And I mean HELL. I posted the top which is my son’s report card grades. The picture stinks, but I wanted to show you how the average of his nine classes the first semester was 89, then 94, then 98. To go from 89 to 98, with nine classes in the average, means he scored 81 more points overall from the first semester to the third.
He is in the SP program, which is basically the gifted classes. You have to maintain an 85 in your four core subjects. He did not manage that in the first semester. I was sad, and talked to hm about being demoted.
We also got a call from the science teacher telling us that my son had not done homework in a week. What the EFF!
We left him to his own devices for the first semester of 6th grade, his first year of middle school. He handled everything very poorly.
Then the dads jumped in. We monitored everything, we rewarded good behavior, we had consequences for negative behavior. We all three worked our ASSES off. By the third parent/teacher conference our son was getting glowing reviews!
Turns out, even though his middle school is across the street from his elementary school, where over 20 classmates followed him, he had transition issues. He is big and strong so I had no idea he had fears and other issues. Thankfully he worked through them, with our assistance, and things turned around. And just know, we all worked very hard on this turn around!
His grades steadily climbed! Extra credit opportunities, such as the one he got from exhibiting his science fair project at the American Museum of Natural History helped his grades. That was an honor we could not have foreseen when we were all struggling to figure out the first semester!
And now we know. We will start 7th grade with an English tutor, I will not wait to try to find the right one five months in. We will monitor him from day one. We are going to get it right next year! We have to, that is the year grades count for High School admissions!
The bottom line is, I don’t want my son in a program that he cannot handle. We realized that he could handle this workload, he just had to step up and make the decision to do the work. He had to want it.
So he is reading at a 9th grade level, and going by the English teachers measure he has read 32 books this year. His Social Studies teacher loves the way his mind works. Many of his teachers said he exhibited leadership characteristics and was very helpful. Everyone agreed, he came into his own by the middle of 6th grade. What an amazing feeling we dads got from hearing all of this, We are thrilled to be off of this roller coaster ride – until next time!
You give your son just enough encouragement yet like me walk a fine line of wondering did I do too much .
So happy for you! What an amazing accomplishment, that you all had a hand in. Congrats!
Congratulations, you all deserve the best. I was so happy to read you are aware it’s the 7th grade scores that accompany the high school applications.
With our first son we were unaware of the process, as we had a very short period of time in the fall of 8th grade to visits high schools and get the application in on time. It was very rushed & overwhelming, however we learned from our mistake and with our next two sons we insisted on starting the process in 7th grade. We were able to go at our own pace, attending many open houses & scheduling private tours in 3 schools to narrow the choices down! It was a huge win for us.
Good Luck & Best Wishes
I think you talk him the value of hard work and perseverance. it is so important to stay on top of things and give the help and encouragement at those critical times to help them grow and continue learning.
So happy to know Paul was able to succeed (with the help of his dads) in his sixth grade. We are goint through our own Middle School transition anxiety as our son just graduated 5th grade. I’m sure we will be supporting and guiding our son as much as you did!!
It sounds like you have an amazing child. It also sounds like he has amazing, kind and loving parents who care. Thank you so much for sharing