What Is Wrong with My Kiddo?

It's only a few weeks in, she's probably excited, nervous, whatever, and is just rushing through things and making careless mistakes. Give her a chance to get back in the groove of school and get used to a new teacher, classroom and routine before you panic. If there's a "problem" it will be addressed soon enough.

I agree with what Jo said. The teacher may very well be letting the kids do this work without assistance, just to see where they are. From this, they'll place the kids in various groups where they'll focus on certain needs. For instance, if the teacher sees that your daughter has a talent for storytelling, but needs help with punctuation, your daughter will be in a group where they'll drill on punctuation. Other kids will be in groups where they'll work on reading comprehension, or phonics, or whatever. But the teacher can't really place the kids correctly without knowing exactly where they are. Even when kids read over the summer, writing and punctuation are a use-it-or-lose-it kind of thing. I'm sure most of the kids are much worse off! Give it another few weeks, then check in with the teacher to see what (if anything) you can do at home to help support your daughter with these skills.

Every school has a different time when they throw them to the wolves. It is very possible she has had these problems all along but now they aren't correcting them before hand.

I would talk to the school but perhaps not word it did you throw her to the wolves, sometimes they take offence to that. Just ask to speak with her other teachers and ask, has she always had these problems.

In school she isn't going to get the one on one help/reminders that she got from you. In second grade many children will still mix up b & d occasionally, they will misspell words often because it is promoted (spell it how you hear it), and math can be confusing if you explained a method other than the one the school is currently teaching. Give her a few weeks of extra help and encouragement, ask her why she struggling, and try to help bridge the gap until it's smooth sailing in school for her again. Best wishes!

My kid always has a slow start, but then zooms ahead. It's a new environment, new teacher, new, new, new everything.

Calm down and let her relax, she'll be fine.

NORMAL!!!

The first month of school is typically a 'wash' after a long break (even just a "few" weeks of winter break = a couple weeks getting back in the groove).

I was a homeschooler for 5 years. I know EXACTLY what we were doing, and how... but if we took a break... it would take a little bit to get back in the groove.

About half my friends are 'awayschool' teachers (also homeschoolers... but their dayjob is teaking k12 in public, private, charter, etc.)., and according to them as well, the first 4-6 weeks of school is pure review.

You're only 2 weeks in, so expect 2-4 more weeks before things 'click' again. And expect this each and every single year.

Ditto, Jo W. as well. I grew up travelling, and the 'Toss the baby in the deep end to see if they can swim!' / throw them to the wolves "year" was different with each school system. Some that was 1st. Some 2nd. Some 3rd. Some 4th. Some 5th. It's the year when EVERYTHING wrong gets marked as wrong, and when EVERYTHING speeds up as far as level/quality of expected work is required.

I lucked out. I happened to hit the "sink or swim' year 4 moves in a row. My closest sister had the opposite experience, and was coddled 4 moves in a row. I ended up very independent and capable (because more and more was expected of me), she completely fell apart when she finally had the gloves taken off (because in the school we were in the gloves had come off several years prior. Wolf Eating year they expect the kids to flounder. Because she was past that year, and floundering, her self confidence was crushed. After HER experience, my mum was really able to help the younger ones when they ran into this. But my sis is mad strong to have been able to come out of that experience still swinging (after about a solid year of crying and feeling worthless). My youngest brother sort of fell through the cracks, though (I was putting my mum through the wringer), and he had the same sort of experience and FINALLY (first time ever) fell in love with school... just because it was the first time he'd ever been challenged. So even though he and my sister had the "same" expereince, their different personalities took to it differently

I know the changing schools every year doesn't really apply to you, but I'm just sharing it to show how normal/expected these kinds of htings are.

This sounds normal to me but you could check with her teacher. It takes time to get back into a routine. She's expending energy adjusting to being back in school. What she knew at the end of last year is still in her brain and will come forward with time and practice.

I think this is a normal situation. The only other thing , I would suggest ( this will seem a little odd)... Do you think she could be dehydrated? I read an article a few months ago, about kids getting to school dehydrated & the effect it had on their school work. My son was exhibiting many of the signs , mentioned in the article. I have been trying to make a point of getting more fluids in him. I honestly, can't say for sure if it's made a huge difference but may give you something to think about.

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Is she rushing? My SD would fly through her work and make errors that were just stupid. We sat her down, went back through her HW and made her fix the spelling, rewrite anything she scribbled, etc. My SD is very smart, but finds worksheets boring. On the plus side, after letting her get a few bad grades when she fought us or rushed in class, and working hard to get her to slow down, she did graduate from HS with honors and took several AP classes. I'd slow her down and go back over the material and see what's going on.

Kids often have brain sections that look like they are shut down....like a window being closed. It is because the brain is using all the resources for something else.

When kids start Kindergarten or pre-K they often revert back to be fore potty training and start having accidents. Kids starting school often have a couple of weeks here and there where they can't access parts of their brain well. It has to look around and find the wiring, or create new pathways to get to the material.

Her brain is growing, she is wiring her brain right now. She'll be fine in a week or two. Help her de-stress if possible. She is probably feeling a bit like she's surrounded by a fugue.

Get her tested for strep. It can present itself in many other ways than "just" a sore throat. I went through this for years with my daughter, the first academic sign being that on the first day of second grade, the teacher called me to tell me my daughter could not count to 10!! (She had tested as extremely gifted, and I knew that she was doing things far above her grade level, and absolutely could count!) The gold standard for a strep test is to do a 72 hour culture, along with a rapid test. They can hold both swabs together to keep her from having to go through two rounds of it.

I also agree with the dehydration comment- it could be that or low blood-sugar, if her day is longer than last year and they aren't stopping for breaks/snacks. There could also be some distraction in the classroom, or a chemical (as in new paint, carpet, etc.) that is affecting her.

Also wondering: is she getting a good lunch at school, and eating it? Is she getting enough rest? These are my only questions; otherwise, it looks like you have gotten plenty of good insight from the previous posters.

have you given her any allergy meds or is she sick?
When my older daughter was in 5th grade she had the same teacher as she had the year before so when about the 3rd week of school that teacher called me and told me that Tara was just not with it and wasn't being her normal smart self we were both puzzled. Till we figured out that she had been taking cold meds before school and they were making her fuzzy. Stopped the cold meds and back to normal.