What would you think, and other school stuff

I do some tutoring. I started last spring with a young Russian girl. If you remember this post I talk about this girl and her lack of discipline and direction from her parents to get her work done. I don't remember if I gave this girl a computer name so I'm going to call her Sally. If I named her previously, and called her something else, my apologies.

So here is what is going on with her. About a month ago I got a call from her mom saying they were ready for me to come over and work with Sally. Could I come that night? Well, no; I need a little more time, and we need to have a standing appointment. "Done or not, ready or not, here I come" - type of thing.

I couldn't come that night, but I could come the next week, Wednesday at 7. I would be willing to come every Wednesday, opposite co-op weeks to go over material with Sally. Oh, and my rates have gone up across the board.

They were fine with my guidelines and so Wednesday two weeks ago I went and spent three hours with Sally. Everything was fine.

My next visit was this week. I called at 7:00 while on the road to let them know I was on my way. No one answered. Hmmm, that's strange. The mom, E. is a piano teacher and teaches at night so I know she is home. But, there was the answering machine.

I arrive at the home and the house is dark. Really strange. I called again. Still no answer. I was a bit peeved that they didn't let me know that they wouldn't be home; but then became concerned. As these are immigrants, I was afraid that their immigration status forced them to make some sudden decisions.

What would you think? No answer and a dark house? Yeah, me too, they're gone.

I left a message that I would be back in two weeks, and left to retrieve my kids from church where Angelo was in a meeting.

I was almost home with the kids when my cell phone rang. It was Sally telling me they had been home. I had a hard time believing it - since there was no answer and the house was dark. She handed the phone off to her dad who tried to tell me I was in the wrong place (I KNEW I wasn't since I still follow printed directions), and then handed me off to E.

She told me there were so many kids at their place last night, and they were being so loud that no one could hear the phone ring. THAT I believe since I see the chaos that seems to live about their house as kids wait for parents to them pick up after lessons.

I agreed to come back last night. I did - for four hours. Sally is using a curriculum I wholeheartedly DISagree with. (I won't name it here for fear of offending users of this program.) This fifth grader is having problems in math and is struggling with subtracting and borrowing across zeros; and is still learning how to divide two digits by one digit with and without remainders. FIFTH grade, people.

Oh and about the confusion? The neighboring house is identical in style and color. It appears I had pulled into their house instead of Sally's. Oops.

Other School Stuff pt. 1

This morning I got a call from Rachel's mom. Remember Rachel? She was my sixth grade student last year. It appears she is again struggling in math. What her mom related to me was what Rachel told her, "I would get it if the teacher would actually explain everything. I like Abeka much better because they explain so well. I want to go back to Miss VJ because she knows me; she can read my mind."

So now we have to set up a schedule with her; and her mom wants me to meet with her multiple times a week. Hmm, we'll have to see how that all fits in. I am very willing to do this; it means maybe even enough money to put back into the bank rather than in my pocket, and I get a hand to see how Rachel is doing back in school. Currently she is in a two-grade classroom in a K-12, 130 (estimate) student school.

Other stuff pt. 2

It's up to Tony, now. Earlier this week everything came to a head, and I am done pushing him to completion. If he wants to fiddle away the day; that's fine, but that means he won't be able to play with a friend, visit Miss Mary, go on a field trip if his work isn't done by a certain time. He had to skip a break time yesterday to get his work done, but he got it done. Today is a little harder for him, probably because Miss Mary is not feeling well, so Tony won't be able to go visit. As a result, he has little motivation to keep working. We'll see. He may surprise me.