1.12.2008

I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader!

DD came home with a Fish Assessment (aka test) where she missed 3 out of 10 questions. Not exactly the best score. So as usual, we reviewed the answers. She emphatically did not believe me that fish hatch from eggs, that scales protect fish AND that fish do indeed have backbones. Even though the teacher had filled in the correct answers, DD emphatically said "Mrs. DiMeo said that they don't have backbones." I asked, "Was she talking about jellyfish?" "NO!" She just would not listen.

So, I said something about this to the ladies in the quilting group I attended yesterday. One lady said that sharks are mammals and give birth to live young.

Just now, I researched fish and sharks. SHARKS ARE FISH. But just different. They have cartilage instead of bones. They have rough scales and they can only swim forward. Their eggs are fertilized inside of the female...thus the live births, I suppose.



After reviewing an online chart with McKenna, I realized that she was thinking shark while the teacher was asking about regular fish.

I guess if I ever did make it onto that "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" I'd get a question about fish/sharks right now...now.

I'm glad McK trusts her teacher and believes what she is told. But I sure hope she learns to trust and believe in her mom a bit more than her teacher.

1 comment:

Great Grandma Lin said...

i think we tend to put teachers on a pedestal when we are young, because we don't live with them. i know when i taught 1st grade many years ago, if i encountered a student in a grocery store or somewhere else they were always amazed that their teacher actually shopped and lived a normal life. just be there for your child with love and patience, more will be needed during their teens when they know it all. but eventually the day will come when they have children and experience what you are now, and you can sit back and chuckle...