IT'S NOT ADD

Cooper came home from school yesterday, immediately told me he was on red. That's code for "I got into trouble". In his class, as in many elementary classrooms, there is a behavior system in place. Green=good, yellow=made a few bad choices, red=really bad, or many bad choices. In his room his teacher sends home a report for each kid daily. I love the idea. It's on a monthly calendar and the kids have to color in the circle for that date with the color they were on at the end of the day. Accountability... great. Cooper had been on yellow and red for things like, "put foot on hand rail while doing down stairs" or "took longer route to put up coat in hallway, to play with another child" I'm thinking, why are we sweating the little stuff. This is a first grade classroom doesn't this happen a lot with everyone? I let it go. I trust the teacher's judgement, and initial every day. Yesterday Cooper was on red for a real reason, "talking while the teacher was talking".

Later in the day, out of no where, he says, "Mom I have a lot more writing on my chart than everyone else." "yeah Cooper"... Long pause. "does that mean I"m bad?" I wanted to say, "no it means your making bad choices." but I just said, "No". HOnestly I think he's been making normal 7 year old choices and getting a rap sheet for it. Now he's got nothing left to lose so why not make choices that really are bad. Not to mention he now has poor judgment in deciding what truly are bad choices. I'm a little pissy about it honestly. He has such a negative self image at this point, and why? Because his teacher wants to document instances he feels demonstrate ADD tendancies, when It's been proven the kid doesn't have ADD by a medical professional? What a load of bullshit. He's 7. He deserves the best possible environment in which to learn. Not to be bulldozed because his teacher wants to prove me wrong.

I AM NOT MEDICATING MY SON SO HIS TEACHER CAN HAVE A CLASSROOM OF 7 YEAR OLD ZOMBIES! 30% of 1st grade boys are put on medication and 90% of those recommendations come from teachers. TEACHERS ARE NOT DOCTOR'S. TEACHERS DO NOT HAVE THE PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND TO QUALIFY THEM TO DIAGNOSE THEIR STUDENTS. I AM A TEACHER FOR GOD SAKES. Teach students based on their learning style, and in a way appropriate for their developmental needs. A 7 year old has at MOST a 7 minute attention span, the need to be up and about, and the need to socialize. DO NOT SIT THEM AT DESKS AND ASK THEM TO DO WORKSHEETS QUIETLY, and then PUnish them for talking and diagnose them with ADD because they can't "pay attention". THAT IS DEVELOPMENTALLY INAPPROPRIATE! THAT IS EDUCATIONAL MALPRACTICE!

**Reading this 5 years later I can still say, "right on to me". Cooper is 11 and still super mellow. This teacher ended up getting "re-assigned" to "school counselor" after much advocating on my part. It helped immensely that I got many parents, who were feeling the same way, to speak up. During his time with this teacher Cooper lost nearly 8 months of learning, his dibels decreased, his AR score decreased, it truly was educational malpractice (I had to keep all these scores in order to prove it, so hang on to everything you get from school). He went from being considered gifted, to being BELOW grade level (based on test scores). It took me until this school year to catch him back up. He now reads 3 grade levels above his own, and tested "advanced proficient" on 2 of three categories on the state test. This entry should be an warning and an inspiration to other parents. Do your own homework. We should know our children the best, and know how to advocate for them.**