This morning I had to attend a meeting before school with the speech teacher, one of my students (the boy who sucks his thumb), and his mother. His mother is a talker, about nothing in particular, yet everything under the sun. Soon, she got on the subject of homework.
"Johnny needs more homework," she told me smugly. "He says the work this year is too easy for him." She went on to say how much homework she remembered having in 6th grade, and how much homework his sibling in high school has. "Johnny just doesn't have enough homework," she concluded.
"Hmmm..." I said.
Luckily, it was Johnny's birthday, and after the meeting the mom was going to bring in cupcakes. So I went back to my classroom, and looked at my meticulously-kept records of homework from last week. Out of 6 homework assignments, Johnny completed two of them. I gleefully waited for Johnny's mom to come back to the room.
"You know, I'm glad you brought up the topic of homework," I said. "I've just checked my record sheet of last week's homework, and I see that Johnny only turned in two of the six assignment."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes," I continued. "And on Friday, he brought home a 'Missed Homework Assignments' packet, which he just told me he didn't do."
Well, that knocked the wind out of her sails. I then heard all of the excuses, from a lazy ex-husband who doesn't make sure homework gets done, to a last-year's teacher who had low expectations of the kids, to her not knowing what the homework is. No, she hasn't seen the planner that we use daily to write down the homework. Oh, do you post your homework on your website?
Pay attention, Lady, and stop making excuses for your son. Stop babying him, which may be why he sucks his thumb.
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