Some Ranting and Raving

It's that time of year again....end of course tests! These tests are pretty much a reflection of how well the teacher is teaching and then how well the student grasps the material. With that said, THERE IS WAY TO MUCH PRESSURE PUT ON OUR LITTLE 3RD, 4TH, AND 5TH GRADERS!!!! Every year Sydney becomes a stressed out mess! This year is no different. She took her Science EOG (end of grade test) and scored a fantastic 99%! She's an A/B honor roll student and has no serious problems until this time of year. Well, today I get a phone call from the guidance department at the school. They said that Sydney had a melt down in class because, Sydney's words, "she made a stupid mistake". She was excused to the bathroom to collect herself but when a teacher found her she was on the floor rocking back and forth and saying that she hated herself! (poor kid!) I know that Sydney goes through this every year but the school seems to get really concerned and we go through all the bullshit of talk about counseling and talk of home life and any major changes....yeah, that's it...every year at this time our home life falls apart but all the rest of the year we're just fine......hhhhhhhhh!!!! I'm just so tired of this run around crap! I know my kid and she's just stressed out about the testing, but there seems to be a team of people that don't trust me or her. I keep telling them to just let it go, let her work through it in her own way but all they want to do it keep talking about it which bothers her/embarrasses her and makes her even more upset and then they think she has more of a problem! I'm all for the help if there were a serious problem but this is just what happens every year when the teachers put the pressure on about the EOGs. Did I mention that the test scores help the teachers keep their jobs? Yeah, it's real cut throat for everyone...nice.