Ripping my graying hair out!

granfire

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What can I say...the kid is 14.

K, we had WWIII when report cards came out.
3 Ds...and all because of stupid stuff like 'I forgot'

Now, we get the progress report: one F

More of the 'I forgot'

Naturally many teas flowed...many things are on the line. Not a lot of them vital, but bound to the grades....

The truly sad thing?
If the kid just did the dang work and turned it in, he'd have straight As.


Pass me a beer. Maybe in 15 years we are over this.
 
Boy can I relate. Went through it with my daughter, now going through it with my son. *sigh* I think we need to hold their widdle hands agaain.
 
Boy can I relate. Went through it with my daughter, now going through it with my son. *sigh* I think we need to hold their widdle hands agaain.

I bought a 12 pack, want one?
 
:chuckles in sympathy: What you really need is to read my book on child care - it involves detailed installations of barbed wire to prevent access to 'distractions' and application of cattle-prods, on various settings, to encourage compliance with parental instructions :D.
 
:chuckles in sympathy: What you really need is to read my book on child care - it involves detailed installations of barbed wire to prevent access to 'distractions' and application of cattle-prods, on various settings, to encourage compliance with parental instructions :D.

There was a reason we get a long so well. :)

Might need that cattle prod.
 
Yep, and it can be for some many reasons, it is often very difficult to figure out the best cure. Cattle prod, water-boarding, promise of something he wants? Who knows? When I was in high school, it was a combination of laziness and boredom. I read a lot when I was younger, and so knew a lot. Why do the homework? I already knew it. We are now going through that with my grandson. Smart little guy. We finally seem to have gotten a teacher on our side that he needs to be advanced for the greater challenge. Good luck on finding what he needs for motivation, and what you need for relief.
 
Been through it with all 3 of the boys. Victory came down to a matter of wills and constant reminders. A huge advantage we have is that we could see progress on-line, so nothing escaped us for long, not do we have to wait for report cards to monitor progress or identify signs of trouble. Even when they "forgot" and failed an assignment, we made them do it anyway. Once they figured out forgetting didn't mean any less work, just less credit, the problem subsided. The strange thing is, we had to do this with each one. The younger never learned by watching the older, reinventing the same problem.
 
If it's any consolation, Gran, when I was in the early years of Secondary School, my report cards often had some variant of "could try harder" on them and I, eventually, ended up with more letters after my name than are in it :D. Sometimes apparent poor performance is just boredom brought on by not being challenged enough. Indeed, I pretty much missed one term of school entirely (illness real and psychological (induced by bullying)) and learned more than I would have done in school by copious reading (including the entire Children's Britannica and the Encyclopedia of Nature and Science).
 
Pass me a beer. Maybe in 15 years we are over this.

That stinks :(

*passes a cold drink of something good*

I'm happy to pass you lots of beers, but as much as I hate to say it, this doesn't sound like anything he will "outgrow". Now granted, I don't know the young man (and I'm missing a lot of detail so I could be wrong) but this appears to be more like an engrained habit. Its what he is used to. That being said, I don't have kids so I don't have any wise ideas as to the solution. My instincts would be to move to more of a micromanaging role with regards to his homework but I don't know how realistic or practical that is.

How dare he upset a German woman! I mean, really! :lol:
 
If it's any consolation, Gran, when I was in the early years of Secondary School, my report cards often had some variant of "could try harder" on them and I, eventually, ended up with more letters after my name than are in it :D. Sometimes apparent poor performance is just boredom brought on by not being challenged enough. Indeed, I pretty much missed one term of school entirely (illness real and psychological (induced by bullying)) and learned more than I would have done in school by copious reading (including the entire Children's Britannica and the Encyclopedia of Nature and Science).

That and knowledge of 'trouble children' making it to graduation eases my mind. Not the immidiate pain though.

The kid is not a bad one. Just too bright for his own good. And he finally reached a point were not working sets him back.

(I call him 'not dumb, but stupid' I mean, if he only turned his work in, he'd be cruising!)

Oh, and I used the swear words Carol loves so much a bunch in the last 2 days!
 
The himmel!! The himmel!! :D
 
I was the same way as a child and look how I turned out. Oh wait...ummm maybe ground him from everything but breathing and homework until he starts doing the work :)
 
I was the same way as a child and look how I turned out. Oh wait...ummm maybe ground him from everything but breathing and homework until he starts doing the work :)

:lfao:


not sure about the breathing though!
 
My wife and i require my 7 year old to read two books a night pracice writting math and other home work we do it with her it has reall made a differnce do all you can before 12 after that it may be to late
 
My son is doing better. Last year, he would "forget" to turn it in. It's done. It's in his bag. He DID THE WORK.

Or he'd do 90% of it but not turn it in because it wasn't finished.


But, I have to say, I won't complain. They're both doing great and getting poor grades in high school is a tradition among the males of my clan. We are too busy charming young ladies and being affable scoundrels. I have no doubt he'll land on his feet, although you'll never hear me say that to him. :)

All that said, he's much better this year and fortunately, his little sister who is now in the 9th grade gets straight As.
 
My wife and i require my 7 year old to read two books a night pracice writting math and other home work we do it with her it has reall made a differnce do all you can before 12 after that it may be to late

2 books? good grief!

(I don't think anybody had to tell me to read at that age...)

well, we had a conference with the teachers (and I am suspecting the 4th teacher not with a complaint is, well, not as good? :lol:)
same old problem: If he did the work he's be B average with no problem.
and his notebooks are all exploding. le sigh.

eventually he'll grow up. I just hope I can experience that without heading to the Betty Ford clinic....
 
No offense, but I can actually rellate to the kid! I was considered an underachiever in school because I didn't do reports, turn in papers, etc... Turned out I generally found the work too easy and too easy meant not being challenged by it. In short I found it b-o-r-i-n-g, and I generally have a phobia towards boredom. One of my teachers figured it out and started giving me harder work and I was forced to apply myself. It worked, my grades went back up.

I never could resist a challenge. :)
 
No offense, but I can actually rellate to the kid! I was considered an underachiever in school because I didn't do reports, turn in papers, etc... Turned out I generally found the work too easy and too easy meant not being challenged by it. In short I found it b-o-r-i-n-g, and I generally have a phobia towards boredom. One of my teachers figured it out and started giving me harder work and I was forced to apply myself. It worked, my grades went back up.

I never could resist a challenge. :)

non taken.
We have come to the conclusion a while ago.
He was in the gifted program, but - you guessed it - ruined that chance by not doing his regular work. And now all programs get cut and he is not old enough to do AP classes.
 
Gran, does he 'study' on his own i.e. does he have interests (girls don't count :D) with which he engages and expends effort?

When I was his age I was a voracious reader, consuming anything and everything I could get my hands on, particularly if it related to ships or sailing. I was also inquisitive about how technical things worked and was forever taking things apart that I shouldn't have done :O. That was when I wasn't building 'dens' out of wattle and daub or making fires or figuring out what went boom/fizz/sparkle the best with my chemistry sets (do they still sell such things for youngsters these days?).

Why I ask is that if he does, then, amongst other things, that is a sure sign that the school work is not challenging him and/or does not interest him.
 
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