What the heck is happening to DCPS?

[Anonymous]

My kids didn’t have math or reading today due to delay but they engaged in some sort of activity to talk about their emotions which led my DC to be in tears the rest of the day.

Report cards were super generic and said nothing of value.

My kid seems to know what every letter of LGBTQ stands for and what it means (which is fine) but could not name the seven continents and doesn’t know what continent we live in (which is not fine imho)

Teachers seem checked out. I guess I don’t blame them really.

Sigh. It seems like things are falling off a cliff. Just me? Hopefully, it’s just me.

[Anonymous]

Wow. What school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids didn’t have math or reading today due to delay but they engaged in some sort of activity to talk about their emotions which led my DC to be in tears the rest of the day.

Report cards were super generic and said nothing of value.

My kid seems to know what every letter of LGBTQ stands for and what it means (which is fine) but could not name the seven continents and doesn’t know what continent we live in (which is not fine imho)

Teachers seem checked out. I guess I don’t blame them really.

Sigh. It seems like things are falling off a cliff. Just me? Hopefully, it’s just me.

Red Flag Alert

This sounds like an RWNJ troll post from someone who isn't even in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids didn’t have math or reading today due to delay but they engaged in some sort of activity to talk about their emotions which led my DC to be in tears the rest of the day.

Report cards were super generic and said nothing of value.

My kid seems to know what every letter of LGBTQ stands for and what it means (which is fine) but could not name the seven continents and doesn’t know what continent we live in (which is not fine imho)

Teachers seem checked out. I guess I don’t blame them really.

Sigh. It seems like things are falling off a cliff. Just me? Hopefully, it’s just me.

Red Flag Alert

This sounds like an RWNJ troll post from someone who isn't even in DC.

DCPS did just change the report cards. So if this person is not from DC, they at least knew that.

[Anonymous]

OP, how old is your kid? Upper elementary grades? We're equally fed up in 5th grade, 8 years into our DCPS journey. This fall, we've been hiring a math tutor twice a week, hiring a writing tutor twice a week, teaching social studies at home. Music, science and PE good in a DCPS program with 5% poor kids, that's about it. Kid's pandemic learning loss was worse than we understood before having them tested privately. At least kid has been happy at school since in-person learning resumed. Moving on to parochial middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids didn’t have math or reading today due to delay but they engaged in some sort of activity to talk about their emotions which led my DC to be in tears the rest of the day.

Report cards were super generic and said nothing of value.

My kid seems to know what every letter of LGBTQ stands for and what it means (which is fine) but could not name the seven continents and doesn’t know what continent we live in (which is not fine imho)

Teachers seem checked out. I guess I don’t blame them really.

Sigh. It seems like things are falling off a cliff. Just me? Hopefully, it’s just me.

You haven't taught that to your kid on your own? Do you not travel? Talk about international news? A globe is relatively inexpensive and makes a fun gift / focal point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids didn’t have math or reading today due to delay but they engaged in some sort of activity to talk about their emotions which led my DC to be in tears the rest of the day.

Report cards were super generic and said nothing of value.

My kid seems to know what every letter of LGBTQ stands for and what it means (which is fine) but could not name the seven continents and doesn’t know what continent we live in (which is not fine imho)

Teachers seem checked out. I guess I don’t blame them really.

Sigh. It seems like things are falling off a cliff. Just me? Hopefully, it’s just me.

You haven't taught that to your kid on your own? Do you not travel? Talk about international news? A globe is relatively inexpensive and makes a fun gift / focal point.

DP. Of course we can all put world maps up at home. OP’s point is that DCPS is uninterested in teaching content and facts. True in our experience. PS: most families cannot afford to travel to other continents.

[Anonymous]

I distinctly remember a unit on continents and major bodies of water. Might have been 6th grade? I'm sure you can find it in the curriculum if you care to look.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. What school?

+1 what school and grade?

[Anonymous]

Learned it all in Europe- at home and in school, but it has never helped me in life. Wish I had know what LGBTQ stands for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I distinctly remember a unit on continents and major bodies of water. Might have been 6th grade? I'm sure you can find it in the curriculum if you care to look.

DS learned this in 2nd grade, granted we're from suburban north jersey. We're at a JKLM now and while good, it just doesn't seem to compare to the district we left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Learned it all in Europe- at home and in school, but it has never helped me in life. Wish I had know what LGBTQ stands for.

OP here. I can understand that. And I agree that learning about LGBTQ is a great thing and will make our kids’ generation more accepting and tolerant than my own. I just don’t feel that education has to be either/or and it seems to be that way at the moment where we are. I think it can be both. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how old is your kid? Upper elementary grades? We're equally fed up in 5th grade, 8 years into our DCPS journey. This fall, we've been hiring a math tutor twice a week, hiring a writing tutor twice a week, teaching social studies at home. Music, science and PE good in a DCPS program with 5% poor kids, that's about it. Kid's pandemic learning loss was worse than we understood before having them tested privately. At least kid has been happy at school since in-person learning resumed. Moving on to parochial middle school.

OP here. Thanks for allowing me a midnight vent and for sharing your experience. I feel much the same. We do a lot to enrich and supplement at home (which is how I even came to discover that DC didn’t know geography). We have decided that this is what we will do until DC goes to MS. I think some of the things the schools are trying to do to help with mental health are well-intentioned. I’m just not sure how effective it has been in the execution (First, Do No Harm). Are people at the schools qualified to discuss student mental health and big emotions at the young ages? Do they even want to? I would be afraid to open that can of worms without the requisite training. It seems teachers already have a lot on their plate. Anyway, thanks again for listening and sharing. Helps to know that it’s not just me.

To answer some of the others, I’m not a troll. Just a concerned parent who was up too late last night. We are in Ward 3 public, DC is in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

My 2nd grader at a charter school just learned a song that helps them to ask people for their pronouns which is great. They've also learned the phonics, continents, multiplication and the basics of plate tectonics (when they learned about the continents, they learned how the continents got their shape - it was apparently a very exciting lesson because they came home and showed me how various mountain ranges around the world were formed).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2nd grader at a charter school just learned a song that helps them to ask people for their pronouns which is great. They've also learned the phonics, continents, multiplication and the basics of plate tectonics (when they learned about the continents, they learned how the continents got their shape - it was apparently a very exciting lesson because they came home and showed me how various mountain ranges around the world were formed).

In the SECOND grade? Are you kidding me?