Wondering

Yesterday I went to the student led conferences at Harrison and Hazel's school. I remember when I went to school they were called parent teacher conference, and while bringing your child was encouraged, it wasn't a requirement.

I guess they try to make it a more positive experience? And your child being there is to help them help you understand what they are having a struggle with or not struggling with?

Anyway, Harrison is in 7th grade now. He will be at the charter school he goes to until he completes 8th grade. Ever since school has started I have asked him if he has any homework, or assignments due. Imagine my surprise to find out that he was missing 6 assignments in his math class and comparable amounts in his other classes as well.

He honestly didn't know that he had missed turning them in.

Obviously there is a learning curve going on here, so we talked about school, the difference now that he is in 7th grade, his responsibilities, expectations, etc...

If he'd gone to the intermediate school this change would have happened when he started 6th grade.

In that regard, I guess I have never had a problem being organized when it came to school. Without anyone telling me or showing me, I decided on a folder system for all my classes. It worked well. At some point in high school I switched to a binder with page tabs, and that worked even better because then I didn't have to keep track of all my folders.

I didn't ever think I was a super braniac in school, I just turned my assignments in on time, and did my homework. There weren't a lot of distractions in my world, so it wasn't a super complicated thing for me to do.

Shane often reminds me that I wasn't the typical kid though. :) I guess most kids DO struggle with this change, and it is hard to figure out how to keep everything organized and all together.

So, I am going to teach Harrison how to keep his schoolwork organized. I tried to buy him a planner yesterday and the store didn't have any!!! Seriously! So, I guess we will have to go to an office supply store and get him one.

I am also going to make charts for Harrison and Hazel so they can remember and determine if they have their schoolwork done.

I am glad our kids are going to be out on fall break for the next few days because we can start implementing this, and they can get used to what they need to do.