Difficulty adjusting at Glenarden Woods

[Anonymous]

We had a death in the family and DD has missed a week of school so we're behind a bit to begin with. Add in a bus that doesn't come in anywhere near on time and just 3 hours a day to get everything done and we are sinking. Fast!

DD doesn't get anytime to play or unwind after school. She gets home (usually between 15 and 60 minutes late), has a snack, hits the books while I help her SN brother with his HW. I make dinner, the kids eat, get baths and go to bed. Then we get up in the morning with just 30 minutes to get breakfast, dressed, teeth brushed and were off again. DD has yet to be able to complete all her homework and one teacher is being an absolute jerk about it. I have no idea where she expects DD to get these extra hours a day because they sure as Hell aren't coming out of DD's sleeping time. DD is one of those kids that can't have sleep disrupted or she's an absolute nightmare.

The thing is DD is making huge advancements socially. She is being invited to all kinds of parties and her weekends are booked for the next month. The girls actually want to play with her and don't feel obligated because their mothers are my good friends.

I just don't know how to work this all through. DH is deployed so this is all falling on me. I'm just in tears because I don't know how manage all of this. I've already developed shingles and am beginning to wonder if and when I should start drinking.

[Anonymous]

Can you get someone to help through another military mom or hire a teenager to help with homework and take some stress off of you>

[Anonymous]

What grade is your child in? The school day is only about 6 hours long. Even with a late bus..where is the rest of the day going to get you down to 3 hours in the pm and 30 mins in the am. How much work could an ES student have missed in early September that it is required to be completed? Also, if the bus is regularly an hour late, call and complain.

[Anonymous]

The bus ride is 40 minutes there and they are late because they are on the beltway during rush hour. DD leaves at 8:10 and is often home at 5 or later so just because the school day is 6 hours doesn't mean her day is six ours. This school gives out a lot of homework because it's for gifted children.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the magnet program is not working out for your child. Give it some additional time and then analyze if you want to go back to your home school. If this is your child's first year, you haven't really tasted the work load yet..it is huge at times.

[Anonymous]

OP, the bus situation this year has been really bad. They don't have enough bus drivers.

My child also has a long bus ride for his TAG school -- over an hour in the morning and 45 min in the afternoon!

First of all -- keep track of the arrival times of the school bus. 60 minutes late is completely unacceptable! Contact the transportation office and let them know when your bus is late and that buses arriving home 1 hour late impacts your child's ability to keep up with homework.

You have already contacted the student's teacher I presume? If so, keep that up -- let her know how long your child's day is and how she has been having to deal with school bus rides that are very long. I think the bus rides are much longer this year than teachers may have been used to last year or in previous years, or in previous schools (I believe some teachers at GWES are new due to the expanded program. If they had been teaching at neighborhood schools they may be used to children having only a 20 minute ride home.)

Also contact the school principal. Let her know that your child is struggling, not with the CONTENT of the schoolwork and homework, but with the AMOUNT, or at least the lack of time. Let her also know the impact that the late buses and the long bus ride are having on your child's ability to complete homework. Homework should not be assigned jut to prove rigor. There is a misbelief out there that gifted and talented students need homework piled on higher and higher, but this is not necessary, especially if it is essentially busywork and is practicing skills your child has already shown mastery of!

I wouldn't think that your child cannot handle the rigor of this school. It doesn't sound like she is struggling at all with the content, and you don't have her enrolled in all sorts of afterschool activities. The bus situation is really not working this year for a lot of us in PGCPS, especially those with children in the magnet/specialty schools. I think you should let the principal know, try to get some kind of reduced workload for your child especially on days when the bus is 60 minutes late! Also contact PGTAG and join:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pgtag/

[Anonymous]

PP again -- also if your child is out of school for an EXCUSED ABSENCE the technically all classwork and homework missed should also be EXCUSED in SchoolMax. I always had my child complete all work missed because I figured it was important or it would not have been assigned! But if your child is having trouble catching up, look through the work and pick out the work that seems most important and just have her do those. Send in a note saying that your child had an excused absence and therefore please mark these assignments as "excused".

[Anonymous]

Also PP one more time.... if absolutely not one at the school will see reason and help you out -- then it isn't a good school for your daughter. But if this is just a temporary thing and you cannot get the homework load reduced -- I say do whatever you need to to get the child through the damn homework and be able to turn it in. If she has 30 problems to do in math, have her do the odd ones only and give her the answers for the even ones. Whatever it takes. Work with the school first, but don't start drinking over homework! Your husband is deployed for Christssake, you have a SN child -- if the school won't work with you... just do what you need to do.

[Anonymous]

PP, I love you. Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

OP, another GWES parent here. Hang in there. You are dealing with A LOT. 10:17 is spot on. This is one of those times when you get to lay down one of life's Big Deal cards.

[Anonymous]

My child is not even an SN but the child is having difficulty adjusting to the boat load of H.W along with projects and tests. The math teacher gave a unit assessment in the beginning but never mentioned it was going to be all word problems. Now there is another unit assessment and she says to study everything that has been taught, which is geometry, algebra, decimals ? No outline of what to expect. no review sheets. Just dealing with it at this point.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

We left. It just wasn't worth the struggle and it's not that DD couldn't handle it. Her progress report was all A's.

[Anonymous]

Sorry to hear that , we were able to greatly reduce the take home work by working with the teachers. Everyone there rally wants the kids to be successful.

[Anonymous]

How is everyone at Glenarden feeling since now we are half way finished? I would appreciate comments from anyone in 5th grade, especially.