Can't even shout, Can't even cry. The Gentlemen are coming by. Looking in windows, knocking on doors. They need to take seven, and they might take yours. Can't call to mom, can't say a word. You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard.

Dream Girl ,'Bring On The Night'


Natter 74: Ready or Not  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Burrell - Aug 20, 2015 7:48:48 pm PDT #3746 of 30003
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!

Kids went to bed just fine, so phew! And that friend I am working with had a way worse day than I did so we aren't grant writing tomorrow, which means I can devote the day to syllabus writing instead. So much less stressed now.

Parenting anxiety question: So my daughter got tracked into the regular math track, not the accelerated math. I strongly suspect this is where she belongs right now as last year math was such a flail. Like she had 6 simple problems for homework today and got all 6 wrong on her first go. I made her erase and go back and review the explanations first, then reread the problems and redo them. I keep telling myself it'll be fine, and that common core math is aimed to get everyone through the college pre-reqs. But the school district makes a big deal about dual tracking for math and she seems to have just slipped off the higher track. Not sure what to do.


DavidS - Aug 20, 2015 7:54:31 pm PDT #3747 of 30003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

So my daughter got tracked into the regular math track, not the accelerated math. I strongly suspect this is where she belongs right now as last year math was such a flail.

Well, I've had to deal with this from both Emmett and Matilda. I will note that we got Emmett a math tutor in Middle School and it did help him increase his test scores.

Unfortunately, that made him just barely place into accelerated math in HS which he promptly got a D in, and had to retake. So in my experience if you have any question about whether they should be in accelerated math, then they should probably be on the regular track.

My hard-won experience is that Accelerated Math is for people who excel at it, love it and are into it. Not for smart kids who can kind of get it with much tutelage. That was a recipe for failure for us.


shrift - Aug 20, 2015 8:01:31 pm PDT #3748 of 30003
"You can't put a price on the joy of not giving a shit." -Zenkitty

I can't find the mouse for my desktop computer. Either it wasn't in the box with everything else for the computer, or I threw it out on accident because I'm at war with all this damn packing paper.

I think wine is the correct next step.


DavidS - Aug 20, 2015 8:03:23 pm PDT #3749 of 30003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I think wine is the correct next step.

That sounds right.


Connie Neil - Aug 20, 2015 8:10:44 pm PDT #3750 of 30003
brillig

Wouldn't it be better for them to kick ass at regular math and get comfortable with it there, rather than struggle with accelerated and dread the subject?


Burrell - Aug 20, 2015 9:13:37 pm PDT #3751 of 30003
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!

Thanks Hec and Connie. Emmett's experience is precisely what I would worry about for her. She so dreaded math last year, and it was such a heartbreaking slog. We do have a tutor for her that she started to work with last Spring. I'm going to ask the tutor to work with her mostly on math and test taking strategies. I figure I can work with her on the English and the history at home.


msbelle - Aug 20, 2015 9:17:21 pm PDT #3752 of 30003
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb

Mac is not in any high level classes even though he is completely capable of being in at least 2. He won't do the work required so it is it worth trying to push and drag him.


Hil R. - Aug 21, 2015 1:34:17 am PDT #3753 of 30003
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

In my experience, putting kids into more difficult math classes when they're not ready for them is a recipe for disaster. The ones who are good at school stuff will figure out tricks and methods for how to get the right answers, but never actually learn anything, and those tricks that they figure out will often be based on totally wrong ideas that they'll have to unlearn in later classes.


Gudanov - Aug 21, 2015 4:24:21 am PDT #3754 of 30003
Coding and Sleeping

Em is going into pre-calc this year which is on the accelerated track. We are a little concerned about it, but it's where her math teacher thinks she should be. She also has AP English, AP Biology, and a college-credit history class. I took that kind of course load in HS too, but I remember it wasn't easy. The other scary thing about it is that it's been a long time since I've done any calc and my wife never took it, so she may be getting beyond our ability to help out.


Gudanov - Aug 21, 2015 4:29:59 am PDT #3755 of 30003
Coding and Sleeping

A little warning if you use Autotrader since I'm thinking of it after getting an Autotrader alert in my email. When I signed up to get alerts on some saved searches, I hadn't logged in in a long time so I had forgotten my password and it wasn't in my password manager for some reason. So I used the 'forgot my password' thingie and they e-mailed me my ACTUAL PASSWORD. If they can tell me what my password actually is, I really question their commitment to security.

Rest assured that with what I'm working on (that I can't say much about until later this year) that we don't store your actual password anywhere.