trying to be a relaxed mom of a Kindergardener.....

Anonymous
but my daughter just came home with flash cards of COLORS that they have been working on the past 2 weeks......

Do they actually learn anything their K year or is it basically another year of preschool????
Anonymous
preschool... and actually, your primary concern at the k level should be social interactions.
Anonymous
NP here. This is a joke, right? Are the flashcards of somewhat obscure colors like teal, fuschia, etc or learning how to spell them? Or is it really like this is blue, this is red, this is green...
Anonymous
If your child has been to preschool, FCPS Kindergarten will be very, very easy. Too easy. Now that my second child has started school in FCPS, I've realized that the entire Kindergarten - 2nd grade is just a matter of biding time until they are allowed to enter a more rigorous AAP program.

I'll be the first to say that my kids are smart, but not truly gifted. The schools are so busy teaching basic English to a diverse population that many kids who could do more are being forced to do worksheets of things that they learned in preschool. So many kids aren't being challenged at all. I just hope my kids don't fall in the gap of being not gifted enough for AAP, yet too bright for the regular curriculum.
Anonymous
Probably half the kindergarteners didn't attend preschool, so they have to start by getting them caught up.

Welcome to public school!
Anonymous
Our FCPS did thing last September for K and I have to say it was one of my favorite months because there was a lot of drawing practice. After that it went downhill until the spring. My 1st grader came home last week with a cut and paste numbers 1-10 and the rest of the work hasn't been much more advanced either. Last year about 2/3 of the 2nd graders were in the pool for AAP. There is no reason FCPS teachers have to teach down to that level for everyone for K-2.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Probably half the kindergarteners didn't attend preschool, so they have to start by getting them caught up.

Welcome to public school!


Seriously. Let it go.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Probably half the kindergarteners didn't attend preschool, so they have to start by getting them caught up.

Welcome to public school!


Seriously. Let it go.


This is not correct. Most of the low income children go to free preschool, unless they are very recent immigrants. The rest usually attended preschool or daycare. The only families I know that didn't do preschool before K were either really religious or really crunchy unschooling types.
Anonymous
Where on earth are your kids in school? This does not describe our FCPS K-2 at all.
Anonymous
Exactly describes both of the FCPS schools my kids have attended.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Where on earth are your kids in school? This does not describe our FCPS K-2 at all.


Agree. By the end of the year, my fcps K student was writing short sentences (imperfect, but several words, capitalization and punctuation) and doing basic math. So far in first, DC is doing review i n language arts and learning new math concepts like </>/=, reviewing number patterns, etc. They journal, talk about science. The teacher even sends optional math enrichment sheets with the homework.
Anonymous
My private school kindergartener has flash cars for colors. They are learning to read and spell the colors.
Anonymous
Could 13:16 and 15:03 mention your schools or your cluster? I've not seen much academics at all. My second grader has been doing place value and ><= crap that he's known since Kindy.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Where on earth are your kids in school? This does not describe our FCPS K-2 at all.


Agree. By the end of the year, my fcps K student was writing short sentences (imperfect, but several words, capitalization and punctuation) and doing basic math. So far in first, DC is doing review i n language arts and learning new math concepts like </>/=, reviewing number patterns, etc. They journal, talk about science. The teacher even sends optional math enrichment sheets with the homework.


But this is end of year stuff you describe PP. I agree the first 2-3 months are very slow. I felt like in K and 1, when things started to pick up speed and my kids had been identified for advanced pull out groups, etc - this lasted a few months and then the school year was over. For us, 2nd grade seems faster - right at the beginning of the year, all the kids were assessed for leveled groups. We'll see how this year goes...
Anonymous
Our 2nd grade class still hasn't had their DRA and no reading groups yet but there are word study groups. Anyone else in that boat?
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