Why is everything so mediocre around me?(Warning: long rambling post)

[Anonymous]

I have a 1st grader in N Arlington (one of the areas cited by OP). My current 1st grader is pretty far ahead of his class in math on his Dreambox app and my older child was in “virtual” 1st grade.

You can see the Virginia state standards for Math and Reading online. My understanding is that at the end of the year most of all of the class should be meeting those standards. For Reading and Literacy, Arlington used Heggerty Phonics as part of the curriculum. My kids are really lukewarm about it, but I watched dozens of those videos during virtual school and thought they were great. My current student told me they don’t watch phonics videos and instead his teacher reads lists of words and does the hand motions live. For math, I pulled these papers out of his Friday Folder items sent home last week. He is adding 2 digit numbers (35+24) but on his worksheet none of the problems require “carrying the 1”. He is also practicing reading and making pictographs and bar charts with numbers under 10. He has to use the chart to answer simple word questions like “how many more chocolate bars are there than bags of marshmallows?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find where high achieving immigrants hang out. Seriously - RSM classes, private music teachers, etc. Your kid will at least know another peer group with higher expectations.

Yeah this. I find the standards of high income wasp types are sort of mediocre regarding academics and music.

-
Raised by immigrants

haha... kind of true.

I moved out of an affluent area out west where there were not a lot of immigrants, and my kid was like the top top student -- reading chapter books by 4. We did not push them. They just loved books. No other kid in their class could read. DC was in a group by themselves, and just read by themselves during reading time.

We moved to MoCo, and DC was not the top top student. There were several kids like DC.

Maybe it's just a west coast thing where everyone is much more laid back?

Rich people can afford to have their children be laid back. They have family money and connections to give their kids a great future. Immigrants don't really have that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1st grader in N Arlington (one of the areas cited by OP). My current 1st grader is pretty far ahead of his class in math on his Dreambox app and my older child was in “virtual” 1st grade.

You can see the Virginia state standards for Math and Reading online. My understanding is that at the end of the year most of all of the class should be meeting those standards. For Reading and Literacy, Arlington used Heggerty Phonics as part of the curriculum. My kids are really lukewarm about it, but I watched dozens of those videos during virtual school and thought they were great. My current student told me they don’t watch phonics videos and instead his teacher reads lists of words and does the hand motions live. For math, I pulled these papers out of his Friday Folder items sent home last week. He is adding 2 digit numbers (35+24) but on his worksheet none of the problems require “carrying the 1”. He is also practicing reading and making pictographs and bar charts with numbers under 10. He has to use the chart to answer simple word questions like “how many more chocolate bars are there than bags of marshmallows?”

Also I am sorry it seems like other kids are mediocre. Perhaps your child is older for her grade? Both of my kids went to K on time, but one of my kids turned 7 in Nov of 1st grade and the other turned 7 in July after 1st grade. The range of abilities in k - 2nd is very wide. What seems like a “mediocre” 1st grader may just be a bright kid who happens to be 8-10 months younger than your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in a well off suburb with a top state school district. Blue ribbon school.

But the district relies on Fountas Pinnell. My kindergartener couldn’t read. Her spelling is terrible. Now in 1st grade they are still working on 5+2 and 9-7. So I have to teach literacy and math at home. I’m sure I’ll have to start spelling and science soon.

I put her in a music school because she wanted an instrument. As the newest kid by far she objectively did the best at the recital (memorized the music, played with good tempo, actually performed) whereas kids who have been learning for much longer could barely read off their music stands, showed up wearing old sweats, and often had to restart the piece.

This will sound snobby. I know not everyone is the top at everything. But my kid is by no means a musical prodigy. She should not be at the top of the performance list, she is a good. She is in the top math group, but only because the classroom expectation is that she master 1-10 math facts, she is not an exceptional math talent. I love my kid and am proud, but realistically she is not a superstar.

Isn’t the 1st grade class standard behind? Is this music school bad? Should we move? Or is this just how things are even in coveted districts? I feel like during the preschool years everyone talked about enrichment and doing the best for kids. Everyone looked into specialized classes and were weirdly competitive about their babies. How can the elementary classroom and extracurricular experience be so mediocre in a wealthy, educated area? Is this why people are down on public schools and seek private? Or is this because I don’t live in the cutthroat areas of McLean and N Arlington? Is it different where you are?

I think one of the big difference between Asian performance and everyone else's -- recall that the children of poor Asians are almost on par with the richest of whites, academically -- is that Asian parents don't really trust the school system to deliver, but white parents do; after all, when they were in school, it was a lot more functional. A fair number of parents will starting picking up on this later, but usually the amount of effort being put in at home (and Kumon) to bring their child up to snuff won't be mentioned, socially. And in any case, hard to talk down your local public school without it affecting property values.

[Anonymous]

I have a first grader. I’m curious with the math discussion above. Here’s what DS7 brought home in his most recent unit assessment. What do you think, DCUM? To me this seems more like a test of reading and following directions, not a math skills test. What 7 or 8 year old doesn’t know what a triangle or rectangle is?

Q1 (Given: page full of shapes)
1. Color the triangles purple
2. Color the hexagon green
3. Color the rhombuses red
4. Color the rectangles orange

Q2 Sara says this shape is a triangle. Is she right? Circle yes or no. How do you know?
(Given: picture of a circle)

Q3 draw a shape with 4 corners and 4 sides that are all the same length. What is the name of your shape?

Q4 (similar to Q1)
Put a circle around the cube.
Draw a red line under the cylinder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be smart first you have to have facts pounded in your head at a young age, so you understand the basic grammar of each kind of subject and have a solid foundation. Then your creativity will thrive based on what you already knew. In the western world we used to know that until the "education innovators" started ruining everything as early as the 19th century.

+1. In the early years, any DC needs to have a strong foundation of facts, ability to read well, and ability to do math well. All of those boil down to memorization.

No, spelling and phonic are about memorization, but if taught correctly, math is about inquire. The art of inquire is far more important than memorization. Sadly, Tiger parent’s can’t seem to grasp that, probably on account of their own stunted development.

Like everything else, math is about inquiry after you get the facts down. I was schooled by a drill and kill math curriculum (speed drills for the win!) and made it through differential equations and have higher degrees and a career in a STEM subject.

+1000

Research scientist agreeing with this.

Don’t tell me about alg 1 in 6th. That’s not a measure of anything. My dyscalculic son reached AP Calc BC and he’s rubbish at math.

What matters is memorization AND understanding, something schools cannot do well. Most kids don’t get either, some get one, a few get both, and those few are the ones in successful and innovative STEM careers.

Me again. We loved Montessori preschool, where kids learn using the scientific method. If our preschool had extended into primary school, we’d have stayed. Not all “Montessori” schools are good, the name is not protected. And then we supplemented with Beast Academy, which we also love, because it’s the only method that prioritizes problem-solving. The rote memorization happened at home - we don’t need to pay someone else for that.

Incidentally, OP, I have a kid who started playing his instrument at 3, with Suzuki. He then went to a private studio, and has been part of MCYO for years. If you don’t feel instruction is up to your standards, switch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: math inquiry,
The math specialist at my son’s school told me and 100 other parents not to tell me our kids if an answer was correct or incorrect. So if my 1st grader does math on his own and then asks me how he did, apparently I am not supposed to tell him. I should only ask how HE feels he did.

wtAFFFFFFF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To be smart first you have to have facts pounded in your head at a young age, so you understand the basic grammar of each kind of subject and have a solid foundation. Then your creativity will thrive based on what you already knew. In the western world we used to know that until the "education innovators" started ruining everything as early as the 19th century.

+1. In the early years, any DC needs to have a strong foundation of facts, ability to read well, and ability to do math well. All of those boil down to memorization.

No, spelling and phonic are about memorization, but if taught correctly, math is about inquire. The art of inquire is far more important than memorization. Sadly, Tiger parent’s can’t seem to grasp that, probably on account of their own stunted development.

Absolutely false, and that’s why public math education sucks. You cannot “inquire” your way into the math foundation needed to do Algebra. That’s leaving kids behind, except the ones who are naturally talented at math or get outside tutoring. Math “inquiry” is the same type of pernicious cr*p as “whole language”.

I don’t know, I agree with the PP. I had two kids go through Montessori elementary and math facts wasn’t part of it. We never did math facts or memorizing anything at home either. They entered public school in 6th grade and were placed in alg I.

so they magically learned multiplication and division? unlikely. but yes, there are some students who pick up math more quickly and will not be set back by poor instruction. many more will be hurt by it. even american “advanced” students are behind other countries because of how we teach math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a first grader. I’m curious with the math discussion above. Here’s what DS7 brought home in his most recent unit assessment. What do you think, DCUM? To me this seems more like a test of reading and following directions, not a math skills test. What 7 or 8 year old doesn’t know what a triangle or rectangle is?

Q1 (Given: page full of shapes)
1. Color the triangles purple
2. Color the hexagon green
3. Color the rhombuses red
4. Color the rectangles orange

Q2 Sara says this shape is a triangle. Is she right? Circle yes or no. How do you know?
(Given: picture of a circle)

Q3 draw a shape with 4 corners and 4 sides that are all the same length. What is the name of your shape?

Q4 (similar to Q1)
Put a circle around the cube.
Draw a red line under the cylinder.

Yikes. Honestly Sesame Street level!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The way they do school nowadays is that kindergarten has the first grade curriculum, which is hard for a lot of children. Then first grade has the same first grade curriculum. Then second grade has the first grade curriculum to catch up all the kids who aren't there yet so they'll be ready for third grade, when real school starts. And the kids who are already there are bored while they wait.

Very accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Inquiry based” math doesn’t work - there’s reams of evidence on it. Kids actually need to be explicitly taught.

https://edsource.org/2022/californias-math-framework-lacks-research-to-justify-its-progressive-agenda/670470

Thanks for the URL. That article - and the more detailed ine linked from within it - make clear that "inquiry-based" math is just as devoid of solid reproducible supporting research as Lucy Calkins' (now widely discredited) balanced literacy/whole language reading approach. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Inquiry based” math doesn’t work - there’s reams of evidence on it. Kids actually need to be explicitly taught.

https://edsource.org/2022/californias-math-framework-lacks-research-to-justify-its-progressive-agenda/670470

Thanks for the URL. That article - and the more detailed ine linked from within it - make clear that "inquiry-based" math is just as devoid of solid reproducible supporting research as Lucy Calkins' (now widely discredited) balanced literacy/whole language reading approach. Sigh.

yep. we even had a PP here saying it is BAD to memorize math facts!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find where high achieving immigrants hang out. Seriously - RSM classes, private music teachers, etc. Your kid will at least know another peer group with higher expectations.

Yeah this. I find the standards of high income wasp types are sort of mediocre regarding academics and music.

-
Raised by immigrants

I think some people value other things because they can. If your kids won't need to worry about money, you have the luxury of not worrying about enrichment as a means to an end. You can let your kids enjoy their childhood. Personally, I wouldn't worry about my kid unless he said he was bored...

[Anonymous]

Our ES did away with timed math quizzes for basic math facts and it absolutely shows! They got rid of them because some kids were “stressed out” by them. We have 5th graders who don’t know basically multiplication and division facts to 10. Like don’t know how to do 45/9 in 5th grade!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a Title 1 inner city elementary school with 65% at risk kids.

She is in 1st grade and reads chapter books like Mia Mayhem and Princess in Black fluently. She's in the top reading group at school but is not the top student -- there is at least one other kid who reads as well as she does but is a better speller. Both kids write well. I know there are kids in class still working on more basic phonics but the teacher has not had trouble differentiating to challenge the more advanced readers.

In math they are working double and triple digit addition and subtraction as well as a host of math facts and techniques that will translate well to multiplication and division (skip counting, take from 10 methods, etc.). DD is middle of the pack in math, not in the top group but not in the bottom group. She thinks math is fun though which I view as a good reflection the teacher because it means she's learning all this without getting burned out.

I think your school sucks, OP. Sorry. I would demand more.

WTF? You have an unhealthy obsession on where your daughter stands with relation to her peers. And no they aren’t working on triple digit subtraction . Maybe adding three digits but subtracting three digits in the middle of 1st grade would not be a good idea.