Kid’s Medicore Grades at Deal

[Anonymous]

My boy, 12 yo and in seventh grade, got Bs and Cs on his first advisory. It does not seem good at all, but I’m trying to understand the extent of the problem relative to other students. He’s smart, has a lot of common sense, is happy, and a good group of friends. But he doesn’t particularly work hard and is quiet, which surely doesn’t help. He’s in eighth grade math, so there’s that, fwiw. He maybe spends 10-20 minutes a night on homework, and often misses assignments. I have the feeling that his grades will more or less stay the same without drastic intervention. I’ll find out more when I attend the parent-teacher conferences but am wondering what folks think of this performance. Something to worry about? If so, what to do? Do parents work with their kids nightly?

[Anonymous]

Yes, I would worry. I have much younger kids, but this would worry me.

[Anonymous]

Many children have less than stellar grades the first quarter at a middle school. Middle school is for getting good study habits established and learning from mistakes. What does the advisor think? Can your child and the teachers pinpoint areas of weakness and what steps need to be taken to improve?

Missing assignments is a red flag. Grades will improve once assignments are handed in on time. Those C's would probably be in the B range simply by handing things in. My child was the same way. Having a planner helped. When the assignment was broken down into manageable pieces, long-term projects got turned in on time instead of being a last-minute rush job or not done altogether.

I don't think you should worry too much, but you do want to nip bad habits in the bud and reinforce good study and organizational skills.

[Anonymous]

How did your child do last year at Deal?

Are you checking ASPEN with your child 1 once a week?

This should not be a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My boy, 12 yo and in seventh grade, got Bs and Cs on his first advisory. It does not seem good at all, but I’m trying to understand the extent of the problem relative to other students. He’s smart, has a lot of common sense, is happy, and a good group of friends. But he doesn’t particularly work hard and is quiet, which surely doesn’t help. He’s in eighth grade math, so there’s that, fwiw. He maybe spends 10-20 minutes a night on homework, and often misses assignments. I have the feeling that his grades will more or less stay the same without drastic intervention. I’ll find out more when I attend the parent-teacher conferences but am wondering what folks think of this performance. Something to worry about? If so, what to do? Do parents work with their kids nightly?

Deal is a IB program. Is your child taking advantage of the tutoring and GRIT sessions offered by the school? Is your child retaking items that he does poorly on?

My DS is also in 7th - we ask each night if he has homework. When he says no, we open up ASPEN and ask about specific items due later in the week and his status on completing them. Surprise - he will say he actually does have some homework to do. When he has assignments that are 0 he finds them and hands them in. He will send his teacher an email or possibly take a picture of the completed assignment and send it to her.

My son has very low executive functioning - so we support by giving options - but he needs to do it.

[Anonymous]

Ha! This seems to be the norm with 7th grade boys. I also have a son in 7th grade and if I don't remind him to keep up the assignments - he just forgets. Gets As on tests/big assignments but forgets things. Check in with Aspen once a week with him. That visual is enough to remind my son. I also have him do the follow up with his teachers - did they get his homework? A few times he forgot to put his name on it. Can he make it up? He's been doing GRIT lately which is very helpful and manage to pull all his grades up.

You are not alone - all my friends with boys at Deal in this grade - okay most - are having the same issue right now. Talk to his teachers too...they are really good at helping you know what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My boy, 12 yo and in seventh grade, got Bs and Cs on his first advisory. It does not seem good at all, but I’m trying to understand the extent of the problem relative to other students. He’s smart, has a lot of common sense, is happy, and a good group of friends. But he doesn’t particularly work hard and is quiet, which surely doesn’t help. He’s in eighth grade math, so there’s that, fwiw. He maybe spends 10-20 minutes a night on homework, and often misses assignments. I have the feeling that his grades will more or less stay the same without drastic intervention. I’ll find out more when I attend the parent-teacher conferences but am wondering what folks think of this performance. Something to worry about? If so, what to do? Do parents work with their kids nightly?

Here's how I'd handle it:

- check Aspen regularly
- communicate with his teachers and his team in general about what he can do differently - the Deal faculty is great as far as working with you
- stop posting this on DCUM. You are just going to get people who will rip on Deal.

[Anonymous]

Be very worried..sounds like needs assistance with executive functioning. No way 10-20 minutes a night is sufficient for homework. Drill him every night about his assignments and what he has on the horizon. That will enforce the importance and help him start to manage his time. Not working hard is a non starter and that tone needs to be set now before high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ha! This seems to be the norm with 7th grade boys. I also have a son in 7th grade and if I don't remind him to keep up the assignments - he just forgets. Gets As on tests/big assignments but forgets things. Check in with Aspen once a week with him. That visual is enough to remind my son. I also have him do the follow up with his teachers - did they get his homework? A few times he forgot to put his name on it. Can he make it up? He's been doing GRIT lately which is very helpful and manage to pull all his grades up.

You are not alone - all my friends with boys at Deal in this grade - okay most - are having the same issue right now. Talk to his teachers too...they are really good at helping you know what is going on.

We're not at Deal, but at a different MS. I'm wondering what GRIT is - thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be very worried..sounds like needs assistance with executive functioning. No way 10-20 minutes a night is sufficient for homework. Drill him every night about his assignments and what he has on the horizon. That will enforce the importance and help him start to manage his time. Not working hard is a non starter and that tone needs to be set now before high school.

I totally disagree. My son’s grades are all high 90% and he usually finishes homework on the bus or in the morning before school starts. Deal’s homework isn’t time consuming.

[Anonymous]

GRIT is time set aside by each Team (think Griffindor House), where students can meet with any and all of their teachers to do whatever needs to be done: make up missing assignments if allowed, get tutoring, submit materials to petition for a retake if within the window, retake if allowed, get caught up from a sick day, etc. Typically there are daily and weekly times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ha! This seems to be the norm with 7th grade boys. I also have a son in 7th grade and if I don't remind him to keep up the assignments - he just forgets. Gets As on tests/big assignments but forgets things. Check in with Aspen once a week with him. That visual is enough to remind my son. I also have him do the follow up with his teachers - did they get his homework? A few times he forgot to put his name on it. Can he make it up? He's been doing GRIT lately which is very helpful and manage to pull all his grades up.

You are not alone - all my friends with boys at Deal in this grade - okay most - are having the same issue right now. Talk to his teachers too...they are really good at helping you know what is going on.

We're not at Deal, but at a different MS. I'm wondering what GRIT is - thanks

Can’t remember what the acronym stands for but it is time set aside for team (teacher-lead) tutoring and exam make-ups. It is during the recess time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be very worried..sounds like needs assistance with executive functioning. No way 10-20 minutes a night is sufficient for homework. Drill him every night about his assignments and what he has on the horizon. That will enforce the importance and help him start to manage his time. Not working hard is a non starter and that tone needs to be set now before high school.

I totally disagree. My son’s grades are all high 90% and he usually finishes homework on the bus or in the morning before school starts. Deal’s homework isn’t time consuming.

Is your kid in the lowest math track and getting C's? I didn't think so. Some kids actually need to study and spend more time on the lessons to learn them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did your child do last year at Deal?

Are you checking ASPEN with your child 1 once a week?

This should not be a surprise.

If you happen to have a teacher who does not keep ASPEN updated in a timely manner (there are a few), you must report this problem the the grade-level assistant principal. It will tank the grade of a kid with executive function issues. If a kid is missing a few assignments, but those assignments are not posted to ASPEN, parents have no way of knowing they hadn't been turned in. Some teachers get "caught up" with ASPEN two days before the close of the quarter. ASPEN doesn't help parents make sure a kid isn't falling through the cracks if the teachers don't use it.

[Anonymous]

7th grade boy not applying himself or putting forth much effort is age appropriate behavior. Frustrating to say the least. Look for him to kick it into gear Sophomore year.