Friday, August 17, 2007

Could you pass high school?

Well, once again, the kid thing has kicked my ass. I have to say, my oldest is in 6th grade this year, one week into it, and last night he brought home some of the hardest math homework I've ever seen. It was called expodentials?? Not sure of the spelling and after all I am the dumbest person on the planet, or at least the dumbest in my house so who knows. So he brings home this worksheet. I had to be at his school til 7 for a parent meeting. W stayed home with them and by the time I got home they were bathed, they had dinner, homework was done. And my dinner was on the stove waiting for me. God I love her. Anyway, WB was watching tv. I asked about the homework, was it ok? did he need any help? He said no. It was done. I helped SB(8yr old) with his homework and explained a couple of things to him. Then I told WB that I should at least look over his homework. I looked - I did NOT understand it. I asked WB to explain it to me. He proceeded to explain it - how you do it - what 2 to the sixth power means etc etc.

Then I start looking at it applying his rules - It is all wrong! Almost every problem.

I ask, "What is wrong with this answer? How did you come up with it?

note: I notice that there is no scribbling in the margins.

He says, Oh, I did the problem, They are close to being right! The silly future ditch digger child had not done the problems at all. He had just guessed or gotten "close." I proceed to read him the riot act. I tell him that every math sheet had better show his work from now on. There are no "almost right answers" He will have to check and re-check his work. I swear, the math was not easy, but he even knew how to do it, because he told me! He just DIDN'T DO IT.
I do not understand
Does he want to quit 6th grade now and just learn a skill?
That would save us a lot of trouble and money.

So, I found this little quiz to see if I could pass high school.
I obviously failed ....

as my soon to be teenage son will do if I don't kick him in the ass every night!!!
YIKES!!!

You Failed High School

Time to hit the books!

5 comments:

KellyNerd said...

dont the kids get summer holidays where you live? here in Van, B.C. the kids get all of July and August off...

I did not realize just how stupid I was until my daughter hit middle school!!! I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to hire a tutor!!

SassyFemme said...

Math gets crazy hard in middle school. Hell, the year I taught fifth grade I used to have to take the math book home with me a few nights a week to brush up on a few things.

FYI, if you need it, a good website for math (for the kids or adults), with explanations and practice is: http://www.aaamath.com/

L said...

kelly,
thanks and yes they got out june and july, now they're back
sassy,
thanks. i'll look at that website. we do already have a math tutor. I had to get one because here, the only good public schools require the kids to be in the top 20% in the nation to go there. great huh?

Kathryn said...

There is an EXCELLENT book by Scholastic that I highly recommend. It has saved me many times with my daughter, it's called "Everything You Need to Know About Math Homework."

Here's the link...http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=043962522x

Creative Thinker said...

2+2=5