Concerns about 5th grade teacher

[Anonymous]

Grades of our 5th grader started going down mid year and have continued to decline so far. When we observed this earlier in the year, we asked the teacher if there is anything specific causing and this and how we can help at home. No response from the teacher was received.
Thinking this might be temporary, we decided and let it go and and wait and see. When the decline continued, we reached out again and the teacher blamed it on behavioral problems and not paying attention in the class, and that he has been missing class assignments. We were a little surprised because none of this was mentioned previously. We addressed this with DS and did weekly follow ups with the teacher to see if things are improving. We also started practicing things at home that the teacher had pointed out he needs help with. We received feedback in couple weeks that things are improving and he is doing better.
Well, fast forward 4 weeks later, the grades have turned from into C (previously mostly A and B), and the communication with the teacher has been challenging. She would either not respond, or says she will call at a certain time to discuss, but never does.
What should be the next steps here? Are we over parenting?

[Anonymous]

No you are not.

Time to move up the food chain. After you ....

look at your kid realistically.

Then request a meeting with teacher and administration. No teacher should not be following up with you.

[Anonymous]

Call the principal. Then follow up with an email.

We have been having similar problems (our teacher is male) and I regret not pushing harder throughout the year out of fear of being That Parent.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you have been trying to work with the teacher, which is what you're supposed to do. The teacher's also supposed to work with you. I agree with PPs that a call to a principal (or assistant principal) is warranted.

[Anonymous]

You reached out to the teacher, got no response, and decided to "let it go"? That's not good parenting.

[Anonymous]

its 5th grade no one will care what grade they got in 5th grade..

[Anonymous]

It is important to let the principal know because it looks like this teacher needs help or support.

[Anonymous]

We went through this is in 4th grade. It was not a grading issue but a skills issue, i.e., regressing in maths competancy.

I sought out the principal and the principal and another admin seperately observed by child's class -- both for my child and any larger issues. I'm not sure the full extent of what happened but the principal jumped in and took over some of the teaching and a teacher (there are two per classroom) did not return for this academic year.

There was a chance my child could be in the same teacher's (the second of the two) class in 5th grade and we received a committment from the principal that my child would not be assigned to the same teacher. That commitment held.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal. Then follow up with an email.

We have been having similar problems (our teacher is male) and I regret not pushing harder throughout the year out of fear of being That Parent.

What's the relevance of mentioning the teacher's gender?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal. Then follow up with an email.

We have been having similar problems (our teacher is male) and I regret not pushing harder throughout the year out of fear of being That Parent.

What's the relevance of mentioning the teacher's gender?

I am that PP. I saw that the OP’s kid has a female teacher and wanted to clear that we don’t have the same problem teacher - people often assume that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We went through this is in 4th grade. It was not a grading issue but a skills issue, i.e., regressing in maths competancy.

I sought out the principal and the principal and another admin seperately observed by child's class -- both for my child and any larger issues. I'm not sure the full extent of what happened but the principal jumped in and took over some of the teaching and a teacher (there are two per classroom) did not return for this academic year.

There was a chance my child could be in the same teacher's (the second of the two) class in 5th grade and we received a committment from the principal that my child would not be assigned to the same teacher. That commitment held.

I'm glad your school admin has the students' interests in mind.

I know I will get the typical rude DCUM comments for saying this, but OP you have to be proactive over the summer and next year and commit to teaching a lot of the grade level math at home yourself because you cannot predict when you will get a bad or lazy teacher. Singapore Math workbooks, Kumon/Mathnasium live classes, Beast Academy, Khan Academy or whatever you think is the best fit for your kid. We had a bad lazy teacher one year where almost nobody in class was achieving grade level fluency. The kids who were unaffected were the ones already on some kind of parallel homeschooling routine or who had been accelerated by their parents over the previous summer. Everyone else was up in arms. The teacher didn't return the following year.

[Anonymous]

You aren’t over parenting but the reality is there is not much time left in the school year so you aren’t likely to fix this.

I think it is worth taking a step back to see if any online ADHD assessments ring true for your kid. That would be worth pursuing this summer.

I also agree with the poster that said something like kumon or mathnasium this summer may be helpful. I wouldn’t worry about the kid’s grades. I would worry about the skills.

And stay on top of this very early for 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call the principal. Then follow up with an email.

We have been having similar problems (our teacher is male) and I regret not pushing harder throughout the year out of fear of being That Parent.

What's the relevance of mentioning the teacher's gender?

I am that PP. I saw that the OP’s kid has a female teacher and wanted to clear that we don’t have the same problem teacher - people often assume that.

Thankful we have enough genders now so that we can have a different gender for every teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:its 5th grade no one will care what grade they got in 5th grade..

You should care if your kid is struggling in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:its 5th grade no one will care what grade they got in 5th grade..

I don't think the problem is the grade, it's the fact that the child is not learning.