Strict Teachers

[HeKnowsMyName]

DD is in 3rd grade this year. Her Math teacher makes them write their 4's and 2's her way. If they write it the other way she marks it. I'm thinking this is just NITPICKY. We've told DD that she has to do what the teacher says even though it doesn't make sense (in better language than that). Has anyone else run into situations like this? What did you do? I'd like to question the teacher about this but I don't want to cause any rifts.

 

[TCat]

Personally I suggest letting it go. It doesn't hurt a child to learn that there IS a right and wrong way of doing things. I wish my sons teachers had been stricter about handwritting, be it numbers or letters. He is now 15 and his writting looks like a 2nd graders, I don't see how his teachers can decifer it. He figures that with computers doing all the work there is no point in writting clearly.
When I was a child we had to write things over and over in a proper manner, and guess what, my hand writting is still legible.

 

[GolfingMom]

I'm with TCAT on this one. I know that DS had to relearn a few letters in Kindergarten...he was fine with it and it actually worked out best after all was said and done
When did she start school?

 

[HeKnowsMyName]

Last Monday was her first day of school. I just thought it was odd to request the number 4 be written only one way. When I was in school you could do it either way. This teacher has been teaching over 30 years.

 

[GolfingMom]

Last Monday was her first day of school. I just thought it was odd to request the number 4 be written only one way. When I was in school you could do it either way. This teacher has been teaching over 30 years.

If it bothers you/her...talk to the teacher Maybe a teacher will chime in and answer for you

 

[CelticRose]

Personally I think the teacher's a little nutty. There are 2 ways to write the number 4. Both are correct & who cares which one your child uses so long as she can do the math? Surely that is the important thing?!

 

[JayCeeGirl]

I imagine the teacher is picky because fours can easily be confused with nines, and twos with z's. I doubt your daughter will be using z's in math at the moment, but she will eventually. It sounds like the teacher is just trying to develop good math habits.

 

[£amb]

DD is in 3rd grade this year. Her Math teacher makes them write their 4's and 2's her way. If they write it the other way she marks it. I'm thinking this is just NITPICKY. We've told DD that she has to do what the teacher says even though it doesn't make sense (in better language than that). Has anyone else run into situations like this? What did you do? I'd like to question the teacher about this but I don't want to cause any rifts.

There are always going to be tough teachers out there. Some pickier than others. I've had my fair share of them with my boys. You will have to pick your battles. If it's something that can affect their grade then it may be something you want to discuss with the teacher.

 

[bliz]

I think that the teacher is being needlessly picky.

I also think that part of learning how to get along with others, work in a work place etc. Your daughter is not too young to learn that, yes, there are 2 ways to write each of these numbers, but this teacher wants it done only one way, and so, for her class, that is how it will be done. I see this as part of rendering to Caesar that which is Caesar's.

 

[bliz]

I think that the teacher is being needlessly picky.

I also think that part of learning how to get along with others, work in a work place etc. Your daughter is not too young to learn that, yes, there are 2 ways to write each of these numbers, but this teacher wants it done only one way, and so, for her class, that is how it will be done. I see this as part of rendering to Caesar that which is Caesar's.

 

[GolfingMom]

I imagine the teacher is picky because fours can easily be confused with nines, and twos with z's. I doubt your daughter will be using z's in math at the moment, but she will eventually. It sounds like the teacher is just trying to develop good math habits.

I didn't think of that...Makes sense...

 

[lucypevensie]

Anyone who is in school for any length of time soon learns that there are some teachers who are very lenient and some who are very picky. We will need to teach our kids how to deal with teachers they don't particularly agree with or even like. We need to help them discern what is reasonable and unreasonable as far as expectations go. Sure, requiring the kids to write 4's one way does seem silly to some of us - but completely unreasonable? Not really. Maybe inconvenient, but surely not difficult or out-of-line.

I'd say the child should just write the 4s the way the teacher says, and outside of school write 4s any old way you like. That is the way I handled handwriting requirements. I really hate traditional cursive script that our English teacher required us to use. Guess what, I don't have to do it anymore. But the A+grades were worth the "torture" I had to endure back then

 

[JBJoe]

DD is in 3rd grade this year. Her Math teacher makes them write their 4's and 2's her way. If they write it the other way she marks it. I'm thinking this is just NITPICKY. We've told DD that she has to do what the teacher says even though it doesn't make sense (in better language than that). Has anyone else run into situations like this? What did you do? I'd like to question the teacher about this but I don't want to cause any rifts.

Having a degree in mathematics, I can say that mathematicians as a class have very poor writing. I could probably dig up many hand-written proofs by respected mathematicians for which you would have no hope of figuring out if they mean "2" or "Z" except by the context of the problem. There is no "accepted correct" way of writing. In the end though, I think your youngster will just have to agree to disagree and make it through this class.

Math teachers like this really irritate me. It is hard enough getting kids interested in mathematics. We don't need to be giving them one more reason to dislike it based on something so utterly trivial.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

I imagine the teacher is picky because fours can easily be confused with nines, and twos with z's. I doubt your daughter will be using z's in math at the moment, but she will eventually. It sounds like the teacher is just trying to develop good math habits.

Yup I agree. I remember being young and having a teacher be really picky about the way we did our numbers. Didn't understand it at the time, but I sure did once I got into jr high/high school.

 

[Leanna]

Its silly, its picky, but its real world. Sometimes you have bosses that want you to do something the long and annoying way and you just have to do it with a smile because that's what they want. It is good to learn how to respect authority early. It makes getting promotions easier, people who don't learn to just do it without complaining stay at the bottom of the ladder (obviously not talking about moral issues here or being a self starter, just those little nit picky things that bosses like). GL!

 

[tiredwalker]

I'd just ask the teacher her reasoning behind it. If it is just her being picky, well, then she's just being picky, but if it is for clarification, then maybe it is worth relearning.

Kids do learn a lot of useless stuff in elementary/junior high school. I taught high school and all of the freshmen always thought that we were going to fail them if they didn't write in cursive. Cursive may be pretty, but it is not always the easiest to understand. When in Rome...