APS first grade
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Anonymous
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My child is nearing the end of first grade, and I’m realizing that she didn’t seem to learn that much this year. Some facts about Jamestown and planets and plants, which she enjoyed learning, and then they reviewed A LOT of reading concepts and some math. I definitely understand that this is the foundation for important things that come later in school, and I’m grateful that this year was easy for her. But I’m curious if the challenging material starts next year in second grade? Or is next year a lot like this year?
She’s not complaining. She doesn’t seem bored. We’re fine. I’m not trying to bash teachers or APS. I just…wonder. If this is what elementary school is like, or if this is just what FIRST GRADE is like, because you have to give everyone a chance to get on the same page with reading? |
Anonymous
| What were you expecting her to learn? |
Anonymous
| Which school? |
Anonymous
Don’t they learn basically the same things at all of the schools across APS? |
Anonymous
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My kid is in second grade at a north Arlington school, and she learned less in second grade than in first. We supplemented with outside classes (apparently this is called "afterschooling"), which we plan to pare back but still continue next year.
You didn't mention whether your kid was referred for gifted services. Mine wasn't last year, but she did get referred this year. People on this board say the APS gifted program is useless. Still I'm hopeful that third grade will be better with a cluster of smart, motivated peers for math and reading. |
Anonymous
No. They don’t. Some are better than others. |
Anonymous
Sure. (Not even close.) |
Anonymous
The peer group does make a difference |
Anonymous
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I suspect she learned more than you think. What is your child excited about? Your child's school has an amazing well stocked library and a librarian who can make suggestions.
It is a golden age of children's picture book biographies, especially for ones about women and lesser know folks. You also might want to explore nonfiction: animals, science and nature. Famous Jeopardy winner tip for success on the show is to read children's nonfiction books. |
Anonymous
| Learning Reading, math, Jamestown, planets, plants seems pretty well rounded. If she’s happy and doesn’t seem bored I wouldn’t borrow trouble. |
Anonymous
Yes, she was referred for gifted services. I’m not sure that will mean a lot, but we will see! Re the library, I’m not asking to find ways for her to learn more. She does great at that herself, and we do educational things on the weekend when we’re able to. I was asking about the curriculum. Maybe she did learn more than I realize. I think what’s most likely is that this was a catch up year to get everyone on the same level with reading, especially. I’ll be interested to see what happens next year. |
Anonymous
She didn’t learn any reading or math this year, though. They reviewed last year’s reading and math over and over. Well, that’s not entirely true. She learned a bit of new content in reading and math, but NOTHING like last year, when she learned to read, which was amazing. |
Anonymous
Nothing compares to the scale of learning to read. The early years of reading are repetitive to build fluency. Has her writing improved? |
Anonymous
| No, second grade is more of a review in APS imo. |
Anonymous
| There's not a ton of factual context, but lots of skills. It's the first time they really work on spelling, but also punctuation, capitalization, apostrophes, abbreviations (like Me and Ms.), sentence structure, paragraphs, etc. The also work on researching content and reformulating it in their own words. My 2nd grader came home with a two page essay and has done a few classes presentations with PowerPoint. |