Reply to Why do so many parents let their kids just stay home?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a math teacher. I do have strict curriculum to follow. Every missed class means the student is behind and will be able to follow lesson they come to, unless they catch up on their own. Since many parents do not know math and not able to tutor, it then falls on me to somehow get the kid up to speed. For just lessons I can replace 90 minutes of class with 45 minutes of 1:1 after school session but now you asking me to be a 1:2 tutor for every kid who kisses my class, and for free. 
So whatever is happening or not happening  in other classes, missing math means one of the following: 1) you ensure your kid is up to speed on lesson/practice (studying in their own or with you or with tutor); 2) your kid spends at least an hour after school with teacher - you burden the teacher and teacher needs to agree to this (unfair either way); 3) your kid goes on as nothing happened meaning they now have a gap (those gaps when they accumulate will mean your kid is slower in future classes, struggling to understand lessons that require strong prerequisite skills, etc)[/quote]

Assuming you're saying that the child will NOT be able to follow the lesson they "come to"? As in if they miss a day the next lesson cannot be understood according to your teaching methods. You sound like a terrible teacher. Even in the workplace and the adult world, we have missing people, sickness and plenty of review and recaps. [/quote]

I’m not the PP, but I am a math teacher. You mentioned that there’s plenty of opportunities for review and recaps at your job, that’s not always the case in HS and sometimes MS. Often times a new concept is taught every class.[/quote]Can you name the 180 unique concepts taught in a single year's math class? Remember, they're apparently structured such that missing any one will render at least some of the remaining lessons unintelligible. I'll wait.[/quote]

Happily, thank you for asking. Well, in middle school in high school there are not 180 days there are 90 classes. I’m going to change that to because at least 10 of those will be days that occur after the SOL. Of those 80 approximately 20 Will be test days. Out of those remaining 60 days, I counted approximately 45-50 unique concepts in Algebra that are different enough from the previous day to constitute a gap if missed. So going back to your question, there are approximately 3 to 4 days each quarter for overlap.[/quote]

I’m another teacher and this is pretty accurate.  Since you asked, here are specific topics for my Alg 2 class. https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high-school-grades-9-12/mathematics/algebra-2-honors#details

Unlike this teacher I am not staying after school for 45 min to reteach the lesson.  My notes are posted and extra videos are posted online.  They are expected to watch and go over those when absent and come see me during the remediation block with questions.   I get it, kids need to be absent.  My own kids are absent sometimes.  They know they are responsible for making up work.  [/quote]

But that’s the problem, the majority of them make a little effort to follow up on the lesson or make up the work.[/quote]

You are quoting me and that’s true, the majority don’t do it.  But I can’t worry about this.  It’s physically impossible for me to teach the lesson again after school to every kid that is out and most don’t want to stay anyway.   I do not worry about this anymore and the gaps widen for those who don’t put in effort on their own and come with questions.  There is only so many hours in the day and my days of staying after for hours every day ended a few years back.  [/quote]

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