I’ve come upon many things while cleaning out the filing cabinets… and shredded most of it. Some stuff they’ll just have to toss when I’m gone, like my grade school report cards. Kindergarten and 1st grade are missing, probably lost in the move from California to Texas – but 2nd through 8th are here, carefully ensconced in these sweet blue holders, throwbacks to a simpler time.
It was painfully apparent as early as the 2nd grade that numbers and I are not boon companions. I ‘tried hard’ but there it is. Must be terribly frustrating for parents as well as teachers when a child just doesn’t ‘get it’.
The entire ‘poor Pam can’t do math’ ordeal was incredibly discouraging for me; I not only had math homework to fight my way through but tutors employed by my Mom, who only had the best intentions. It’s not easy to watch your child struggle with anything.
I still have nightmares about those sessions and the people who presided over my after-school time. Some were kind, some were as frustrated as I, others didn’t care and droned on as I wished for an afternoon snack. My stomach growled a lot during tutor meetings. It’s funny what you remember.
Mrs. Who has a post up about teachers and it covers the correlation between parents involvement with their children and the child’s performance at school. Teachers are some of the most underpaid, under-appreciated people on earth. But a parent has the first responsibility. I could read before Kindergarten because my Mom worked with me – and she and my father were always available for homework help. It matters.
I just wish someone had explained math to me a bit better. Only two people have truly helped me put numbers in perspective: hubby and Teresa of Technicalities, who told me about visual-spatial learning. There have been glimmers of light since, so thanks to both of those wonderful people.
But binary is out, Mike, my dear. I have enough trouble with the regular stuff.
19. August 2010 at 12:05 pm
I love the cover with “Take Time to Pray” on it. Wish they had that whole saying on my kids report cards!
19. August 2010 at 1:44 pm
I love it as well; it’s on the cover of all of them, from 2nd through 8th. Makes me wistful.
19. August 2010 at 12:18 pm
I had and still have major problems with phonics. Have a hard time spelling words that have weird sounds that could be several different letter combinations.
My teachers tried to help but my mother was to lazy, so to this day I am a horrible speller.
I hated math during public school, but for my engineering degrees was required to take calc, trig, stats, etc and I found it really fun and interesting and amazing that I could do page long math problems and get them right.
19. August 2010 at 1:45 pm
I’ve always been great at spelling and reading – it’s just the math side of my brain that doesn’t work.
Calculus, trig, etc… fun???
19. August 2010 at 12:33 pm
Pam, I am jealous… If I had such written testimony about me in my possession, I’d have that biotch framed and hung on the wall!
Instead, somewhere in my old collection of memorabilia, I have an adoption “Here’s your new baby!” pamphlet that my parents saved. It says something far more damning about me: that at just a few months old, I am ‘mesmerized by the television,’ and that I’m a ‘Nyte-Owl’ who won’t go to sleep until well after 10 o’clock at night.
Go figure.
19. August 2010 at 1:48 pm
I never found anything like that, though I have my adoption papers. Probably the ‘doctored’ set.
My Mom always called me a nite-owl when they were having a party and I didn’t want to miss the fun!
And really… what baby isn’t mesmerized by television?
19. August 2010 at 10:25 pm
I wasn’t mesmerized by the teevee as a baby. Perhaps because we didn’t have one until I was in First Grade. Even then, we were far enough away where we only got two out of the then-three available channels.
As to your allegedly poor math skills, you were average in math. So? Since when is everyone supposed to be the best at everything?
20. August 2010 at 7:33 am
In second grade? I thought they let you skate a little while trying to get down the basics of 2+2.
Trust me, a C was only the beginning. Not posting the rest of my career; too humiliating.
20. August 2010 at 2:15 pm
Also cannot spell, I was a Chicago school experiment, read by sight with no phonics, I can read anything at the rate of a paragraph fer hour with good retension but cannot spell, I can tell if a word is misspelled but no clue how to fix it – now math is another story, use to do algabra in my head, flunked basic algabra twice in collage cause I could not put on paper how I came up with the correct answer but someone who could shoe the work as to how they got the wrong answer passed – then – found out I could go strait to the advansed without the basic andbstarted getting strait A’s again
20. August 2010 at 4:01 pm
We just think with different brains, or something. Aw… that’s almost romantic: two halves of a whole.
21. August 2010 at 11:35 am
I’m playing catch up on my blog reading… LOL. Glad to have helped a little. As for spelling, some people can and others can’t. I’ve come to the conclusion after watching both my kids that it’s something within the brain that makes it easy for some. My daughter never had a problem spelling. My son can’t spell to save his life – even with a spell checker.
With math I think most everyone could learn if taught the way their brain works. However I don’t think the education system is quite up to speed with that way of teaching yet. Heh.
21. August 2010 at 12:03 pm
Been so long since I was in school I don’t know how they teach… but it stands to reason some things would have been improved. No? Maybe it depends on the school.
I dearly hope they’ve changed enough to tailor some lessons to student’s comprehension.