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Flying Tiger
11-30-2003, 03:30 PM
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I need some advice.
My daughter is in her final year in high school.
She's an honors student, completed most of her tough classes, but is upset all the time over Economics.
She's pulling a B but feels she can't hang on to it,,.
It's an AP course, and I'm so tired of her struggling with it, and being so upset that I'm considering going to her school, and pulling her out of the class.
I'm not sure if that happens, that the consequences follow her through college, or even to college, so I have to take that into consideration too.
This is a kid who has mastered all the tough Math, physics, sciences,, on and on,, but this economics has her in a bad condition all the time.
What do I do:
Stay outta it.
Maybe the teacher is overly tough on the kids (shes number 2 in a school of 2900 kids) and go in to her school and rattle some cages,
Take action and pull her out?
What would you do???

burbanite
11-30-2003, 03:37 PM
Talking to the teacher goes without saying, maybe there is an easy solution. Sounds like your daughter has no academic problem so it could be a personality thing or something as simple as boredom? Maybe it isn't challenging enough to hold her interest?

white928
11-30-2003, 03:39 PM
Let her handle it on her own. Just give her lots of support. College will have lots of classes that seem overwhelming. But by sticking with it they average out. I'm sure she will be fine. Good luck. Dennis

Elk Chaser
11-30-2003, 03:40 PM
First off I'd talk to the teacher to get a feel for what's up... and then if necessary I may get involved with a little homewrok to see what's up with the kid. I would go from there............
My oldest is an honor student also, she struggles at times with things and I help her get through them as best as I can and we tell her to talk with her teachers all the time to make sure she "gets it". Most teachers will work real hard with a student that is making a genuine effort.
I do not think I would pull my kid out of a class that is challenging her, kinda sends the wrong message IMO. I'd just try and work it out with her, part of life is to struggle with things that are difficult to do, overcoming the challenge is well worth it in the end.

Froggystyle
11-30-2003, 05:03 PM
I am not a parent, so feel borderline unqualified to respond.
But not unqualified enough NOT to respond!
It is amazing what can trip up a usually extremely bright student. I would ask your daughter to explain in detail what she thinks is holding her up. I personally have a mental incapacity to solve differential equations. Solving using infinity is not in my makeup. Period. I took it twice, failed twice miserably. The second time I was really trying too.
Often times, it is the things that hang you up that make you a better person. Not to take away from her amazing accomplishment in school thus far, but perhaps she is doing really well because you did such a good job teaching her that she isn't learning anything... I learned little in high school English. My parents had me reading from a very early age, and our games were not Sega, they were Scrabble and Boggle.
This might be the first course she will actually need to learn something to smoke. Economics is never a very bad thing to learn a whole lot of, that is for sure.
I would talk to her, find out if there is any way you can help her do better in this class, but in my humble opinion, the very, very worst thing you could do would be pull her out for getting a "B". What kind of message is that sending to her? That if you can't get an "A", quit? Or worse, have your dad remove you? No way man...
Learning your limits is far more important than success.
Wow, this got pretty deep...

H20 Party Starter
11-30-2003, 05:15 PM
blow up the school:D
It won't matter much w/ or w/o the class.........pull her out, and give her a free period to spend some quality time with her boyfriend;) .....it's not worth the stress, life's too short
h20==> on year 6 of college:cool:

Dribble
11-30-2003, 05:30 PM
You might talk to the teacher but remember.
Next year when she's in college she will have to deal with this stuff herself. It's not what comes easy that builds character. It sticking through what's difficult. Your daughter is obviously a great kid and will find an oppotunity to grow from this.

NorCal Gameshow
11-30-2003, 05:59 PM
I would talk to the teacher. see if there is a tutor the teacher can recommend ...since she excells in other courses it might be hard to get her to except help, but it will be worth it...good luck...
if all parents only had this problem;)

Mandelon
11-30-2003, 06:08 PM
I assume the issue is with her GPA suffering by getting a B? If that is the deal go have a conference with her and the teacher. I remember some teachers were just not handing out A's you really had to earn it. May be a personality thing too.
But as Froggy stated to pull her out due to a B? Gimme a break. Life is going to be hard and cruel to someone who got only all A's.
Be glad you have such an issue.

Kilrtoy
11-30-2003, 06:08 PM
I disagree with everyone, I think it is a good life experience. It is teaching her how to overcome adversity, When she gets out in the really world , you cant just pull up stake and continue on.
By removing her and showing her the easy way out, Quitting will harm her in the future. Stick with it . It will make her a better, stronger person and is a way of preparing her for how ugly life can get.......

mmered8299
11-30-2003, 06:52 PM
I'm with Kilroy. Pulling her out when times are tuff could make her think that she can quit anytime life gets a little hard. Don't go down with out a fight!

AzDon
11-30-2003, 07:35 PM
My daughter finished third in her class, and my son is tied for first. My son is not a schmoozer and has had a bit of trouble with some of the "honors" teachers, who feel that it is their mission to be tough on the kids, and hold "A's" out of reach. In this district, the teachers are required to post the grades on an item by item basis. I've gotten involved when any particular assignment or test has had a high percentage of failure because I believe that this reflects on the teacher's ability to communicate the objectives of the assignment effectively. My son had a teacher that was giving instructions in a hushed voice as punishment for a class that was slow to quiet down at the beginning. Only the six kids seated nearest to her were able to hear and 60% of the class failed to turn an assignment in because of this and were forced to accept 50% of the grade for being late. Harping on the 60% failure to hand in, I insisted that she reconsider the lateness. I insisted that Nick be moved to the front of the room, and I insisted that I needed to recieve all Nick's assignments and projects in writing, because this teacher had a habit of changing the grading criteria after the assignment was explained and assigned....She argued (discussed?) my complaints on the phone for 3 hours-literally!....I thought my ear was going to fall off!!! We came to (sort of) an understanding and Nick never had another problem with her!
One thing I do make sure to tell a teacher I'm compelled to deal with, is that my son wants to be valedictorian and that he's had to arrange his classes from about seventh grade to achieve this goal and "A's" are mandatory for him to finish first! It literally is a tie that is only broken by participants falling down and some of these honors teachers have to be reminded once in a while! They usually work with Nick once they realize he has goals!
I only involve myself if there are legitimate fairness issues or high failure rates. I have no problem with Nick getting less of a grade if it is the grade that he earned. Nick knows better than to bother me unless there is a legit reason to bitch, so I almost always end up getting cooperation from the teacher. If I can't get it straightened out with a phonecall to the teacher,I generally have Nick put his complaint in writing, and I put my 2 cents in writing as well and when we have a conference with the principal, we hand copies of the complaints to the (usually two) district employees to read and consider in their entirety before responding... you'd be surprised how easily problems are to solve when your adversaries aren't able to interrupt and argue before the entire complaint is expressed!