Talk the Talk

Today we had a meeting with a couple of concerned parents. They have concerns about their 5th grade son. The parents reported that daily homework sessions last 3-4 hours. Their son seems unmotivated and he doesn't seem to retain information. I had to sit back and refrain from making a look of disdain because I knew that the parents had a history of being all talk. Last year, they came in like gangbusters, accusing his 4th grade teacher of slacking off, not checking his assignments and not teaching their son. It was completely bogus, but the teacher was unnerved. She ended up sending home extra work to appease the parents. Of course, the extra work never came back to school. The teacher was really confused, but that told me everything that I wanted to know.

At the meeting, the father had all of these complaints about how he didn't think his son was learning anything. It sounded like his issue was with memorization vs. long-term acquisition. Dad was really intense. I suggested that instead of quizzing his son on concepts that he should have learned, he should try to integrate the information into a conversation to see what he has learned. The interesting thing about the kid is that despite reading slightly below grade level, he has very few problems in school. It appears that he is able to maintain his composure at school and by the time he gets home he's spent. But his parents don't seem to understand that.

Listening to the parents was a chore. I tried my best not to show my irritation, but I'm learning that my parental pet peeve are the parents that claim to do so much and you know they aren't doing $#!%. We devised a plan that involved cutting down on homework time. We will be able to see what he's able to do in a prescribed amount of time. The teacher will meet with them a few weeks later. We'll see how this experiment goes.

BBC