My son has ADHD and has been at the bottom of his class since he started school. Despite his handicap, the Grasslands School Division has been doing an excellent in handling kids like my son. I can see improvements each year even though he still is at the bottom.

He entered high school this year. Based on his junior high record, they placed him in Math 10–4, which is the lowest level. I was “helping” him with his homework, and generally he didn’t need much help. The problems were quite practical; I saw Math 10–4 as the math needed for carpenters and cooks and welders.

But Math 10–4 has a stigma: only the “stupid” kids take Math 10–4. My son was getting good marks in Math 10–4, so the teachers moved him up to 10–3. The whole nature of the math changed for him. Gone were the practical problems. In were the adding of fractions — a task that is seldom used in the real world. For some reason, my son could not relate to the curriculum of Math 10–3. He floundered — and they moved him back.

But the irony is that Math 10–4 will not get my son high school credits towards his diploma. But Math 10–3 will. But Math 10–4 is more useful than 10–3.