Letter (Email) to the Teachers

I received a request from Mrs. Teacher for a conference, and I will set one up this week. I am assuming that this is because of Blondie's grades, since I haven’t had many complaints from you on her behavior. She seems to be slipping into her old habits from last year on her school work. She tells me that her work is complete when she brings home her assignment book. She does bring some of her work home, but she leaves at school the things she doesn’t want to do, and I don’t know about it until it is already a zero.

This year I have had a different strategy when I find out she hasn’t done her work. Last year I fought tooth and nail to get her to do her homework, and it wore both of us out. This year I have put the responsibility on her. When she avoids doing her work and it is obvious to me, I just remind her that she doesn’t have to do her work this year, she can always just repeat 5th grade and do it next year instead. This seems to motivate her more than anything I have come up with in the past. She suddenly decides that the work is important and she wants to do it. Then I tell her that it’s really okay and not to worry about it, and then she insists that she wants to do it.

You might want to try that when she doesn’t want to do her work in class, or doesn’t have some of her work turned in.

When she brought home her progress report, I asked her whether her grades were low because she didn’t understand the work or she just didn’t want to do it, and she told me that lots of times she doesn’t understand it. As I mentioned before, I requested last year in December to have her tested, but Mr. Principal did not act on it. He said that unless the extra tutoring didn’t work, they would not move forward with testing. If she is now failing, it is probably time to move forward with the testing for putting her into remedial classes. I really don’t know what else to do.

I will see you next week (after the 14th).