Dear teachers,
Do you frequently see a drop in performance in the second quarter? Especially after holiday break?
Both my guys have gone down in academics, even my younger son who has made honor roll every time for the last 2 years including the first 9 weeks of this year.
My youngest son’s teacher was telling me that his DWL has gone down from 90’s to 70’s(creative writing) since coming back from the break and he is not passing comprehension tests on the books he says he has read. Math is becoming a concern since before the break. He is in 5th grade.
My oldest is bombing science because of the labs sheets and other classwork. My understanding is that there is a big difference in focus of attention. Meds are the same.Oldest takes Ritalin SR20mg once a day, youngest takes 10mg Ritalin, the short acting, twice a day.
They have had, however, a large number of days off. They had 3 weeks for winter vacation (we took them out a week early due to my misfiguring the dates and made reservations that week) and have had the last 2 fridays, this past monday, and will have the next 2 fridays off. I just think they are having a hard time readjusting to the schedule and having a hard time being in ‘school’.
A new thing with my younger son is that he seems to be misunderstanding directions and having problems copying from the board. He just had a physical, his ears are good, vision is good(wears glasses, they were made in Sept.), hearing screening yesterday by school nurse was good.
I am planning on asking the doc to put them both on a longer acting medicine, they use concerta here. I figure it must be an attention problem (meds not doing their part) for my younger son since it hasn’t been ongoing until recently and I’ve ruled out the other stuff. My older son I had actually asked the teachers to watch and see how he was doing at the end of the day. It worked out ok last year but apparently not this year.He takes his medicine at 7:20 it should be lasting at least until 1:20(6 hours) but his school doesn’t let out until 2:50.
Thanks y’all.
Re: 2nd quarter performance
While it can take everyone including teachers a few days to shake off the “I want to still be on vacation” blues, I don’t see a drop in performance in my students after holiday break. Perhaps at the very end of the year I do but other than that there’s no time in the school year that everybody or near to everybody experiences a drop in performance.
If your oldest is only having problems in science, and nowhere else, it’s a science class problem.
Your younger son sounds more as if he’s having problems across the board and speaking with his doctor about medication can’t hurt. I know when my own ADD son was that age, the doctor ‘upped’ his dose in small doses through the school year as it seemed as he grew he really needed increased doses to help him be able to stay focused.
Good luck.
Re: 2nd quarter performance
My oldest has the same teacher for math and science and although he has a c average in math, we have agreed he needs extra tutoring that she will provide. I hate to say maybe it is the teacher but it is the common denominator with the classes. Or else math and science in the 7th grade are very hard for him.It is sort of like last year, when he had the one teacher for math and reading and was only doing poorly in her classes (unrelated subjects) but getting a’s in english and social studies. For his other classes this year he has one teacher for english and world geography this year and does well with her. She also was a special ed teacher so I think that is helping him do well in her regular class. His other 2 classes were pe and art(end of the semester today).
Thanks for your input y’all.
Re: 2nd quarter performance
I have a friend whose son whose grades went down in the winter months. Christmas. They really didn’t go up until spring. He eventually was diagnosed with seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
Re: 2nd quarter performance
I make sure my child’s academic classes are in the AM. Math is first, science, english and social studies lunch then pe and computer graphics is at the end of the day. Since we made this change she is doing much better and is finally getting some A’s for the very first time in her entire life. We also upped concerta from 18 to 36 mg and that has helped tremendously.
Re: 2nd quarter performance
Okay, the math teacher emailed me she would give him an incomplete for the quarter for math, send home a math test to correct and the study guide that she and my son made together and would retest him on the 5th of Feb. as she would be out of town this week, then recalculate the grade. Well, she sent home a half dozen quizzes with x’s all over them and some homework, no explanation of what she wants done, and no way to contact her. Oh by the way, I am in the states right now, so my husband is trying to figure this out on his own. I wasn’t here a day and talking to my husband, boy is he frustrated. Welcome to my world honey! Basically she didn’t do what she said she would about the math and I wasn’t really as worried about the c in math as I was the d possible f in science. She did say she would drop a lab grade in science and recalculate but I am not real optimistic about it. Anyway, now I get to worry about what if he doesn’t do this right for math and bombs the retest.Argggh! Will it never end? I know, only 5 and a half more years to go. Thanks for listening!
Re: 2nd quarter performance
As if to prove me right. My sons second quarter report was less then stellar. 1 A, 4 C’s, 1 D, and 1 F. Here we are 4 weeks into the 3rd quater and his lowest average is a C (the class he got an F in the last quarter.) His remaining classes are A’s and B’s. His class he got an F in was reading. This semester so far they have read of Mice and Men which he understood perfectly without a hitch. His teacher said he had a great grasp of the meaning of the book but had diffuculty answering questions about the order the story ocurred and details. The best part is he read the book on his own and finished it ahead of time because he HAD to see what happened. Good progress in my book.
Amy, I am not a teacher but have noticed that my childrens 2nd grading period is always their worst followed by the last with the 1st and 3rd usually being pretty good. My theory is that they do well the 1st one because it is mainly review. The second one is the major start of learning new things and there is lots of time off also. I think I see the decline in the last just because they are begining to wear down. My son is in 8th grade and every year without fail is 2nd semester is always his worst. I wonder if this is a pattern for most students?