Summer School (high school)

[Agaliha]

I'm making this thread for my mom...

She's stressed out about my bother and some issues at school. He's in the 11th grade and has good grades in all classes but math. My mom is going to be enrolling him in summer school-- something none of us kids had to experience before-- she she was wondering how the teaching is handled and things like that. Do they just give the kids a book, do tests and that's it or is there generally real teaching and help going on? Does anyone have any idea how it works, exactly? And did you kid actually learn enough to pass the class the next year?

On top of this, it's also stressful because it might interfere with his graduation next year. See in the 10th grade he failed the math portion of the WASL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Assessment_of_Student_Learning) (math is one that has to be met to graduate)... if you don't pass it, the rules are you have to take a math class 11th and 12th grade (which is optional for most kids) and pass them as well as taking the WASL each year (until you pass it) in order to graduate. We have no idea why he was placed in a pre-cal math class after failing the WASL aspect, but it's becoming very clear now that he's not going to be passing it this year. So, that's a problem! I hope he can graduate! :(

My old high school (which he's going to), after I graduated switched to this "Core Plus" math program and said to hell with teaching algebra and math the teach in college (both from my experience in a 2 year and my sister's at an university). It's really weird and doesn't make sense, the format. I really think this program they have is putting kids at a disadvantage, because they're not learning things that'd help after high school, but seems to be tailoring teachings for the WASL-- or at least that's their reasoning. Obviously, because many kids in WA state failed the math part of the WASL, it's not exactly helping.

Anyway, back to the summer school thing, if anyone has any info about that or experience with your kids in summer school, let me know what it's like!

Thanks :)

[RavensEye]

I had to do summer school but that was long ago . I was given the books and course material I had to done in the school semester ( this was for Science ) and I had to do all the assignments we had done in the class and study again for the final and write the exam in August before September classes started ... but as I said that was long ago and in a different country :D I also recall studying while camping made a big difference for me. No teacher and no classmates.

I had no option for math for summer school cause my stupid teacher was not around that summer so I had to retake it the following school year.

[Tabby]

My experience with summer school was a long time ago too. They had the same coursework with books, tests and everything. It was more laid back than the regular school year and we got more individual attention. The class I had to take was .... yes, the evil math. So, I feel for your brother. That's the one subject I am horrid at.

[Avanti]

I don't know anything about summer school as I don't live in the US, but are there private tutors in your area that can provide one on one tutoring? Or if it's too expensive you could get a few students to share a tutor?

That way they can really get to know how the students thinks and what problems keep recurring.

I really sympathise with your brother. I started hating maths in high school but the school kept pressuring everyone to study maths at the highest level for our senior years. I was mathematically challenged compared to all the other kids, and suffered through way too many holiday intensive programs that basically locked everyone into a class for weeks pounding them with maths.

I learnt everything from trig, imaginary numbers, to circular motion. Far out, when am I ever going to use imaginary numbers in real life? What a freaking waste of youth.

Good luck to your Brother! Keep working on it consistently and he should be able to pass.

[Ceres]

I learnt everything from trig, imaginary numbers, to circular motion. Far out, when am I ever going to use imaginary numbers in real life? What a freaking waste of youth.



I agree with this.! Why arent kids being taught how to invest, how to explore their mortgage options and how to budget their money? I know some of these things are being given a bit of classroom time these days, but why do the advanced maths take precedence, given far more classroom time? Why teach them advanced maths they will not likely need and neglect those they almost certainly will? It almost seems as though someone WANTS kids to grow up ignorant of real life math problems so they are reliant on "professionals" to arrange these matters for them.

[Agaliha]

Just in case anyone finds this thread later and wants to offer any advice--

The situation has been cleared up! It turned out my brother did pass the retake of the math WASL section (by 13 points!) and also got a D in his math class, which is considered passing. So no need for summer school or a math class his senior year!

Whew!