The Mystery in the Math Lab

It was a dark and stormy night, or a cold and sunny day, when Det. Hott Mama was presented with her most recent Public School Mystery. A simple question of her older son/first grade pupil elicited the tearful response, "I don't get to go to math lab anymore. And I just don't know why! The other kids still get to go, but Ms. A said I can't anymore!"

Thus, Det. HM was on the case. Yet another case which would require much legwork, yet offer no remuneration.

Det. HM's first stop was with the 1st grade teacher, Mrs. S. Perhaps the young pupil was just confused and thought that he wasn't allowed to go, but really it was just cancelled due to February break and the 2 hour school delay. But no, word from Mrs. S was that he was no longer going. Her reason? "Well, you know, it's really his verbal skills that are very advanced, but Ms. C [his regular math teacher] thinks his math skills are pretty average."

Det. HM was not satisfied with this answer considering:

• The child was doing 2nd grade math last year.
• He can do multiplication and division in his head with some accuracy. (Not a 1st grade skill.)
• They supposedly created this particular math lab group because he was advanced.
• In math, he got a score of 4 (consistently exceeds expectations) on his report card.

Luckily, Det. HM entered the classroom the following morning to find Ms. A of the infamous math lab talking to Mrs. S. The young pupil approached the healthy snack preparing detective and said, "As soon as Ms. A is finished talking, I'm going to ask her why she has deleted me from the group."

Her response was that she was glad he had enjoyed it, but it was time to give some other kids a turn. This would have been reasonably acceptable except that after the boy left to go to the library, she informed Det. HM that, in fact, the child was "too far ahead of the rest of the group and it was becoming too much of a social experience for him."

So, whom do we believe? And why would you create a class for an advanced child, add some kids who aren't able to keep up, and then remove the one for whom it was created to provide a more stimulating math experience?

Det. HM was left with more questions than answers. Will Friday's parent-teacher conference shed any light on the situation?

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of "The Mystery in the Math Lab!"