Houston, we has a problem.

[aome]

It's always reassuring to discover (in the course of pointing out corrections to his Romeo and Juliet essay) that your 15-year-old son - who, admittedly, has reading/writing difficulties - cannot associate irregular verbs with their past-tense variations. He frequently mixes past and present freely, but you cannot simply tell him he needs to pick a case and stick with it. He told me he actually did not KNOW what the past tense of "is" is. Or that "was" is past tense and not present. Or when to use "was" vs "were". Repeat for other irregular verbs. Things with "-ed" past tenses are easier, although even there he can know it intellectually and still get it wrong in practice. But still: how did he get to 9th grade and NOT know how to identify past vs present tense???

Did I mention this kid wants to be a writer?

*weeps*