Kerry,
I'll be blunt: If it isn't passing the sniff test at back to school night, nothing will be any better at the end of the semester. Do what ever it takes to get your kid out of those classes. PRONTO!

At a couple of points in when my two were in grade school, I went through similar issues (they're 21 & 24 now). At the time, I took a wait-and-see approach before attempting to excoriate the teachers. But, by the time I realized that the various teachers were basically worthless for anything more than being greeters at Wally World, it was far enough into the school year that administration and bureaucracy was firmly entrenched and changing teachers was impossible.

Partly because of the piss-poor quality of the teachers and various other reasons (both at home and school - yes, I'll take some responsibility for this too) my son developed some serious behaviorial problems in a couple of these classes that continued to trouble him for years. I cannot help but think that the school side of that whole equation (no to mention the other issues) might have been somwhat lessened if I had been more firm about getting him moved out of classes that had totally bogus curriculum and away from teachers that were quite obviously clueless from the outset.

My daughter never caused trouble, but some valuable early education time was wasted when she wound up in an 'expirimental' spelling class that placed inhumane pressure on 2nd and 3rd graders to regurgitate by rote, huge lists of spelling words and based their final grades only on how fast this could be done accurately. In 2nd grade she would literally be in tears trying her hardest to perform and make the grade yet up to just a few years ago (she's an engineering senior at TU) her spelling was atrocious.

Don't be afraid to question these issues and the capabilities of the teachers. Act now, don't wait. Your kid's education is at risk.

__________________
Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.