How happy are you with MCPS elementary curriculum?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the insights. I guess I also meant the activities they do, not just the curriculum itself - I don't need him learning rocket science yet, I just want learning activities to foster exploration and curiosity, not just be about cutting and coloring worksheets or playing games on the laptop. Is that very teacher-dependent?

That said, I'm super curious about the Benchmark and RGR discussions - I don't see either yet, but maybe because it starts in grade 1? Are all Moco elementary schools moving to RGR next year?

I don't mind what I see from the Eureka workbook thus far. Again, I just hope it's being supplemented in class with something other than additional worksheets.

RGR and Benchmark are both used in K this year for all students.

Next year it will just be Amplify CKLA, which covers both phonics and ELA (with RGR available as an intervention as needed).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the insights. I guess I also meant the activities they do, not just the curriculum itself - I don't need him learning rocket science yet, I just want learning activities to foster exploration and curiosity, not just be about cutting and coloring worksheets or playing games on the laptop. Is that very teacher-dependent?

That said, I'm super curious about the Benchmark and RGR discussions - I don't see either yet, but maybe because it starts in grade 1? Are all Moco elementary schools moving to RGR next year?

I don't mind what I see from the Eureka workbook thus far. Again, I just hope it's being supplemented in class with something other than additional worksheets.

Truthfully, I think most public school education is about teaching skills that will prepare kids for standardized tests that will boost schools/county scores. I don't think they really try to foster curiosity and exploration. Sorry, I don't like it either but it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2nd and 5th.

Benchmark is THE WORST. Cannot go away fast enough. Way too much focus on nonfiction and technical texts that the kids find boring.

Eureka is slow and can lack challenge in the early years. Both of my kids are gifted in math and find the K-3 Eureka pretty annoying, but I do see MCPS making some plans to adapt - my second grader now goes to accelerated math with WIN time and my 5th has had tons of acceleration and enrichment opportunities since 4th.

I see why people complain about Eureka and I certainly can’t help them with their homework, but it WORKS. The foundations they are getting to build true math success are way better than what we had.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the insights. I guess I also meant the activities they do, not just the curriculum itself - I don't need him learning rocket science yet, I just want learning activities to foster exploration and curiosity, not just be about cutting and coloring worksheets or playing games on the laptop. Is that very teacher-dependent?

That said, I'm super curious about the Benchmark and RGR discussions - I don't see either yet, but maybe because it starts in grade 1? Are all Moco elementary schools moving to RGR next year?

I don't mind what I see from the Eureka workbook thus far. Again, I just hope it's being supplemented in class with something other than additional worksheets.

Your kid gets both Benchmark and RGR.

It’s very teacher dependent. My kinder kid gets Chromebook time only during indoor recess, and the teacher takes them “field trips” all over the school to measure things, math manipulative galore, etc. But my older two didn’t have that (same ES).

[Anonymous]

Its teacher dependent. Teachers have 18-25 kids in K depending on school. A good number of them had no preschool, come in knowing no letters and not even how to follow directions to walk in a line. The focus is in getting all these skills before they can learn content so its boring for the rest. Kids are not tracked in K-3 so what ive seen is balanced classes where the bottom 4th is not engaged and a lot of resources spent on getting them to the minimum standard. My kid is in 2nd in MCPS and she learned to read in K as we specifically didnt teacher to read in english and focused on heritage language at home. I wish there were 15 and under kids in class, lots of time for exploration and experiments and less computer work and worksheets. But alas thats not public school.

[Anonymous]

About College Gardens and IB...My kids attended (not recently but...). My younger switched the the Barnsley magnet for 4th grade, I was surprised to see many IB activities from CG were also included at Barnsley but were just called part of science/soc studies etc. CG still follows the same curriculum as other schools. In the beginning, they really learned some Spanish but then it was significantly reduced to a bit of Chinese. Not sure what happened when the immersion program left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I can promise you that private and public curricula are ALL incredibly boring at the elementary level. What you need to do is teach what you want at home, no matter how strenuously teachers ask you not to teach math differently. Most children of educated parents are ready to do more, and should do more, to be better prepared for advanced tracks in middle and high school.

My kids are in high school and college now. This is what we did.

Montessori is definitely not boring at that age. Kids go at their own pace. If they've been reading for years when they start Kindergarten, no problem, because they're not sitting around listening to the teacher teach letter sounds. Same with math.

[Anonymous]

Is there any play in Kindergarten in MCPS? Any toys, blocks, centers, dramatic play stations etc.? Are the kids expected to sit at tables most of the day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any play in Kindergarten in MCPS? Any toys, blocks, centers, dramatic play stations etc.? Are the kids expected to sit at tables most of the day?

Not very much. We found that there is quite a bit of reliance on screens. Plus, not much time for play when teachers are required to show specific gains during the year.

Yes, kids are sitting at tables most of the day, or on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there any play in Kindergarten in MCPS? Any toys, blocks, centers, dramatic play stations etc.? Are the kids expected to sit at tables most of the day?

Not very much. We found that there is quite a bit of reliance on screens. Plus, not much time for play when teachers are required to show specific gains during the year.

Yes, kids are sitting at tables most of the day, or on the floor.

The use of screens was fantastic. I'm so glad MCPS embraces tech and prepares our children for the real world.
s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the insights. I guess I also meant the activities they do, not just the curriculum itself - I don't need him learning rocket science yet, I just want learning activities to foster exploration and curiosity, not just be about cutting and coloring worksheets or playing games on the laptop. Is that very teacher-dependent?

That said, I'm super curious about the Benchmark and RGR discussions - I don't see either yet, but maybe because it starts in grade 1? Are all Moco elementary schools moving to RGR next year?

I don't mind what I see from the Eureka workbook thus far. Again, I just hope it's being supplemented in class with something other than additional worksheets.

Kindergarten should be getting RGR. Phonics is so important for kindergarten! I know there's a handful of schools that piloted the Benchmark phonics program but since benchmark is going away it's probably a dead end. I am not sure if RGR is going to stay or if the district will adopt a different phonics program to go with the new reading curriculum.

My kid found Eureka a bit slow but is more challenged in 3rd grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any play in Kindergarten in MCPS? Any toys, blocks, centers, dramatic play stations etc.? Are the kids expected to sit at tables most of the day?

I work as a librarian in MCPS and we have makerspace and coloring tables during check out. I really love this time of year because the kids have their routines down and just so happy to be reading or doing learning activities together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for the insights. I guess I also meant the activities they do, not just the curriculum itself - I don't need him learning rocket science yet, I just want learning activities to foster exploration and curiosity, not just be about cutting and coloring worksheets or playing games on the laptop. Is that very teacher-dependent?

That said, I'm super curious about the Benchmark and RGR discussions - I don't see either yet, but maybe because it starts in grade 1? Are all Moco elementary schools moving to RGR next year?

I don't mind what I see from the Eureka workbook thus far. Again, I just hope it's being supplemented in class with something other than additional worksheets.

Kindergarten should be getting RGR. Phonics is so important for kindergarten! I know there's a handful of schools that piloted the Benchmark phonics program but since benchmark is going away it's probably a dead end. I am not sure if RGR is going to stay or if the district will adopt a different phonics program to go with the new reading curriculum.

My kid found Eureka a bit slow but is more challenged in 3rd grade.

The new curriculum does phonics so RGR will just be available as an intervention when needed. (That's actually how it is supposed to be used.)

[Anonymous]

My DD had a wonderful old school K teacher in MCPS who did lots of center time with dramatic play stations as well as centers that had a math or reading focus that were fun - stamping with letters for example. The teacher did phonics (even though the school hadn't rolled out RGR yet). My DD learned to read quite easily with no help from me needed. That being said, there was still screen time because the teacher needed to test each kid using Dibels and that takes a fair amount of time.

1st grade was actually tough for her because she was used to learning through play.

Anonymous wrote:Is there any play in Kindergarten in MCPS? Any toys, blocks, centers, dramatic play stations etc.? Are the kids expected to sit at tables most of the day?

[Anonymous]

RGR is a big improvement over benchmark alone, but overall the ELA curriculum is not very good. I’ve heard encouraging things about the replacement.

Eureka is fine. All ES math curricula a boring but I think it at least prepares kids well for higher math.

Too much screentime in ES overall.