1st grade is a bad as we suspected

[Anonymous]

I have a first grader and here is what she is doing:

Reading easy reader level 2 books
Had her first spelling test. Words included shop, ship, and cheese. Got 100% after we practiced at home and was very proud.
In math, they are doing addition of things like 14+3
Can definitely write her own name, is right handed, and has known all of the letters and sounds for years
In science, they are doing a unit about pumpkins. Parts of the pumpkin, how a pumpkin grows, etc

I remember my first grade experience back in the 80s and she and her classmates do and learn so much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

[Anonymous]

OP- if you are a regular substitute then you do have foundational knowledge of what to expect from these kids. You are more than qualified to comment as you did. It sounds like a freaking zoo. I bet you can identify the parents who stuck their kids in front of screens as a form of babysitting and the parents who made the effort to actually parent. Thank you for teaching!

[Anonymous]

Some of the parents on here are protesting a little too much. Gee, I wonder why?

[Anonymous]

It's certainly true for those who were relying on virtual school to educate their kids last year without taking matters into their own hands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

Maybe. But not most of the parents posting here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

Maybe. But not most of the parents posting here.

You don’t know that, but even if you’re right, so what? Your comment wasn’t limited to only parents here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

Maybe. But not most of the parents posting here.

You don’t know that, but even if you’re right, so what? Your comment wasn’t limited to only parents here.

Parents, even the ones who “we have no idea what they are dealing with” are still ultimately responsible for how their kids turn out. I’m the end, if their kid is a HS drop out or whatever, no one is going to blame the pandemic from back in K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

True, we don't. I do know that Kumon workbooks for K are not that expensive. When parents decided that virtual school wasn't working and choose to let their kids do nothing other then sign in, they could have picked up the Kumon workbooks and gone through a few pages with their kids. I know that many parents on this site recommended work books and activities that would help the child keep up.

If parents choose not to find a solution then that is on the parent. It doesn't have to take a long time to go through those type of workbooks and read to your kid. The idea that this is all on FCPS is ridiculous. There were things that could have been done that were not time consuming or expensive that the vast majority of parents posting on this board could have done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

True, we don't. I do know that Kumon workbooks for K are not that expensive. When parents decided that virtual school wasn't working and choose to let their kids do nothing other then sign in, they could have picked up the Kumon workbooks and gone through a few pages with their kids. I know that many parents on this site recommended work books and activities that would help the child keep up.

If parents choose not to find a solution then that is on the parent. It doesn't have to take a long time to go through those type of workbooks and read to your kid. The idea that this is all on FCPS is ridiculous. There were things that could have been done that were not time consuming or expensive that the vast majority of parents posting on this board could have done.

I strongly disagree with you. We did all the things you were saying. We did workbooks the entire year plus did everything the school asked during virtual learning. This was for a first grader. More workbooks than I can count! This year we switched to a school that was open last year and our kid is insanely behind the other kids. If you really think parents had the ability to make up the deficits by buying workbooks and doing them with their kids it seems to me you don’t see teaching as an actual professional skill. It is. Parents are not teachers. We can do workbooks until we’re blue in the face but we are not professional educators who understand how to best convey information to children at different stages and how to understand if the work is where it should be for a certain point in their development. I was fortunate enough to alter my work schedule significantly along with my spouse and we literally sat with our first grader every day during virtual school to ensure proper participation. And as I said on top of that we did workbooks. Our child is incredibly far behind students who have in person school last year

[Anonymous]

I have a 1st grader, who attended a small in person K last year, a preschool that added a 5 year old class, so not super academic or anything of that sort, but he did go in person every single day. This year he is in 1st grade in person and he tells me that he is at the top of his class. The work he brings home is all stuff he did last year already. He hasn't learned anything new academically. I'm fine with this, because it's giving him the time and space to learn to grow socially and get used to a big class, school, structure, etc., since he already has the academics. But yeah, this group of kids got screwed by virtual learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

Maybe. But not most of the parents posting here.

You don’t know that, but even if you’re right, so what? Your comment wasn’t limited to only parents here.

Parents, even the ones who “we have no idea what they are dealing with” are still ultimately responsible for how their kids turn out. I’m the end, if their kid is a HS drop out or whatever, no one is going to blame the pandemic from back in K.

Yes, there could be a whole wave of kids that turn out behind from the effects of the pandemic, and it's the school system's fault for acting like 5 year-olds can do a school day on Zoom. The majority of parents were doing the best that they could, but not everyone can afford supplementing and tutoring or even has a lot of time for homeschooling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

True, we don't. I do know that Kumon workbooks for K are not that expensive. When parents decided that virtual school wasn't working and choose to let their kids do nothing other then sign in, they could have picked up the Kumon workbooks and gone through a few pages with their kids. I know that many parents on this site recommended work books and activities that would help the child keep up.

If parents choose not to find a solution then that is on the parent. It doesn't have to take a long time to go through those type of workbooks and read to your kid. The idea that this is all on FCPS is ridiculous. There were things that could have been done that were not time consuming or expensive that the vast majority of parents posting on this board could have done.

I strongly disagree with you. We did all the things you were saying. We did workbooks the entire year plus did everything the school asked during virtual learning. This was for a first grader. More workbooks than I can count! This year we switched to a school that was open last year and our kid is insanely behind the other kids. If you really think parents had the ability to make up the deficits by buying workbooks and doing them with their kids it seems to me you don’t see teaching as an actual professional skill. It is. Parents are not teachers. We can do workbooks until we’re blue in the face but we are not professional educators who understand how to best convey information to children at different stages and how to understand if the work is where it should be for a certain point in their development. I was fortunate enough to alter my work schedule significantly along with my spouse and we literally sat with our first grader every day during virtual school to ensure proper participation. And as I said on top of that we did workbooks. Our child is incredibly far behind students who have in person school last year

All this. There are some parents on here who are entirely full of themselves and probably would be better off homeschooling permanently, since they're kids respond so well to them "teaching" at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for subbing! We NEED you!

+1000. I don’t know why so many people are being nasty to OP.

Education begins at home. I have a niece in 1st and a nephew in 3rd. They had a father working in COVID wards and a mother WFH in a high-stress job. They were put through Kumon to supplement the poor DL and they’re perfectly fine. Other parents chose not to do this and they’re being defensive. And don’t whine to me about their privilege. Many of you have the same privilege yet you failed your kids.

Perhaps because OP was being nasty about young kids and their parents.

Some parents have really let their kids down over the last 18 months. This is an undeniable fact. Yes, DL was a disaster, but some parents tried to mitigate the disaster, others did not or made it worse by allowing and encouraging terrible behavior and learned helplessness.

FOAD. You have no clue what some parents were dealing with.

Maybe. But not most of the parents posting here.

You don’t know that, but even if you’re right, so what? Your comment wasn’t limited to only parents here.

Parents, even the ones who “we have no idea what they are dealing with” are still ultimately responsible for how their kids turn out. I’m the end, if their kid is a HS drop out or whatever, no one is going to blame the pandemic from back in K.

Yes, there could be a whole wave of kids that turn out behind from the effects of the pandemic, and it's the school system's fault for acting like 5 year-olds can do a school day on Zoom. The majority of parents were doing the best that they could, but not everyone can afford supplementing and tutoring or even has a lot of time for homeschooling.

We've had one 10-day quarantine with our kindergartener, and a full day on Zoom was tough. There were some activities that translated ok, but others, like writing, that were challenging. Every time there was a writing task, DS would fall behind and get anxious/frustrated. I talked to his teacher after and she essentially agreed that writing is hard to teach virtually. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if 1st graders as a whole are behind on that.