How many minutes per subject in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know the minimum number of minutes MCPS requires be spent on each subject in elementary school? Is there a link to any official guidance on this and/or are there any search terms I could use to try to track it down? How much flexibility do individual schools have?

Also, does it vary by grade? I.e. do kindergarteners have a little less time on academic subjects so that they can spend a little more time on "centers"/play? Do 4th and 5th graders start to spend less time on ELA and more on science/social studies as they get older and are no longer learning to read? Etc...

[Anonymous]

Yes it varies by grade, K, 1-3 and 4-5 are in categories together. There is not much schools have flexibility on, time soent on math, ELA are pretty set in stone.

[Anonymous]

Pretty much anything except math and literacy gets massively shortchanged in elementary. Personally I'd cut the math expectations by a _lot_ (do we really need to work every single problem six different ways and then talk about it?), but my views on that aren't popular. I'd much rather see every single kid start studying Spanish daily from grade 1 onwards. Language study is good for the brain in many, many ways.

[Anonymous]

"centers" are academic subject time. Reading centers math centers, science centers.

[Anonymous]

I’m old school. I think core subjects should be shortened, but students should be leveled so they get appropriate instruction.

I think grade 4-5 ELA is 90 minutes, math 70 minute, 30 minutes FIT time, and about 45 for the combo of ss, science, health. At least that’s about what our schedule is.

[Anonymous]

I think there's a lot of wasted time in thr classriom. Lots of ed tech! I had to take charge of my kid's education because she was learning so little.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a lot of wasted time in thr classriom. Lots of ed tech! I had to take charge of my kid's education because she was learning so little.

In elementary, there is no tech ed? But if you mean that technology is used during the day, it is possible, though not nearly as frequent as parents seem to think. The difference is that we use smart boards instead of chalkboards/overhead projector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a lot of wasted time in thr classriom. Lots of ed tech! I had to take charge of my kid's education because she was learning so little.

In elementary, there is no tech ed? But if you mean that technology is used during the day, it is possible, though not nearly as frequent as parents seem to think. The difference is that we use smart boards instead of chalkboards/overhead projector.

People think there is a lot of wasted time because they don’t account for having to deal with 20+ kids. If they thought of all the wasted time in getting their own kids to get ready in the morning, or cleanup after a meal, or do any task and then realized that same time is now double or triple they would understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a lot of wasted time in thr classriom. Lots of ed tech! I had to take charge of my kid's education because she was learning so little.

In elementary, there is no tech ed? But if you mean that technology is used during the day, it is possible, though not nearly as frequent as parents seem to think. The difference is that we use smart boards instead of chalkboards/overhead projector.

YouTube videos of books bring read instead of the teacher reading the book, math playground, prodigy games with limited math in it, p.e. and art lessons taught through YouTube videos, brain breaks on video, semesters taught with disconnected google slides. This is what I've seen as an mcps employee and also parent of mcps kids. It all equates to a pretty crappy education

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a lot of wasted time in thr classriom. Lots of ed tech! I had to take charge of my kid's education because she was learning so little.

In elementary, there is no tech ed? But if you mean that technology is used during the day, it is possible, though not nearly as frequent as parents seem to think. The difference is that we use smart boards instead of chalkboards/overhead projector.

YouTube videos of books bring read instead of the teacher reading the book, math playground, prodigy games with limited math in it, p.e. and art lessons taught through YouTube videos, brain breaks on video, semesters taught with disconnected google slides. This is what I've seen as an mcps employee and also parent of mcps kids. It all equates to a pretty crappy education

When I was a kid (in MCPS), when I finished early, I could read quietly or draw. There is now a lot more time for kids to be done early as classes are not leveled and instructional blocks are longer. Kids are not being instructed through these sites, they are used when kids are done early as extensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes it varies by grade, K, 1-3 and 4-5 are in categories together. There is not much schools have flexibility on, time soent on math, ELA are pretty set in stone.

Thanks, do you have the exact numbers for these or know where I could find them?

[Anonymous]

MCPS has less than the state requirement for PE at the elementary level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m old school. I think core subjects should be shortened, but students should be leveled so they get appropriate instruction.

I think grade 4-5 ELA is 90 minutes, math 70 minute, 30 minutes FIT time, and about 45 for the combo of ss, science, health. At least that’s about what our schedule is.

FIT is only 30 minutes a week, not per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m old school. I think core subjects should be shortened, but students should be leveled so they get appropriate instruction.

I think grade 4-5 ELA is 90 minutes, math 70 minute, 30 minutes FIT time, and about 45 for the combo of ss, science, health. At least that’s about what our schedule is.

FIT is only 30 minutes a week, not per day.

We have WIN and it is 30 mins per day.

[Anonymous]

Our school has FIT/WIN for 30 minutes/4 days a week (not on the IEP meeting day). I can’t imagine it being successful 1x a week.

CKLA needs a lot of time. 90 minutes which is a really long block for kids to stay focused. Math is shorter, but I don’t know the required minutes. Everything else is completely shortchanged.