Outside math enrichment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am grateful for outside math enrichment. My kid's MCPS compacted class has 32 students, and the RSM has 6 students. Gets way more in 2 hours of math each week outside of school than in the 7.5 hours of math in school.

Ditto. My kid learns significantly more in two hours a week of AoPS than anything that happens at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

I know exactly what the PP was saying. To me, it's specific to ES. At MS and HS, students have more options to find challenging classes where they belong. In ES, smart kids are often neglected because the teachers end up spending all their time with kids who have behavioral issues or have fallen way behind. They believe grouping is bad so you also can't get anything resembling a challenge for kids that want to learn. I learned to work around these issues to help my kids. It's just unfortunate that MCPS refuses to recognize these problems.

[Anonymous]

My kid went from one private to another and was so bored in math. We do mathnasium at his request. He doesn’t do any sports, math and coding are what he likes to do. His coding camp sent his program to MIT because the teacher felt he couldn’t have done what my kid did.

Math support isn’t always “prepping.” It is my kid’s hobby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid went from one private to another and was so bored in math. We do mathnasium at his request. He doesn’t do any sports, math and coding are what he likes to do. His coding camp sent his program to MIT because the teacher felt he couldn’t have done what my kid did.

Math support isn’t always “prepping.” It is my kid’s hobby.

Then how can we disparage it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

Agree, and I think the same is true in ES ELA except for CES/ELC. My child is on CES waitlist and is slogging through Benchmark at a school that does not offer ELC. That’s why we enrich both math and ELA.

[Anonymous]

What do you do for your child’s math and Ela enrichment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid went from one private to another and was so bored in math. We do mathnasium at his request. He doesn’t do any sports, math and coding are what he likes to do. His coding camp sent his program to MIT because the teacher felt he couldn’t have done what my kid did.

Math support isn’t always “prepping.” It is my kid’s hobby.

Then how can we disparage it?

Sounds like you should have saved the money and choose MCPS/public. Your private school information wasn't relevant and not the same math tracks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do for your child’s math and Ela enrichment?

We do RSM (in person) for math and AOPS (virtual campus) for ELA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

Not sure that's true. My MS child is in the magnet and takes 2nd year world language, advanced English and Global Humanities. That's 6 advanced classes that they opted into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

I was grateful that my kids went through TPES where they offer accelerated math in ES. I think it's the only remaining artifact of the ES magnet that no longer exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

Not sure that's true. My MS child is in the magnet and takes 2nd year world language, advanced English and Global Humanities. That's 6 advanced classes that they opted into.

That's great but its not offered at all schools, only the magnets and a select few schools get Algebra in 6th. Everyone has advanced english - that is standard now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do for your child’s math and Ela enrichment?

We do RSM (in person) for math and AOPS (virtual campus) for ELA.

We also do both RSM and AoPS but for math!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD with 800 in SAT math have never done these enrichments, she did a 2 week prep for SAT, but never enrolled in there year long programs, seems excessive. Her only friend doing these classes is on the low math track

The difference is your child is extremely bright and probably on the highest math track.

As an MCPS HS math teacher, I can safely say most kids in that track were heavily prepped. Not sure why some parents love to pretend otherwise. There's really no shame in putting in a little effort.

Not really, it is kids on low math track taking these classes, never heard on kids on the same track as DD ( calc BC 11th grade) doing these enrichments

Kids on the high tracks often take outside classes in elementary to get ahead and onto that track in the first place. That enrichment is also a form of prep. It's not like the high track kids had talent in a vacuum.

That's usually the case with anything whether it's basketball, soccer or math.

+1 Personally I would love if there was not this ‘arms race’ of prepping, but because I know so many do it forces us to do this too so my kids are not at a disadvantage.

Regarding academic enrichment, I also have to supplement because the MCPS ES curriculum is so watered down unfortunately. Again I would love to rely on the school to teach my kids but I have seen that I cannot, and - like many going to public schools - can’t afford the tuition for schools that would. It is a shame our school system is not more rigorous.

How old is your child? Is this lack of rigor just an issue at the elementary school level?

For us, it was a lack of rigor (and DEPTH!) in ES and MS. There is no differentiation in MS until Compacted Math. And Compacted Math is just covering the same material faster than non-compacted. No more depth, no interesting applications, etc.

MS has certain Math tracks, but it’s not great either. And again, they offer very little depth.

Math can actually be pretty amazing and interesting. Especially for kids who enjoy Math. But MCPS works so hard to dumb it down and is so anti-differentiation in the early grades, that many kids who would otherwise be good at math, or who enjoy Math, get totally turned off.

Not sure that's true. My MS child is in the magnet and takes 2nd year world language, advanced English and Global Humanities. That's 6 advanced classes that they opted into.

Your kid is at a MS Magnet. The number of seats in the MS Magnets are incredibly limited. My kid went from a regional CES to a home MS to a HS Magnet. The home MS was somewhat disappointing. Every single child is placed in Advanced English at our MS. And the AIM class was not much different from the IM class that my DD’s friends took. And my kid breezed through Spanish 2 with all As, but she really doesn’t actually know much Spanish at all. I will acknowledge that the HIGH class was a good class, all 3 years.