School gets hard in 3rd

[Anonymous]

Is this true? Does 3rd grade begin to split kids into those who will excel and those who will struggle academically? So far everyone seems to be even keel with a few advanced math kids and a few struggling readers, but most are in the middle for everything.

[Anonymous]

Behavioral expectations take a jump in third. In MCPS, though, fourth is when there is additional formal separation based on achievement (for reading and math).

[Anonymous]

It’s really important for a kid to be able to read by third grade. If they can’t read well, they aren’t going to do well in other classes.

[Anonymous]

I think 4th is when it really gets hard at least at our school. The kids are expected to write down their own homework for the night and make sure they have everything they need. So many nights where my kid has forgotten his planner/study guide/book and he was screwed. In third the teacher checked each kid's planner and made sure they had their stuff. This is a parochial school with smaller class sizes (17ish.)

[Anonymous]

4th for us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s really important for a kid to be able to read by third grade. If they can’t read well, they aren’t going to do well in other classes.

This is a dumb question, but how can I really know whether mine is reading well enough in 2nd grade? He reads aloud with me and is reading chapter books like Flat Stanley and Charlotte’s Web but often skips over unimportant words or substitutes unintentionally. Like instead of “She said it was too hard,” he might read “Lola said it was really hard.” Obviously he knows how to read the words “she” and “too.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Behavioral expectations take a jump in third. In MCPS, though, fourth is when there is additional formal separation based on achievement (for reading and math).

Yes, they do that why we started medication in 2nd grade to be ready for 3rd grade.

daughter is now a junior in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s really important for a kid to be able to read by third grade. If they can’t read well, they aren’t going to do well in other classes.

This is a dumb question, but how can I really know whether mine is reading well enough in 2nd grade? He reads aloud with me and is reading chapter books like Flat Stanley and Charlotte’s Web but often skips over unimportant words or substitutes unintentionally. Like instead of “She said it was too hard,” he might read “Lola said it was really hard.” Obviously he knows how to read the words “she” and “too.”

That sounds fine, especially for a boy. If you're unsure, ask the teacher.

When kids skip or substitute, it can be because they're getting tired. It's not a big deal-- they'll outgrow it.

[Anonymous]

No fool wtf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Behavioral expectations take a jump in third. In MCPS, though, fourth is when there is additional formal separation based on achievement (for reading and math).

Yes, they do that why we started medication in 2nd grade to be ready for 3rd grade.

daughter is now a junior in high school.

The meth is working?

[Anonymous]

Things do get harder in 3rd grade, but I don't know what you're going on about in regards to splitting kids up. Children are clustered according to ability in all school districts.

[Anonymous]

This has been our experience with a current third grader in MCPS. First year not getting As/top grades and first year not getting demonstrates on the Learning Skills behavior grades. I think some of that is the individual teacher's expectations but it feels together than previous years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think 4th is when it really gets hard at least at our school. The kids are expected to write down their own homework for the night and make sure they have everything they need. So many nights where my kid has forgotten his planner/study guide/book and he was screwed. In third the teacher checked each kid's planner and made sure they had their stuff. This is a parochial school with smaller class sizes (17ish.)

4th grade at our school also. Weak reading skills often surface first in 4th grade.

K-3 grades are learning to read and do basic math. 4-12th grades are reading to learn and more advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Things do get harder in 3rd grade, but I don't know what you're going on about in regards to splitting kids up. Children are clustered according to ability in all school districts.

If FCPS is sorting by ability within the many GenEd students, they are not admitting it. They do sort AAP vs GenEd.

[Anonymous]

Tracking seemed to start in 3rd at our title 1 DCPS elementary, but became more formal in 4th for both math and ELA. I can’t speak for other districts, but kids start to have standardized test data (PARC/DCCAPE) in 4th, whereas in younger grades they only have iReady and whatever the ELA equivalent is.