Wednesday, June 06, 2007

What A Waste

Wizard is a brilliant child. Wizard is lazy. Wizard is falling apart and has completely screwed himself for the 4th quarter Language Arts class.

He had a journal to write for our trip to New Orleans. He turned it in a month late and only after a lot of hounding. He had a packet to prepare for a novel he read independently. He did the art project, that was part of the packet, but did not do any of the written work. His teacher called me this afternoon to tell me all this. I was so NOT happy to be standing in the hair salon, dripping expensive color all over the floor, hearing this news.

When I finally got to school, the teacher conferred with me and Wizard. She told him she was not allowing him to turn anything else in late and that she would give him a zero for that assignment, a major part of his grade. His A will likely drop to a B-. No Honor Roll, nothing. I told them both that Wizard still had to do the assignment. She agreed. We came home, and Wizard was supposed to find his binder and the packet. He could find neither, nor could be find the art project he did. I am so angry with him, I could spit. This is the fourth time this year he has pulled this stunt and always with a long-term project.

Oh, and did I tell you that he dropped out of Band without telling us? Why am I spending big bucks to send this child to private school? Why, why, why?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't want to frighten you or anything, but I've been asking myself some similar questions (and my son is 22 years old!).

There's a lesson in all of this somewhere. I'm sure of it. I just wish I knew what it was...

Christina said...

Whoo boy. Yeah - he is sounding an awful lot like my oldest who will be 22 in July. Who I am currently steaming mad at over inactivity as well. I just cannot fathom people who do not DO things!! Simple things - yet they just don't do it for no particular reason that can be identified. I am such a doer that it boggles my mind and naturally angers me to no end as well. You have my complete sympathy.

Anonymous said...

ugh, I am sorry. I know what a pain in the neck it is when you really want to lay into kids.
*hug*
Anne

Squib said...

Sounds like Wizard and History Girl should hang out with each other. It it isn't history or band she doesn't care. We had something like this happen with a couple of her long-term project. If you figure out what works please please tell me.

MLL said...

You are spending big bucks because this is precisely the type of school that students like Wizard NEED. Because they have high expectations, but also small classes and high levels of caring. Because they will stay on him and teach him, even if its kicking and screaming not just "facts", but responsibility, planning, character and how to have high expectations for HIMSELF. You would never even get those calls from the teacher if he was elsewhere. In the long run, students like Wizard benefit from this environment infinitely more than students who always do everything "right" anyway. Those kids will turn out great no matter where they go to school. Kids like Wizard, OTOH, are at high risk and need what his school offers well beyond the academics.

Honor roll isn't important - learning HOW to learn and how to work successfully and follow through with expectations, whether you like them or not is what's important.

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that there is yet another mom with a 22 year old to complain about. It's almost a trend with that age group.

Alto2 said...

Thank you, everyone for your words of wisdom. I need to remember that many of you have been through this before, have broader perspectives than mine, and are more rational than me. I don't need to reinvent the wheel!