aargh....

[jay]

James has overall adjusted well to high school... bringing his grades up to A-level in Algebra II, World History, and Literature Survey... everything except in one area. We received today's midterm progress report, and he's in danger of *failing* his Honors Chemistry class. Aargh... it is hard to let go, to let him sink or swim on his own sometimes. I want to dive in and fix it.... but I'm not allowed to do much more for him than help with homework. Although maybe I should investigate whether there are private tutors in chemistry. Any suggestions? His homework and labs have improved, but he is choking on his quizzes and tests.

Unless there's a quick improvement by midterms, he's going to have to drop at least one of his two bands...

Comments

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

After 6 weeks, any change to regular chem goes on his transcript as a drop. One thing that kind of annoys me is that early-on, he asked his counselor if he should change... she told him that he should talk to the honors chem teacher. Who then told him what he needed to do to improve, but said nothing about switching to regular chem. And now that he's in trouble, it's too late to do so -- had she been more upfront a month ago, he would likely be better off.

I blame myself somewhat for not questioning him harder... and I think he has gotten some substandard counselling.

[deedeebythebay.livejournal.com]

*gently now* He's a freshman....will one drop make that big a difference?

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

Good point...

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

Yes, actually, it might. Because a drop usually goes down as an F in the GPA, IIRC. It might, however, be better for him to FAIL the current class, and re-take it. In some systems, when you do that the earlier failure gets expunged from the record. I think much will depend on what system this particular school uses.

[deedeebythebay.livejournal.com]

Interesting, in college I had to drop a few classes over time, and some of them "past the deadline" and they were never considered an "F" or affected my grade. You're right, each system is different.

[lynne-laughs.livejournal.com]

In most cases I have seen recently, an F will continue to show up on the transcript. I am not aware of drops being turned into an F. This is something that needs to be checked out with the individual school... also with a bit of pressure on the counseller, he or she should be able to make an exception for a change from honors to regular chem. Schools say they have these inflexible rules, but whan a parent shows up on campus, things begin to look different.

Substandard counselling is a pretty nice way of putting it. My advice is that you study up on exactly which classes your son needs to take and be sure that he gets them. Too many students wake up half way through high school to find they are not eligible for college.

With my students that have a tough class, I request a grade check every two weeks. I made a form that includes current grade, test scores, homework, participation and comments. This keeps the student and the teachers (and parents too) aware of everything in detail.