Backpacks Are TOO Heavy!

My son’s backpack weighs 30 pounds some nights. He is in Junior High and his teachers have no concept of what one another is giving for homework. He can hardly make it to the car some days and I would prefer him to walk home on other days but I can’t do it because he’d never make it home with the backpack. Can’t schools do something about this?

This is a fairly common complaint. I think parents today think that this is a new phenomenon, but kids have been lugging home heavy books for quite some time. A seventy-two year old friend of mine says, “Heavy backpacks have always made kids strong and smart, why complain?” Some schools have tried to remedy this problem by assigning two sets of books to each student, one set to be kept at home and another to be kept at school. I find this solution to be pretty ingenious, so you might want to check with your son’s school to see if you can borrow a set of textbooks for the school year. If this is not an option, you may want to consider getting a backpack that rolls with one of those pull-up handles. I’m not sure if this is “cool”, but it will save your son from lugging around the weight on his back.

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Fifth Grade Child does not want to go to RSP

I am in fifth grade. I have a lot of trouble with numbers. My dad asked the school to help me. When it comes time for math now, I have to leave my classroom to go to a special teacher. I do not want to go. My dad wants to know if you can convince me to go.

Special is right. Sounds like you have a special dad and a special teacher. I will do my best to convince you, but I think the person who loves you the most, your dad, is the one who is going to steer you in the right direction.

Do you know anyone with braces? When I taught fifth grade, lots of my students had braces. Do you know where they got those braces? It wasn’t from the dentist. The dentist takes care of our teeth, but if you want to change the shape of your teeth and help them line up straight, you go to the orthodontist. You go to a specialist.

Your classroom teacher is like the dentist. But when it comes to math, you need to go to the orthodontist. The teacher that you are going to work with has special training and skills that will help you tackle math in a way that your classroom teacher cannot. When you leave your classroom, you will go to a highly trained teacher waiting to focus just on you. If you go to this teacher with an open mind, she will fill you up with confidence and knowledge. Just like with braces, if you wear the rubber bands and the headgear, the braces come off sooner with beautiful results. If you go with a grumpy, angry attitude, she will still fill you up with confidence and knowledge, but it is going to take a lot longer. Your dad wants you to be happy, and he wants the best education anyone could give you. Do him a favor: work on your math and go with a smile.

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Teacher has NO CONTROL of fourth grade class

My child’s teacher has no behavior system. She is new to fourth grade, but my daughter’s class is eating her alive. Parents at the school love her, but that was when she was an adorable Kindergarten teacher. The fourth grade kids are unruly and the teacher looks frazzled from 8AM till 2PM when the kids leave. In fact she looks frazzled till 2:30 when she is done with duty and she can’t control the kids outside either. It is only the third week of school and this just won’t work for me or my daughter. The classroom is becoming unsafe (kids are throwing things and everything, it is a disaster). I am volunteering in the classroom to try to help out, but even more so to keep an eye on my daughter. Is it time to go to the principal? Should I ask for a transfer or ask the principal to help this teacher get her act together?

Boy, you sound pretty diplomatic for a parent in the middle of a war zone. If the children are throwing things and you feel the environment is unsafe then the time to go to the principal was yesterday. Did you talk with the teacher about what you are seeing? What was her response? The principal will likely ask you to share your concerns with the teacher as well so that this person knows that the classroom environment is unruly. If you are willing to stick it out, I think you should stay in the classroom and hope that the principal can help this teacher with her management system. If you ask to move, that really doesn’t solve the problem.