Bearing the Burden of Sub-Par Teaching
Our daughter, Kaylee, is incredibly driven. She wants to excel at everything she does. For a while that manifested itself into her not trying anything because if she couldn’t perfectly succeed, she absolutely refused to try. As she’s matured, it has become a driving force – she must try and she must succeed.
Her plans at this moment are to become an attorney. She spent months thinking about it and began her ninth grade year with that goal in mind. Law school means she needs to get into a good undergrad school. A good undergrad school means she needs to really knock high school out of the park. The problem is that she went to a really not great (and that’s as nice as I’m capable of being) middle school, and left eighth grade completely unprepared for high school.
Case in point: She, along with half of her eighth grade, took Algebra in eighth grade. Within the first two weeks of Geometry in ninth grade, the Freshmen Academy math teacher for her high school contacted all of the Geometry parents. “Our entire class is failing. We feel like none of them received a sufficient base for any higher maths. Algebra is important from here on out. We’re going to just stop now, and turn this Geometry class into an Algebra class.”
Kaylee didn’t have homework a single day in middle school, and she walked into high school completely unprepared, academically, for what was waiting on her.
Now, due to sub-par teaching, she has some catching up to do. She handed me her proposed schedule for next year, asking me to sign it so that she could have a meeting with her guidance counselor. In order to catch back up to where she can take Calculus her senior year, she needs to double-up on her maths. Next year, she’ll be taking Geometry and Algebra II, which is the smartest move in our opinion. Doubling up her junior year and taking Algebra II and Trigonometry would just be too heavy of a course-load.
Doubling up, though, removes one of her electives, providing her with very little break in her academic day. And, due to the requirements of the state of Kentucky, she has to take a language as well — which means that she’ll be taking her first ever foreign language on top of two math classes and the rest of her advanced courses.
Adding church youth group, chorus, volleyball, and softball to that year is going to make for a very busy 15/16-year old.
We are incredibly proud of her, and we absolutely believe that she’s making the right decisions. I’m impressed with the way that she’s plotting far enough ahead to know exactly what she has to do to get to choose which college she wants. At the same time, I’m angry that she even has to play catch-up, and angry that the burden is going to fall on her shoulders and give her such a heavy courseload.
Hallee
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I took geometry and algebra 2 at the same time. Totally doable. I do not recommend the other two @ the same time, not because of workload, but because of content. I hope the school signs off on the plan. I had to meet with like 3 people to get permission. I now have a BS in math & MS in comp sci. I guess it worked out fine. One caution right at the beginning…alg 2 often starts out with alegebraic proofs which can be a little bit tricky if you don’t take geometry first, but that is easy to overcome. There are no other parts of the course that should be a problem. :) Have fun Kaylee!
I am not sure if you can see the email address I entered, but if you can, feel free to email me if I can help.
P.S. I’m now a community college prof in KY… and my husband is in the Army. We have a couple things in common and I love your blog. This is my first time commenting, but I’ve been a subscriber for a while
God Bless!
Geeez… I wish there was some consistence from one school to another… I’m probably dreaming to think we could see all scool districts in all states on the same page someday. I must give credit to our school district. Tyler’s kindergarten teacher had an enrichment program in which she had put different items and instructions in to small little backpacks. such as lengths of rope or yarn. Added questions such as..which is longer the red or blue rope? This was a voluntary once a week activity and I thought it kind of introduced the kids to homework. Beginning in 1st grade it is the expectation of our school district that every student study, do homework or read at least 10 minutes for each grade that they are in every night.. 1st graders 10 minutes per nite, 2nd 20 minutes… by 6th grade the kids can have up to an hour of homework several times per week. Those 10 minute increments continue to increase through middle school and high school. If there is no assigned homework then the expectation is that students will read and make an entry in their reading logs. In the past 10 years scores have increased significantly in many of our schools.
I know that Kaylee has the right environment and parental support to get her on track to meet those goals. I’ve never seen a more driven and organized household as the Bridgemans. She’s going to make an awesome attorney.
Thank you, my friend. That is high praise.
Thank you so much for this comment and for your encouragement.
I had Trig my junior year and Calc my senior year – the best I could think, her smartest move would be to take Algebra II and Geometry together. I think I can tutor her through the worst of the beginning. She’s really smart, so I think she’ll be able to succeed.
Similar situation here I had to take Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time because in my middle school those who didn’t quite test into Algebra 1 were placed into an “Advanced Pre-Algebra”. This meant we took Algebra 1 but didn’t get any credit for it which meant I had to take it again. Then to even apply for the Math and Science Academy in Bowling Green I had to double up. Isn’t it crazy how GOOD some of our schools are at preparing anyone for anything anymore. However if shes determined she will certainly be able to succeed.
Hi Hallee! First let me say what an adorable daughter you have! And I am thoroughly impressed that she has set goals for her future and is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve them! A standing ovation for her efforts!!
But it truly is a shame that she will now have to carry the burden of a failing school system to catch-up. I have always been against the “no child left behind” program as I feel that it punishes kids that are smart and motivated (like Kallee) and they do not get the education they deserve as the system has been “dumbed down” so that everyone can pass. I am constantly appalled and amazed that we live in a world where teachers are paid a pittance and education is an afterthought when it comes to spending to make it better. And yet, it’s okay for politicians to receive contributions and pay millions of dollars to get elected to office.
I can only imagine an educational system supported by the type of campaign contributions that roll easily into the coffers of politicians.
I went to a not so great high school that did not even go up to calculus and didn’t have anyone home to help direct me through the college process. I wanted to attend Cal Poly and was not accepted the Fall term after graduation. However, like your daughter, when I have a plan, nothing stands in my way. I called Cal Poly and asked how to get in and got a list of what I needed to do. In short, I attended Sac State (our local university) for fall term and transferred to Cal Poly winter term (they admitted me the next time I applied). I took Calculus that fall term and I was right on track for the engineering curriculum for Cal Poly. I did graduate from Cal Poly with a degree in engineering despite not having a calculus class in high school. If it gets too stressful for your daughter with 2 math classes, she can always take it that first semester of college. And, if she does not get into her choice college that first time, it does not seal her fate. She can always transfer. There is always a way for the determined!
What a marvelous idea. I love that.
I basically did the same thing. I was shooting to be in honors classes in high school, but my middle school did not prepare me for that. So, I doubled up on math classes in the tenth grade, taking Algebra II honors and geometry. That enabled me to get into honors math classes and even AP Calculus my senior year. I held down a part-time job throughout high school as well. She can definitely do it being as motivated and driven as she sounds and with you there supporting her!
My high school didn’t even offer trig or calculus. Some of my classmates took AP Calculus online. Does KY have any online courses? If so, she could take an easy elective, like an office/nurse’s/ library aid. That would help pad her GPA and provide her with a study hall. Our online courses were for P.E., Spanish, French. Latin, Biology (Honnors and AP), and AP Calculus.
P.E.? fascinating.
I’m not sure what’s offered in conjunction with the school. I have a local friend whose daughter homeschools through online high school.
I have learned that things aren’t what they were when we were in school. One of my kids attends a public middle school that is the #1 district in the state. It is highly competetive and there are many students with Asian and Indian parents. I believe that go to public school a child must also be homeschooled if they want to be competetive. My son has never had a school night without homework since Pre-K- from both the school and home. Dad keeps him ahead in math and he is taking Algebra 1 in 6th grade (most kids in our district take it in 7th grade). I keep him ahead in Language Arts and am already prepping for SATs. We can rely on the public school to give a decent education, but we can’t expect them to prepare all of those kids for the highest levels if that is where they want to go.