Compacted Math, No Homework

[Anonymous]

DC, 4th grade, is in compacted math. The homework so far has been to practice multiplication facts. This is the 4th week of instruction. I don't see the acceleration for the compacted curriculum class. Has anyone else had the same experience?

I'm starting to think MCPS does not intend to complete 3 years of the curriculum in the two years. That they created the compacted class so the parents would feel good and not for the kids who need acceleration. Maybe they don't want to articulate 75 kids to 7th grade math out of the compacted curriculum classes. Not finishing the curriculum would help them do that.

[Anonymous]

Mine has homework. More challenging than what you describe.

[Anonymous]

Mine has homework every night. More challenging than a review of multiplication facts, but nothing extremely difficult.

[Anonymous]

My kid gets nightly homework- though nothing too stressful. I am pretty impressed with what they are doing so far- more so than I thought I would be. We were told at BTSN that this course goes faster that the 4th grade class, but is the same material. That seems about right since I see that her 4th grade friend's homework is what my daughter was doing a couple of weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid gets nightly homework- though nothing too stressful. I am pretty impressed with what they are doing so far- more so than I thought I would be. We were told at BTSN that this course goes faster that the 4th grade class, but is the same material. That seems about right since I see that her 4th grade friend's homework is what my daughter was doing a couple of weeks ago.

How were you able to see your daughter's friend's homework?

[Anonymous]

Maybe pp had a play date after school with both kids.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I am the pp. I am not a crazy parent- my daughter and her friend were just doing their homework next to each other before soccer practice.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in what work everyone is seeing. I would expect that all the classes around the county would be doing the same thing. Everything thus far that I've seen has been review -- place value, rounding, addition and subtraction.

Child says he thinks they are starting "parts and wholes." Very funny in a sad sort of way, actually, because he described this as something he knows (he knows basic fractions) but he just didn't know that's what he was supposed to call them.

Why would someone in a different school have fractions and someone else in another school say curriculum seems impressive?

[Anonymous]

I think it is about parental expectations. I like that it is the same thing as the other 4th graders, just at a faster pace. I like the common core and the insistence that kids must understand things deeper. I am not for pushing kids to do concepts that they can solve, but they do not understand and are not sure how to apply to different situations.

I have a 4th and a 5th grader so I know both systems. There was/is a lot of "push" in the math 6 class, but my 4th grader is the one that can explain.

Again, though, I believe in the curriculum and am not one to complain.

[Anonymous]

What throws me is the person with homework that is "more challenging than a review of multiplication facts."

That's not what I've seen so far. Makes me wonder whether all schools are really doing the same thing.

17:31: Agree on making sure kids have good, solid understanding. In principle, I agree with doing a curriculum that makes more sense and doesn't spiral like the last one.

But I have a 6th grader who thrived in the old math curriculum and is now in math magnet. He needed faster and more challenging math and he got it. His 4th grade brother (at HGC and in compacted math) has consistently shown need for far more than he's been getting. Feels like years and years of waiting for the system to catch up to meeting his needs. Wish I was seeing something stronger for him.

[Anonymous]

My child is receiving vey challenging homework. His class is big- about 28 or 29 students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is about parental expectations. I like that it is the same thing as the other 4th graders, just at a faster pace. I like the common core and the insistence that kids must understand things deeper. I am not for pushing kids to do concepts that they can solve, but they do not understand and are not sure how to apply to different situations.

I have a 4th and a 5th grader so I know both systems. There was/is a lot of "push" in the math 6 class, but my 4th grader is the one that can explain.

Again, though, I believe in the curriculum and am not one to complain.

That is my experience too. Older child was accelerated (skipped two years), and can do the math, but there were holes. Namely, the stuff in in the skipped years. I've had to supplement at home to fill in the holes.

Younger child is in 2.0 and can explain everything. I'm supplementing because the child is ready for more.

I would much rather supplement because the child is ready for more than supplement to fill in the holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DC, 4th grade, is in compacted math. The homework so far has been to practice multiplication facts. This is the 4th week of instruction. I don't see the acceleration for the compacted curriculum class. Has anyone else had the same experience?

I'm starting to think MCPS does not intend to complete 3 years of the curriculum in the two years. That they created the compacted class so the parents would feel good and not for the kids who need acceleration. Maybe they don't want to articulate 75 kids to 7th grade math out of the compacted curriculum classes. Not finishing the curriculum would help them do that.

Two things are possibly happening:

1) They're still ramping up.
2) Your child was assigned to a lower ability work group

[Anonymous]

My child is in the 4/5 math and has challenging homework. They have been working on regrouping and now are doing some complicated story problems involving addition and multiplication.

[Anonymous]

Remember the kids are going faster..that doesn't mean the material will be harder..I would assume the homework would be the same challenge level but the compacted class would spend less time on every topic. MCPS never said these compacted class would follow a different/enriched curriculum just faster.