Sounds like the school won’t allow her to drop the course, so she pretty much has no other alternative except to study hard and pass the class.
Hard as it is, there are no “do-overs” in life either.
I would suggest that the girl meet with the teacher and see if the teacher can give her some pointers as to how to study and how to focus on the important parts in that particular class, then have the student really study. Then she really needs to take responsibility for herself and really study.
She may not get A-s in math, but I just can’t believe that she really studies for this class and is still failing.
You’re right, there are no do overs in life, but even in college you can withdraw from a course pretty late into the term. She passed Algebra and Geometry the past two years, I’m wondering if they’re teaching Algebra II/Trig in a new “common core” way and she’s totally lost. I asked my daughter and she said “I don’t know I do what they put in front of me.” Brilliant /s
I guess I’m old, but it didn’t used to be that if someone failed or was failing a semester or a year that class could simply be ‘dropped’ and expunged from the record.(It was an odd freedom to get to college and find that that could be done if one dropped the course early enough in the semester.)
Seems like allowing that is not only as you suggest, giving the already-coddled another out from any consequences, but contributing to an unfair devaluing of those who stick with their classes—and with the actual GPA that they’ve genuinely earned.
Did someone drop the ball on her meeting the prerequisite for the course—presumably a sufficient grade for Algebra I and/or geometry? If so, was that a case of her being ‘helped’ to decent grades even though she didn’t master the material at that level?
If not, does she simply have a terrible mind for math somehow, for which a poor grade would provide accurate information to her, her school, and college admissions about her capabilities?
Math, like music, seems to be something some people “get” and some people don’t. I struggled with middle school algebra, but by time I got to high school, something clicked and it all made sense. But my son is going through the same thing. I have a minor in math and I can’t explain even the most basic concepts to him in any way that he can understand. I just hope he has the same epiphany I did.
Nowadays I do math puzzles for fun.
So if a train leaves Chicago going west at 50 miles an hour ...
I can see it happening in a class like Alegbra II. If you get behind in the first few weeks and don't have a grasp of the fundamentals, the rest of the course as it moves to higher concepts will be like a totally foreign language. Once you get behind, it's really hard, and frustrating trying to catch up.
To the contrary, there are many do-overs in life, and everyone knows it, including you. As well, we are not talking about life, we are talking about jackass school administrators who need to be confronted with their refusal to follow their own policies. And finally, go shout at some kids to stay off your lawn, adults are trying to have a discussion here.
Actually, I can. I had the very same problem in high school. I will bet my bottom dollar what is wrong here is she is not applying the order of operations correctly. I know it sounds way, way over simplified to say such a thing, but I struggled all the way through high school math 'pre-calculus.' Tutors and all as well.
The only reason I got a passing grade (D) from my pre-calc. teacher was he spoke to my advanced physics teacher (A). They determined together that I could apply the math skills, but for some reason when given a direct math problem I got lost. No one could figure out why that was.
Of course in college I had to take several semesters of remedial courses, but in the first semester the professor introduced the "order of operations" in such a way as a literal 'light' went on in my head. After getting a grip on that, it was off to the races for me and my 'math' classes.
It is not that she is not studying, she is missing a key foundational component. She likely does not need to start over, she needs someone to unlock the door.