, and can point out a lot of stuff and name them. The problem is that when you ask him to say it/count it for you he'll spout off, "I know!" and run off to play :/

 

[Supe]

My kid went the entire semester without turning in any math assignments. He is doing them now while all of his friends are playing and doing end-of-school year stuff. Natural consequences...

I should also mention that he got commended scores for math and science on his standardized tests. Feels like something is wrong with the system...Just saying.

If you're not at the front or the back of the line, you get no attention. A sad state of public education it would seem.

 

[YMZ PE]

Some parents have told me that they let their kids choose to fail in elementary school when it didn't really matter. The kids eventually decided on their own that they wanted to do better in school, and excelled once they put their minds to it. One of those kids just received his PhD in computer science from Berkeley. Interesting approach, but I don't know what other factors were involved in motivating those kids (friends, role models, hot for teacher, etc.), so I don't know what approach I'm going to take with my own little boogers.

 

[kevo_55]

I've found that mini-kevo will do almost anything for ice cream.

Me: "Will you pick up your room?"

Mini-kevo: "No!"

Me: "I'll let you have some ice cream."

Mini-kevo: <smiles>

Me: "You need to pick up your room first."

Mini-kevo: <starts to cry>

 

[matt267 PE]

I've found that mini-kevo will do almost anything for ice cream.

Me: "Will you pick up your room?"

Mini-kevo: "No!"

Me: "I'll let you have some ice cream."

Mini-kevo: <smiles>

Me: "You need to pick up your room first."

Mini-kevo: <starts to cry>

Have you tried this approach with Mrs. Kevo?

 

[Supe]

Some parents have told me that they let their kids choose to fail in elementary school when it didn't really matter. The kids eventually decided on their own that they wanted to do better in school, and excelled once they put their minds to it. One of those kids just received his PhD in computer science from Berkeley. Interesting approach, but I don't know what other factors were involved in motivating those kids (friends, role models, hot for teacher, etc.), so I don't know what approach I'm going to take with my own little boogers.

Maybe that works for some, but classical conditioning is hard to reverse without introducing some sort of negative consequence. Without some sort of environmental modifier, there's no mechanism to trigger a change.

 

[kevo_55]

I've found that mini-kevo will do almost anything for ice cream.

Me: "Will you pick up your room?"

Mini-kevo: "No!"

Me: "I'll let you have some ice cream."

Mini-kevo: <smiles>

Me: "You need to pick up your room first."

Mini-kevo: <starts to cry>

Have you tried this approach with Mrs. Kevo?

Sadly, she tells me that she has her own money and can buy her own ice cream.

 

[envirotex]

Some parents have told me that they let their kids choose to fail in elementary school when it didn't really matter. The kids eventually decided on their own that they wanted to do better in school, and excelled once they put their minds to it. One of those kids just received his PhD in computer science from Berkeley. Interesting approach, but I don't know what other factors were involved in motivating those kids (friends, role models, hot for teacher, etc.), so I don't know what approach I'm going to take with my own little boogers.

Maybe that works for some, but classical conditioning is hard to reverse without introducing some sort of negative consequence. Without some sort of environmental modifier, there's no mechanism to trigger a change.

In our case, the environmental modifier is not having to go to summer school to make up his math class...The bus for summer school leaves at 6:35AM.

 

[matt267 PE]

Damn girls and their fucking drama.

 

[matt267 PE]

Daughter got "student of the month" for May.

And she's still friends with the girl she fought with yesterday. Today was a better day for her.

 

[P-E]

Took mini p-e to the Sox game this afternoon. Made it through a few innings before he became more interested in playing with the seats. As I looked around I realized most of the other little kids were doing the same thing.

 

[matt267 PE]

I typically can't make it through a full baseball game either.

 

[MA_PE]

I typically can't make it through a full baseball game either.

I usually figure it's time to leave after either 7 innings or 2 1/2 hours which ever comes first.