Homework

I hate homework.

LLB had a science progress report come home this week. I got this from the teacher in the afternoon via email.

All of Mrs. W's science students will be coming home with a progress report. Please sign and have your child return it to school tomorrow.

If the work is shown a missing they may NOT make it up. All the students have been given the chance to correct or make up all the work. They did not taken advantage of that option.

Hmmm... This can't be good. They are all on her sh*t list for something. When I picked her up from school, LLB was upset and angry.
"Mom, she gave me a D and told me that this assignment was incomplete. I did it, though."
"What do you mean? You got a D in science?" (I knew she couldn't have gotten a D. She got A's on her tests.)
"No, just one home homework assignment. I got a 93.5 for my grade. But that D gave me a B for a grade and it's not fair. Look, here's my paper. The second sheet is missing. The staple is still in the corner, but the second page is gone. The substitute took it apart. We told him not to do that, but..." She was pracitcally sobbing - more from frustration than anything else.

Sure enough. I recognized the stupid homework assignment. She'd forgotten her book and had to stay up late to research the answers. I told her I'd take care of it.

I sent a note attached to the progress report and the offending homework. I told the teacher that LLB had indeed done those "missing" questions and also related the story about her forgotten book. I also requested that LLB be allowed to use a homework pass for that homework assignment. (A homework pass is earned. LLB has them stacked up from Sept. and has never ever used one. She always just does the homework.) The teacher's response, "No. I will not allow homework passes to be used."

Fine, but it still wasn't acceptable. She'd done the work. I sent another note.

LLB got in the car last night and told us that her science teacher had instructed her to re-do that missing paper - 6 rotten questions.

Great. We arrive home after ballet. I tell her to get her science book out and answer those questions. She says, "I forgot my book."

Good GOD! We have to research the answers on the internet AGAIN? I sigh. I breathe deeply. It doesn't work. I rant. She agrees. She has got to get organized.

We finish looking all this stuff up. She writes her answers out. I type them on the computer and print out the paper. I hand it to her. (We are typing everything for this class to be sure that we have a copy so we don't have to re-do any more assignments...)

"I'm sorry, Mom. It won't happen again."
"Really? That's what you said when you did this assignment the first time."
"Oh yeah... But, I'm really sorry."

This morning I make her lunch. I ask her where I should put it so she doesn't forget it. "Hang it on the door to the garage." Guess what she almost forgot? The lunchbox. The child would forget her head if weren't attached to her body!

This is the child who wants to fly airplanes for the Navy... Let's hope she remembers where she parked her plane!