<p>midwesterner, your story reminded me of a story from my youth. My elementary school got a gizmo that was supposed to help kids who were slow in math. It was an early computer-type thing where you could read the questions and then choose the right answer. I wanted to play with it, but I wasn’t slow in math.</p>
<p>So… I deliberately flunked all my math homework the next week, and insisted that I NEEDED a turn on the machine. I’m sure the teacher saw through my scheme, but I did get a turn. Turns out, it wasn’t that fun.</p>
<p>My S went for a “placement test” with the preschool director at age 3. Shortly after it began, the director stopped the test. Concerned, hubby & I asked why. She said, “In all the decades I’ve been a preschool director and administered this test, your S is the 1st to ever try to help me improve this national test. I can’t test him.”
At the 1st parent-teach preschool conference, the teacher said, “Your S has gotten over the rough spots.”<br>
“Huh?”
“Yeah, well, he would scold the other kids because they weren’t following the rules, so they would cry. They would get time-out because they did in fact break the rules & he would get time-out because he made them cry.” Fortunately, that bumpy period didn’t last too long & we only learned about it after the fact.</p>
<p>In chatting with DIII’s K teacher we learned of Ds interesting math skills, at four (had not yet had her bday!) she could add and subtract double digits easily; however, she did not recognise ANY written numbers. All our math had been done in the car driving to and from older sister’s sporting and school events and we had not ever realised she did not know what the numerals looked like. Luckily it did not take long to remedy, but with the wrong teacher it could have been a much longer process. This one knew my family and older Ds and took the time to look into the flunked worksheet that was for math group placement</p>
<p>jude’s post above about her D’s messy desk reminded me of a story my H tells.</p>
<p>When he was in the 6th grade he had a very messy desk and I guess the teacher was on him about it all of the time. These were the top-lift-up type of desks and I guess some of the kids put a frog in his desk. He didn’t discover it for 2 or 3 days!</p>