FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
From the descriptions here of ADD, I wonder if DD has it? We just didn't notice, because we didn't try to put an agenda on her and also listened to her.
In High School she used to drive me nuts, because she would have the TV on while doing homework. When she explained to me that she could concentrate better on her math, I watched her and checked her behavior with TV on and off. Sure enough she would get all frustrated and antsy without the TV on and was able to do her math homework without a problem with the TV on. So, realizing that she knew herself better than I and that she is a different and seperate person, I let her keep the TV on.
We also had a problem in Junior High SChool english, where the teacher had assigned a simple book report for the kids to do. The problem was that mot of the kids were reading at 5th grade level and were reading books like the babysitters club. DD and her friend were reading Wuthering Heights, The Stepford Wives and Gone With The Wind. The books my DD and her friend were reading had complex plots and were just not suited for the simple book report. DD and her friend kept being admonished for not turning the book report in. The problem was the the girls could not figure out which plotline to use for the report.
I finally went and talked with the teacher. She would not believe that the girls were reading those books. I spent a lot of my time arguing with her and finally got her to agree to just let the girls write a book report about the book, period.
When I questioned the teacher about teaching my DD at her reading level, she said that she had 30 kids and had to make sure they all passed. I asked to have my DD put in a class with others at her level, I was told the school believed in putting the smarter kids with the ones not so bright, so the slower kids would learn from the smarter kids. I was enraged. I said, so my daughter is here to teach the other kids and not for her own benefit! It was after that, that she agreed to my terms of DD and friend doing there own reports on they books they liked and read.
Her history teacher managed just fine BTW. I had no complaints. I watched him teach and he got every student's attention and made every student feel good about him or herself. He was one of those very special teachers, talented and dedicated. Too bad we can't get more like him.
In High School she used to drive me nuts, because she would have the TV on while doing homework. When she explained to me that she could concentrate better on her math, I watched her and checked her behavior with TV on and off. Sure enough she would get all frustrated and antsy without the TV on and was able to do her math homework without a problem with the TV on. So, realizing that she knew herself better than I and that she is a different and seperate person, I let her keep the TV on.
We also had a problem in Junior High SChool english, where the teacher had assigned a simple book report for the kids to do. The problem was that mot of the kids were reading at 5th grade level and were reading books like the babysitters club. DD and her friend were reading Wuthering Heights, The Stepford Wives and Gone With The Wind. The books my DD and her friend were reading had complex plots and were just not suited for the simple book report. DD and her friend kept being admonished for not turning the book report in. The problem was the the girls could not figure out which plotline to use for the report.
I finally went and talked with the teacher. She would not believe that the girls were reading those books. I spent a lot of my time arguing with her and finally got her to agree to just let the girls write a book report about the book, period.
When I questioned the teacher about teaching my DD at her reading level, she said that she had 30 kids and had to make sure they all passed. I asked to have my DD put in a class with others at her level, I was told the school believed in putting the smarter kids with the ones not so bright, so the slower kids would learn from the smarter kids. I was enraged. I said, so my daughter is here to teach the other kids and not for her own benefit! It was after that, that she agreed to my terms of DD and friend doing there own reports on they books they liked and read.
Her history teacher managed just fine BTW. I had no complaints. I watched him teach and he got every student's attention and made every student feel good about him or herself. He was one of those very special teachers, talented and dedicated. Too bad we can't get more like him.