It is now official. I am now the worlds most evil Step Father.
MY SS did comparatively well this past school years academically. However, he struggles with writing structured papers and absolutely hates it. English was his lowest grade and he BARELY made the cut in that class.
I instructed him to find a Sylvan Center or a similar program and get himself signed up for a Writing class so that he can go back to school in the fall for his Sr year of high-school better prepared to perform well in English and other writing intensive courses.
I did not bug him about it but I did ask a couple times each week if he had found a writing program. The answer was always no.
So, last night I got home from work and he was sitting in the LR with his nose buried in his lap top playing a computer game. We discussed the writing course he was supposed to take this summer. He commented that since we are leaving for our family vacation next Friday that he now does not have time to take a writing course. I agreed that he had burned up all of the time he had playing computer games and that he did not have time to take a writing course.
We went to dinner, had a great time. When we got home I had a quick 1:1 with my wife then we called our Son in and told him that for the remainder of this week and next week he is to write a research paper on EFFETIVELY WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER.
Including: Research, structure, writing and revising a 1500 word paper clearly discussing the process of effectively writing a research paper.
The paper must be 1500 words minimum and include a Title Page, Body (Introduction, Body, Conclusion), a complete bibliography and a minimum of 5 sources all properly cited in the body of the paper.
Proper grammar, structure and punctuation is required.
MLA style will be used.
Note:
Title page and bibliography do not count in 1500 word requirement.
Plagiarism will not be allowed or tolerated.
A Complete outline will be presented on Friday COB 6/19/2009.
A rough draft including proof reading notes and edits in red pen will be presented on COB Monday 6/22/2009.
Final draft will be presented on COB Wed 6/24/2009.
SS is pissed and now my Wife is Pissed because SS is giving us the silent treatment. However, I was extremely proud of SS and how he handled it when we gave him the assignment. He did not pout, mumble under his breath or any of the usual childish crap he tends to throw out when he does not like what he is asked or told to do. He has gotten a little surly as he has had time to get started and dwell on the assignment.
Hopefully he will learn that writing a paper is like any other assignment. You follow specific steps to get to a result.
Now I will put on my horns and tail and descend with my demon minions to my thrown in Hades. Since I am so evil and all.
Best regards,
- Rags's blog
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Comments
demon minion here..ready to roll
when do we leave for our home sweet h*ll? lol...
seriously even though the writing assignment is a drag and I'd hate doing it myself...I think it's the right thing to do and he'll get over his lil 'tude. Good job for you I say!
"We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled.”
THEY DON'T?!?!?
I can't believe that! That was a huge component of my grammar education!
Can you say "STATE ASSESSMENT" tests?
Here, in PA, the majority of English instruction these days is in preparation for the dreaded PSSA (PA State Assessment); when school districts do WELL, they are rewarded; when districts do POORLY, they are remediated.
Reading and writing are highly stressed. Grammar and spelling are not as important as technique (persuasive essay, narrative essay, descriptive essay). Ergo, the majority of classroom time are utilized in creating meaningful essays (vocabulary IS stressed, by the way, but IN CONTEXT) so that, when test date comes, everyone will score "proficient" or "advanced".
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."-Eleanor Roosevelt
Evil stepfather?
What are you talking about?
You sound like a great father to me!!! You are just pushing your son to give his best, and make it clear that mediocre behavior is not tolerated in your house... that young man is on his way to success with a father like you in his life...
BTW... Happy early father's day, Rags!!!
~You can see clearly only with your heart. What is truly important is invisible to the eyes~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's
I give my son
Work to do at home all the time. I make him write reports about why doing this or that (whatever it was at the time) was not a good decision. It works.
~All you need is Faith, Trust, and a little bit of Pixie Dust~
Reminds me of when I was young
You don't hear about that much anymore..parents actually implementing schoolwork at home also. My SD would have done same thing!
Yes - Happy Early Father's Day!
"He grew up in my heart, not my belly"
Rags~
We did the same thing to SD14. She did something stupid and her punishment was to choose a topic (we had to approve) and write a 5 page research paper with correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, references, etc. We made her proofread it and we made corrections to it as well.
Schools aren't teaching kids the proper way to write research papers anymore (ok mind you I'm only 26- it hasn't been that long). I was proofreading SD's Social Studies research paper last year and was appalled at the structure of it. It was a whole bunch of 1-3 sentence long paragraphs. I was like "what is this - go re-write it?" She showed me her assignment and that was how the teacher told them to do it! So she turned it in and got an A. But she is going to have a rude awakening when she gets in her AP classes and college classes and that crap doesn't fly. But she wouldn't listen to me. I even gave her my MLA handbook to use. /sigh
~ Formerly ToTheEdge. I have stepped down from the ledge.
Honestly Rags-how could you be so mean-showing you actually
"To Thine Own Self Be True" William Shakesphere
care by taking the time to try and teach SS to improve himself?
That's pretty cool. You invest alot more time and effort in bring up your SS than alot of men do their own bc. Too bad H is only interested in being Disney Daddy. If they'd had some positive influence (which I tried to provide but got shot down) they wouldn't be mediocre students.
Sharpen those horns so you've got 'em ready daily!
I applaud both you and your wife!
I wish more people acted this way toward their children/schildren! Maybe then there wouldnt be such ungrateful brats in the world!
Rags, you rock!!
I love the way you parent. Creative punishments are the best.
Love me or hate me, I'm still gonna shine!!!
wish I could use this punishment on Snowshyte
unfortunately, she's a freak and loves playing school and writing papers...I think she likes the whole,"i'm the teacher and will boss everyone around" thing. hmmm...maybe her punishment could be NEVER letting her be the teacher again!!! muwhahahaha!!!!! }:)
"We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled.”
Rags,
you are an amazing parent. No one actually thinks to implement school work at home anymore because *gasp of horror* that would mean that their precious child would actually have to use some brain power. Kudos to you and your wife for working hard to ensure that your step-son succeeds in life and has been disciplined properly. I wish more parents took on this approach.
Happy early Father's Day Rags! Have a good one.
you sound
a lot like my step father, and i love reading your posts!
I will tell you from my experience, my step father would do these types of things to me too! i hated him for it at the time! he was in the military and was very strict. Now that i am 27, words can not express how grateful i am for all the lessons i learned, weather i liked them or not at the time!
along with my mother, i can say he contributed in so many ways to the successful adult i am today! hopefully you one day will sit down to read a post like this from your ss!
It was not intended as a punishment. When I instructed him to
get in to a writing program for the summer is was so that he could learn how to do written assignments correctly and to improve his confidence in his abilities to generate high quality written work.
He did not make the effort to find the course so I developed a 1wk crash course that is 100% on him. We will review, recommend and advise but he will now have to learn how to effectively complete writing assignments on his own instead of with the aid of a Sylvan (or other similar service) coach.
Another lesson that hopefully he will reflect back on with a profound "Ah Hah! Dad was trying to teach me a lesson and teach me how to write papers".
Only time will tell if he gets it or if I will continue to have to devise evil StepFather tortures from my thrown in Hades.
Best regards,
Success is rarely final. Failure is rarely fatal. It is character, courage and consistency of effort that count. Vince Lombardi (with some minor Rags modifications)
I swear we
are cut from the same cloth. I say RIGHT ON! He should be thankful that you do not have him doing SEVERAL papers. My skids have to do work over the summer too! Yea so it is not cool, but they will appreciate it one day. I work with them on skills that they lack over the summer so that they are better prepared over the school year. With the freaking state tests, teachers no longer teach the fundamentals. They teach the test. I believe if you give the kids the fundamentals and BUILD on them then they will be better suited to handle what life throws their way. Writing papers is a MUST. Grammar, spelling, AND penmanship. Makes it so much easier for them when the stuff is placed in front of them for the 2 weeks that they get to "learn" it in class. Our education system SUX big.
Anyone can take the easy way out and blame others. BUT it takes a a person of character to take a look at one's self and actions and own responsibility for their part. ~ ME ~ }:-P