Unequal Childhoods - Annette Lareau [116]
MELANIE: No! This is how we did it.
MS. HANDLON: Okay, show me how you did it. (Melanie lines up forty-two pennies in two adjacent, horizontal rows. She then takes the pennies and puts them in groups of four. Her mother again intervenes.)
MS. HANDLON: Melanie, explain to me what you are doing. (Melanie continues to move the pennies but says nothing. Then she stops moving the coins.)
MS. HANDLON: And?
MELANIE: And I count the groups.
MS. HANDLON: But you’re supposed to divide by seven.
MELANIE: OOHH . . . .
MS. HANDLON: That’s why I didn’t understand what you were doing. (Melanie reorganizes the coins, putting the pennies in groups of seven. She solves the next two problems. When she tries to tackle a problem that requires dividing twenty-seven by six, her mother again becomes heavily involved. Ms. Handlon starts putting the pennies into groups of six for Melanie.)
MS. HANDLON: What’s six times one?
MELANIE: Six.
MS. HANDLON (putting six more pennies down): What’s six times two?
MELANIE: Twelve.
MS. HANDLON (putting six more pennies down): What’s six times three?
MELANIE (counting the pennies): Eighteen.
MS. HANDLON (putting six more pennies down): What six times four?
MELANIE (again counting the pennies): Twenty-four.
MS. HANDLON: Right. So, what’s the answer?
MELANIE: Twenty-four.
MS. HANDLON: No, that’s what you get when you multiply the numbers. That’s not the answer.
MELANIE: Four.
MS. HANDLON: Right. And what’s the remainder?
MELANIE: Three.
MS. HANDLON: Right.
As they slowly move from problem to problem, the tension between Melanie and her mother builds. Melanie becomes more and more agitated. Her face turns red, and although she is not crying, she appears to be on the verge of tears. More than forty-five minutes have elapsed since they began the math homework. Ms. Handlon suggests that they take a break and “put some ornaments on the Christmas tree.” Melanie doesn’t want a “break”; she wants to replace the homework session with cookie baking. Her mother repeats the suggestion of a break and Melanie repeats her desire to make cookies. Ms. Handlon resolves the stalemate by continuing to put down piles of pennies for Melanie and asking her leading questions to get the answers. After about five minutes, Melanie’s mood seems to brighten a little. Ms. Handlon gets up for less than a minute, and Melanie continues working. The last two problems Melanie does on her own.
MS. HANDLON: See, you can do it. You just have to try.
MELANIE: This is hard.
The tensions and conflicts that arise as Ms. Handlon and Melanie try to work together to complete her homework assignments are exhausting and distressing. Moreover, because Melanie’s mother accepts the principle that Melanie must do her homework and also perceives that some assignments, especially math, require assistance, the homework battles are repeated nearly every afternoon.4 Ms. Handlon believes that in some cases she and Melanie struggle over problems that are caused by the teachers.
Some of the teachers are just not doing a good job. They can’t explain things. I think some of them are setting the kids up for failure. Sometimes the kids will bring home questions and assignments and the teacher will write it in such a way that there are really two ways of reading into it. So, if I can’t understand it, how can they expect the kids to?
According to Ms. Handlon, Melanie is unnecessarily burdened by her teachers’ inability to supply adequate instructions for the assignments they send home. Not surprisingly, the teachers trace the causes of Melanie’s ongoing academic difficulties to quite a different source.
THE PERILS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN SCHOOLING
In the fall grading period, when Melanie receives the lowest grade possible in both math and social studies, her classroom teacher, Ms. Nettles, seems nearly as frustrated with this outcome as Ms. Handlon is. Ms. Nettles is consistently friendly and cheerful during her interactions with Melanie’s mother. She cooperates willingly with Ms. Handlon’s request for spelling lists, preparing