A is in the second semester of the third grade. So far, it has been academically challenging. Jen and I found out early on in his third grade year, that his second grade teacher do not do very much teaching. A made "A"s all year long in second grade. We thought that he was doing just fine. However, there are 6 kids from A's second grade class in his third grade class, and they were all behind. This was unfortunate. A goes to a good school in a good school district with a very good reputation. Third grade is also a very challenging year academically. So, A went into third grade needing to learn a lot of second grade material while learning third grade material. This was especially evident in math.
Jen and I expect to help out in the educational process with our children. But, we are not teachers by trade. We found ourselves having to teach A after school. In my opinion, A and his entire class are assigned a lot of homework. I am sure that the teacher feels that the homework is necessary to get them ready for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. A goes to school from 8 AM until 3 PM. He gets home at 3:30 PM and then does homework until about 5 PM on most days. That is a long day for an 8 year old. So far, he has been a trooper. He gets home and gets right to work on his homework. Besides learning two grades worth of material in one year, A also has to deal with being my son. When I was in school, I always wanted to be the first one done with an assignment. I took pride in being the first one finished with a test. I liked being the first one to stand up and walk up to the teacher to turn in an assignment. Sadly, I am still like that. I had to take a test at the end of field training school. I was the first one finished in the class by 15 minutes. A likes to finish first as well. He wants to get done quickly so that he can do what he wants to do. And what he wants to do is read. During the year, the third graders are given benchmark tests. The tests help the teachers determine how well the kids are learning the necessary material to pass the TAKS test. On the first benchmark test, A did not do very well on the math portion. In fact, he failed that part. Jen and I were fairly certain that he had rushed through the test. Recently, A brought a letter home stating that he might be asked to participate in after school preparation for the TAKS test. The extra tutoring would start at the end of January and last until the end of March, for an hour four days a week. Wow. He already has long days and they are wanting to make it an hour longer. A had a second set of benchmarks coming up. We encouraged him to take his time on the tests. We told him to not worry about who finished first. He took the math portion on Tuesday. He told us that he really took his time and did his best on the test. On Wednesday, when he got home from school, he said that he had some important news to tell me. I had no idea what was coming. He was not smiling. Usually, that means bad news. Then he broke into a big smile and said that he had made an A on his math benchmark. I was so proud of him and happy for him. I could see in his eyes how excited and proud he was of his performance.
Then he added that he was the fifth one finished with the test.
Jen and I expect to help out in the educational process with our children. But, we are not teachers by trade. We found ourselves having to teach A after school. In my opinion, A and his entire class are assigned a lot of homework. I am sure that the teacher feels that the homework is necessary to get them ready for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. A goes to school from 8 AM until 3 PM. He gets home at 3:30 PM and then does homework until about 5 PM on most days. That is a long day for an 8 year old. So far, he has been a trooper. He gets home and gets right to work on his homework. Besides learning two grades worth of material in one year, A also has to deal with being my son. When I was in school, I always wanted to be the first one done with an assignment. I took pride in being the first one finished with a test. I liked being the first one to stand up and walk up to the teacher to turn in an assignment. Sadly, I am still like that. I had to take a test at the end of field training school. I was the first one finished in the class by 15 minutes. A likes to finish first as well. He wants to get done quickly so that he can do what he wants to do. And what he wants to do is read. During the year, the third graders are given benchmark tests. The tests help the teachers determine how well the kids are learning the necessary material to pass the TAKS test. On the first benchmark test, A did not do very well on the math portion. In fact, he failed that part. Jen and I were fairly certain that he had rushed through the test. Recently, A brought a letter home stating that he might be asked to participate in after school preparation for the TAKS test. The extra tutoring would start at the end of January and last until the end of March, for an hour four days a week. Wow. He already has long days and they are wanting to make it an hour longer. A had a second set of benchmarks coming up. We encouraged him to take his time on the tests. We told him to not worry about who finished first. He took the math portion on Tuesday. He told us that he really took his time and did his best on the test. On Wednesday, when he got home from school, he said that he had some important news to tell me. I had no idea what was coming. He was not smiling. Usually, that means bad news. Then he broke into a big smile and said that he had made an A on his math benchmark. I was so proud of him and happy for him. I could see in his eyes how excited and proud he was of his performance.
Then he added that he was the fifth one finished with the test.
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