Teens and Homework

At this age, if she wants to go to college she needs to button up and get to work. This is where colleges are looking at grades and extracurricular activity,

It's bad when you have teachers who aren't the best ( we all get one or two ) but your daughter needs to be talking to the guidance counselor regarding her graduation plan.

If there's a class she's not ready for, they can help get her in the right class. Why is she is the wrong class? Around here parents are involved in the courses taken and the graduation plan starting in 9th grade.

It's likely too late this year for another class and the best option would be a tutor.

If she is wasting time due to her devices and social activity then she needs to lose those until she can grasp the importance of grades.... unless of course she just flat out doesn't care and has no future goals which would be sad.

J.

Get your daughter a tutor for Math. I did. It made all the difference in the world with my son.

Talk with your daughter. She might be starting to get depressed because she's so far behind she feels like she can't catch up.

Get with her counselor at school and have a meeting. HELP her get back on track. School is almost out for the summer - but she needs to have goals. Find out what she wants to do and let her know you are there FOR HER!!

The more you nag about it? The worse it will be.Instead of nagging - ask her if you can help her with anything and sit there with her. you never know what you'll learn by sitting there with her and talking with her.

If she didn't understand the previous work, it's only going to get more difficult. You HAVE to understand the basics in math or you're likely to drown.

What is your goal at this point. Do you want her to pass this semester? If so, you're probably going to have to hire a tutor and get her some help. If she was lost last year, she's probably been lost all year and will really struggle to do well on a Final Exam.

If you feel like this semester is a wash, talk to the guidance counselor about what class she needs to take next year and what you can do over the summer to help her catch up and get ready for that class (even if it's algebra again).

Does your daughter want to go to college? If so, she will probably need to take Algebra I and Algebra II. I teach remedial math at a university, and the students who cannot pass those topics on a placement exam must take remedial classes to catch up. These classes cost the same as other class but are worth zero credit. Rather, they are prerequisites that the students must pass before they are allowed to take college level math, which is required for graduation.

If she doesn't learn these topics now, she will need to take them in college.

Since you're not getting much from the teacher I would speak directly with her counselor, or someone in the counseling office. After all it's up to them what classes she's placed in, not the individual teachers. Try to make an appointment where you and your daughter can go in TOGETHER. Maybe they have some peer tutoring or other after school support services.

"It's easier to say you don't care than it is to try and then fail." (from "Spacecamp" Love that movie!)

If she is struggling now and really never understood what she did last year, she's so in over her head that she probably doesn't believe she will ever get it. What's the point in trying?

I don't think this is about encouraging her to do homework so much as getting her the right help so that she can feel successful.

I would call the school today and make an appointment with the teacher some time this week (today, if possible). You first need to determine how to help your daughter survive the semester - after school with the teacher, tutoring at school, hiring a tutor, etc. Next, you need to figure out what to do this summer so that she can catch up before her next class in the fall.

A place like Sylvan Learning Center might be really good to look into for the summer. They test the students to see which topics they are missing or not understanding. It's not the same as repeating a class. It's just individual topics so that the student can fill in the holes and hopefully begin to understand the material they missed. You might be able to find a tutor to do the same thing, but you need to find a way to determine what areas she doesn't currently understand.

It's a shame the teacher is not communicative.

At 15, kids need to advocate for themselves. That means talking to the teacher herself, staying for extra help, and so on. It also means enduring the consequences of not even trying to complete the homework and turn it in (even if she wrote "I don't understand this question" on a few of the problems).

She also has a guidance counselor, whom she needs to learn to talk to. Maybe you can make the first inquiry and tell the counselor your daughter is having major problems and to please call your daughter to the office during study hall or after school. The counselor can help to facilitate conversations between your daughter, the teacher and perhaps the department head or team leader, whatever structure is in place at her school.

If she really didn't understand that previous work and you think this class was an improper placement, it should have been dealt with in September or October, not April. Or did she move into the class later in the year? Maybe she needs a reassignment, maybe she needs extra help from the teacher, maybe she needs a tutor a few times a week for the next month, or maybe some combination of those. Guidance should be able to help.

If your daughter is just not trying, then she needs to have explained to her the reality of the situation, which is that she's going to be in summer school or giving up some other privileges that matter to her. But I don't believe in punishing kids until everything has been investigated and support services offered.

My dd has set up a system with her algebra teacher. She goes in early and starts exams (because she's a slow worker). She also goes in early to get help on assignments. I went to conferences and thanked him profusely for helping her and working with her. She's gotten A's, but she is motivated.
Maybe you and dd can meet with the teacher and set up a system. Our teachers are required to have tutor time in the morning.

i understand your frustration. at 15 we don't have a lot of control over kids. they've got to have developed some self motivation by now or here's where we are.

sometimes you have to let a kid fail in order for them to have skin in the game. is she really okay with getting kept back a grade? if she really is, then you don't have much of a position to fall back on.

but it sounds to me as if this girl is more frustrated than uncaring. if she didn't understand algebra last year, she's not going to understand it any better this year.

i'd have a talk with her about what her own goals and motivations are. does she want to get into college? does she want to stay in her class? if you get her a tutor will she apply herself? if you can advocate (or better yet, coach her to advocate for herself) for her to remain in her grade but repeat the previous year's algebra class, or get peer-to-peer help from a classmate, or take a different math class, would that help motivate her to try again?

it sounds as if she's at sea in the class so she's given up.

finding out what's at the bottom of it is key.
khairete
S.

Does she have a phone? Watch TV? Computer? Hang our with friends? In our house all these things are conditional based off maintaining decent grades.

I would go over the teacher's head and talk to the counselor at the school or the principal. I fully believe that all school work issues should be handled by the school. Our job is to support the school and help them to be the authority figure in their classes.

Call the school and ask the counselor if they have a program where the student stays after school a couple of days per week and during that time they have to finish ALL school work, or homework. The teacher they have this class with might not even be their regular teacher. Our girl did this last year and she hated it. Too bad. She had to stay almost an hour after school twice per week. She started doing her work at school and her grades went up.

I found quite a bit of research online, and on the dept. of Education, that shows kids who do homework actually have lower grades and lower test scores than kids who don't have extra work assigned to do at home, busy work, not work they didn't finish in class, but actual "do pages XX-XX even numbered questions and bring them back tomorrow" sort of thing.

The research showed that kids who leave school at school that got to have activities and family time after school did better. They get a mental break from school and have time to build other parts of their cognitive abilities. If you only got to do work all day then came home and continued your work for hours more, not being able to spend time with your family, not being able to go to activities such as church, a friend's birthday party, play a sport, or anything because you had to do more work, you'd start to be overwhelmed and your work would suffer.

Kids need to be kids and go outside and ride their bike, play ball, hang out with friends and family, etc....

Your teen needs to be allowed to leave school at school and to be able to finish their work at school.

Try not to pressure her all the time with “ Did you do your homework” , I suggest you explain to her the importance of education , the circumstances some kids her age around the world are facing and why is very important for her to start being more responsible with her work, kids this age don’t need a “ baby advice” they need the good type of advice that will help them in the real world . National Geographic has some good magazines for her age. Let’s not spoil our kids too much and let’s not put all blame on our teachers ! Instead , try talking it out and find what the real problem is , maybe she isn’t that good in math? I’m sure there are
clubs or afternoon projects that help kids with math. There are also many online courses that can be fun, try to help her as much as you can . I didn’t only do this with younger siblings , but I also tutored 2 private school kids before and trust me this works wonders ! Hope it helps. And good luck !👍