gcvmom
Here we go again!
There are just two weeks of the quarter left, and difficult child 1 is getting a D- in two classes because he is either not getting his work done in class, or has been working on the wrong stuff all quarter. One of these classes involves classwork only -- no homework. The other class is a science class with labs and other things that count towards the grade besides tests (he gets A's on his tests and homework).
It's all I can do to keep from screaming at him sometimes. I ask for updates: Did you talk to your teacher? Are you staying late to catch up on work? And the response I get is "I forgot" or "We ran out of time" or some other seemingly lame excuse! I remind him when I drop him off at school what to do, and he still forgets, or whatever. He has stayed late a few times, but he hasn't turned the completed packets in, or says he has but the teacher says he hasn't. What the heck is going on?
I talked to the psychiatrist about this and he thought maybe difficult child 1 was having panic-type anxiety because difficult child 1 described it as his mind sort of going blank. So he said to try giving him propranolol in the mornings for a few weeks (we just started last week) to see if that helps. He's already taking Lexapro for anxiety.
I'm just at a loss over what else to do. I just emailed the science teacher asking for advice. I am really feeling torn about letting him fail! I don't really see what he's going to learn from this. He says he already feels like cr@p knowing that he's going to lose a bunch of things (phone, for starters) if he gets anything less than a C on this next report card. But there has to be a consequence, doesn't there? So what do I do when the consequence just ratchets up his anxiety? Or is it just a cop-out? I know it's only 8th grade, but that doesn't lessen my frustration at his underacheivement. I KNOW he can do better! What do I DO???!!!
It's all I can do to keep from screaming at him sometimes. I ask for updates: Did you talk to your teacher? Are you staying late to catch up on work? And the response I get is "I forgot" or "We ran out of time" or some other seemingly lame excuse! I remind him when I drop him off at school what to do, and he still forgets, or whatever. He has stayed late a few times, but he hasn't turned the completed packets in, or says he has but the teacher says he hasn't. What the heck is going on?
I talked to the psychiatrist about this and he thought maybe difficult child 1 was having panic-type anxiety because difficult child 1 described it as his mind sort of going blank. So he said to try giving him propranolol in the mornings for a few weeks (we just started last week) to see if that helps. He's already taking Lexapro for anxiety.
I'm just at a loss over what else to do. I just emailed the science teacher asking for advice. I am really feeling torn about letting him fail! I don't really see what he's going to learn from this. He says he already feels like cr@p knowing that he's going to lose a bunch of things (phone, for starters) if he gets anything less than a C on this next report card. But there has to be a consequence, doesn't there? So what do I do when the consequence just ratchets up his anxiety? Or is it just a cop-out? I know it's only 8th grade, but that doesn't lessen my frustration at his underacheivement. I KNOW he can do better! What do I DO???!!!