1st grade is a bad as we suspected

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that K-2 are times were lots of concepts are taught in spirals with lots of reinforcement so the kids should be able to catch up. I would be far more concerned if we were talking about the MS and HS kids, who I do think were legitimately screwed last year. Lots of those classes build on each other and catching up is far harder to do.

No one is pretending that there is an easy way to deal with what happened last year, it was a unique situation. Schools were shut because they needed to be. Could they have been opened earlier? Yup. No doubt about it in my mind but I am not a Scientist or medical expert and it wasn't my call. All I could do is make the mess work as best as I could.

What I saw, in our little circle of friends, is that very few kids parents were making their kids complete the Monday async work. The few who were only had their kids complete the must do work. DS was the only kid who was doing all the must dos and can dos. The number of people talking at the pool this summer about how they allowed their ES kid to just not do the work on Mondays or skip the sessions they didn't like was crazy. People seemed almost proud of the fact that they had stuck it to the schools by letting their kids turn off the computer or not participate.

And now they are now complaining that their kids are behind. Well, of course they are. Virtual learning sucked, especially for the younger kids. It was stupid hard and not an effective way to teach kids. The Teachers had no say over that mess and could only try to do their best to make it work. There wasn't a Teacher out there that thought that this was an effective way of teaching kids, especially early elementary. But it is where we were and what we had to work with. It was hard for everyone. Really it was. The amount of people whose response was to say screw it and not find a solution was astonishingly high.

So yeah, kids are behind this year. Kids who were in person all last year are ahead. ES kids are in the best position to make up that ground. It is going to take work but it is doable if parents choose to make it a priority and don't expect the schools to do everything.

MS and HS kids who actually attended class and did the assigned work are fine and not behind at all.

Wrong.

[Anonymous]

There was a huge thread on here discussing kids who got "4s" in AAP 6th grade math last year who are failing 7th grade math and completely lost. So agree: wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that K-2 are times were lots of concepts are taught in spirals with lots of reinforcement so the kids should be able to catch up. I would be far more concerned if we were talking about the MS and HS kids, who I do think were legitimately screwed last year. Lots of those classes build on each other and catching up is far harder to do.

No one is pretending that there is an easy way to deal with what happened last year, it was a unique situation. Schools were shut because they needed to be. Could they have been opened earlier? Yup. No doubt about it in my mind but I am not a Scientist or medical expert and it wasn't my call. All I could do is make the mess work as best as I could.

What I saw, in our little circle of friends, is that very few kids parents were making their kids complete the Monday async work. The few who were only had their kids complete the must do work. DS was the only kid who was doing all the must dos and can dos. The number of people talking at the pool this summer about how they allowed their ES kid to just not do the work on Mondays or skip the sessions they didn't like was crazy. People seemed almost proud of the fact that they had stuck it to the schools by letting their kids turn off the computer or not participate.

And now they are now complaining that their kids are behind. Well, of course they are. Virtual learning sucked, especially for the younger kids. It was stupid hard and not an effective way to teach kids. The Teachers had no say over that mess and could only try to do their best to make it work. There wasn't a Teacher out there that thought that this was an effective way of teaching kids, especially early elementary. But it is where we were and what we had to work with. It was hard for everyone. Really it was. The amount of people whose response was to say screw it and not find a solution was astonishingly high.

So yeah, kids are behind this year. Kids who were in person all last year are ahead. ES kids are in the best position to make up that ground. It is going to take work but it is doable if parents choose to make it a priority and don't expect the schools to do everything.

MS and HS kids who actually attended class and did the assigned work are fine and not behind at all.

Wrong.

My priority last year was keeping my 5/6 year old kid with severe anxiety as close to sane as possible and trying not to lose it myself. We weren’t the only ones. I think a lot of these kids are struggling not only because virtual school is actually harmful for kids at the age but because their parents were and still are struggling badly and the kids knew it. And we are also so so so lucky in a lot of ways, since we weren’t struggling financially and my work was really flexible with me. I don’t know how you can have gone through the last year and feel judgmental towards anyone with young kids.

Also, for what it’s worth our friends and extended family in CT and NY had access to in person school for their elementary school age kids most of the year. They were fine - I was jealous the little kids were prioritized like that. Those kids are doing way better academically and emotionally from what I can tell.

I’m incredibly grateful for my kid’s amazing teacher this year and believe eventually they will be ok again but we are still struggling to deal with the damage from last academic year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are such an academically superior specimen and we all need to learn from you, why are you a substitute teacher?

And why do you feel the need to defend yourself so aggressively?

I didn't see where OP called herself or indicated in any way that she thinks of herself as superior. Is there something you wanna share with us here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that K-2 are times were lots of concepts are taught in spirals with lots of reinforcement so the kids should be able to catch up. I would be far more concerned if we were talking about the MS and HS kids, who I do think were legitimately screwed last year. Lots of those classes build on each other and catching up is far harder to do.

No one is pretending that there is an easy way to deal with what happened last year, it was a unique situation. Schools were shut because they needed to be. Could they have been opened earlier? Yup. No doubt about it in my mind but I am not a Scientist or medical expert and it wasn't my call. All I could do is make the mess work as best as I could.

What I saw, in our little circle of friends, is that very few kids parents were making their kids complete the Monday async work. The few who were only had their kids complete the must do work. DS was the only kid who was doing all the must dos and can dos. The number of people talking at the pool this summer about how they allowed their ES kid to just not do the work on Mondays or skip the sessions they didn't like was crazy. People seemed almost proud of the fact that they had stuck it to the schools by letting their kids turn off the computer or not participate.

And now they are now complaining that their kids are behind. Well, of course they are. Virtual learning sucked, especially for the younger kids. It was stupid hard and not an effective way to teach kids. The Teachers had no say over that mess and could only try to do their best to make it work. There wasn't a Teacher out there that thought that this was an effective way of teaching kids, especially early elementary. But it is where we were and what we had to work with. It was hard for everyone. Really it was. The amount of people whose response was to say screw it and not find a solution was astonishingly high.

So yeah, kids are behind this year. Kids who were in person all last year are ahead. ES kids are in the best position to make up that ground. It is going to take work but it is doable if parents choose to make it a priority and don't expect the schools to do everything.

MS and HS kids who actually attended class and did the assigned work are fine and not behind at all.

Wrong.

My priority last year was keeping my 5/6 year old kid with severe anxiety as close to sane as possible and trying not to lose it myself. We weren’t the only ones. I think a lot of these kids are struggling not only because virtual school is actually harmful for kids at the age but because their parents were and still are struggling badly and the kids knew it. And we are also so so so lucky in a lot of ways, since we weren’t struggling financially and my work was really flexible with me. I don’t know how you can have gone through the last year and feel judgmental towards anyone with young kids.

Also, for what it’s worth our friends and extended family in CT and NY had access to in person school for their elementary school age kids most of the year. They were fine - I was jealous the little kids were prioritized like that. Those kids are doing way better academically and emotionally from what I can tell.

I’m incredibly grateful for my kid’s amazing teacher this year and believe eventually they will be ok again but we are still struggling to deal with the damage from last academic year.

Same- in MA too. I think what's most frustrating to me is how our district was patting themselves on the back with how "safe" they were keeping everyone, how great their virtual curriculum was and how many meals they distributed, etc. Just completely clueless and out of touch with how poorly it was actually going and how little kids were learning until the test scores came in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But some are not behind at all, making the gap huge. I feel badly for the ones not behind. It’s going to be a long year for them. Did some parents really do nothing for a year and a half?

PSA: it's feel BAD. To say you feel badly is to say that your sense of touch is off, i.e. I feel badly when I am wearing a pair of oven mitts. Carry on.

[Anonymous]

I understand why the kids are behind academically. But why behaviorally? (Barring a special need) Did their parents not have any behavior expectations for a year and a half?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand why the kids are behind academically. But why behaviorally? (Barring a special need) Did their parents not have any behavior expectations for a year and a half?

Lots of anxiety and trauma. It's been a really hard year. I know several 8 yos who have melted down this year about other kids not wearing masks or who panicked being in a crowded situation.

Behavior expectations in a group setting are also entirely different than at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a huge thread on here discussing kids who got "4s" in AAP 6th grade math last year who are failing 7th grade math and completely lost. So agree: wrong.

I don’t know if that’s a good example because 7th grade in general is when the math really starts to shake out of who can truly do the advanced work or not, even before Covid.

But of all my kids and their friends, the ones who showed up, listened in class, asked for help/went to office hours, and turned in assignments, etc. they got A’s and B’s last year and are doing fine this year. We checked our kids grades regularly and made sure they turned in any missing assignments and sought help after tests and quizzes they did poorly on. But we do this anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But some are not behind at all, making the gap huge. I feel badly for the ones not behind. It’s going to be a long year for them. Did some parents really do nothing for a year and a half?

Are you serious?

Why yes, some parents did nothing. Because some parents had jobs outside of their houses and left the kids home with older siblings. That's just one mind blowing scenario for you. You can probably think of some more.

Virtual school was a massive fail for this age group. Kids this age who learned anything doing virtual school had a live human with them helping them. And that was a privilege many people didn't have.

And especially in this largely affluent area, many parents did nothing because they were Big Mad at teachers, washed their hands, said “not my job” and refused to sacrifice to help their kids in the many, many hours a week when the parents were not working at their Very Important Jobs, because it was more important for them to do what they wanted to do when they wanted to do it, and Netflix beat out working with your kid when you’re tired or on your day off.

Many parents did sacrifice their time, energy and some sleep and the difference in results is plain and totally predictable. Shrug.

That's a weird flex...

I'm not insulted, BTW, because my kids go to private and have been in in-person school except for mid March 2020-beginning of June 2020, but I also don't know anyone who did what you said. Maybe it's just my friend group?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

You should feel bad for your child. Her class is probably a chaotic mess and she is probably bored to death.

I do feel bad for her. For the other kids who are behind. For the teacher. I also have a lot of anger at society for deciding it was ok to sacrifice this age group to save by and large the elderly. We could have had kids masked and in school last year.

Yes, so many of us parents of young elementary school students were screaming from the rooftops last year that the kids were not okay and no one cared at all. Instead we got a bunch of gaslighting emails from school administrators patting themselves on the back and claiming there was little to no learning loss.

There was a pandemic. The schools did the right thing.

+1,000

-1000. There was no medical or health justification for keeping schools closed for 18 months! It is clear now, and it will be even more glaringly obvious when this area’s policies are actually access and compared to other states (MA, RI?) and countries that kept their schools open. Mark my words, you all will sound like flat-earthers. I can see that the cover up is already beginning….

My kids were in school every day for the 2020-2021 school year. Yes, it was a smaller school (80 kids per grade in elementary school) and yes of course they were all masked all the time except when eating or playing outside, but there were zero cases of on-campus transmission. ZERO. I can't believe that that was all due to the upgraded air filters and the ability to eat lunch outside. In multiple classrooms the desks weren't even six feet away - they were at least three but not all six. And these are elementary school kids - they're not perfect in mask wearing or staying apart. Also, the buses were running all year long. No, they weren't all filled to capacity all the time, but the kids didn't have entire rows to themselves with no one in front of or behind them. Personally, I think schools should have been open with masks and other measures to the extent possible and the transmission wouldn't have been much worse than it already was. But that's just my two cents using hindsight, which isn't fair.

[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.

NP. No she wasn't. She didn't blame the parents or the kids for being in this mess. The fact that YOU took it as an insult isn't OP's fault.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand why the kids are behind academically. But why behaviorally? (Barring a special need) Did their parents not have any behavior expectations for a year and a half?

Lots of anxiety and trauma. It's been a really hard year. I know several 8 yos who have melted down this year about other kids not wearing masks or who panicked being in a crowded situation.

Behavior expectations in a group setting are also entirely different than at home.

This sounds like kids whose parents way overdid the lockdown thing and kept their kids isolated indoors for their supposed own good. It was possible to be cautious and sensible without going to extremes. Poor kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand why the kids are behind academically. But why behaviorally? (Barring a special need) Did their parents not have any behavior expectations for a year and a half?

Lots of anxiety and trauma. It's been a really hard year. I know several 8 yos who have melted down this year about other kids not wearing masks or who panicked being in a crowded situation.

Behavior expectations in a group setting are also entirely different than at home.

This sounds like kids whose parents way overdid the lockdown thing and kept their kids isolated indoors for their supposed own good. It was possible to be cautious and sensible without going to extremes. Poor kids.

In some cases sure. We had a neighbor lose their adult child to COVID and tell us about it before in front of our then 4 year old. Another of her friends parents are still being extremely cautious due to a underlying condition and we did not have a huge local circle of friends to work with. It was just harder on some kids than others. I’m proud my kids are doing as well as they are but damn it’s been hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand why the kids are behind academically. But why behaviorally? (Barring a special need) Did their parents not have any behavior expectations for a year and a half?

Lots of anxiety and trauma. It's been a really hard year. I know several 8 yos who have melted down this year about other kids not wearing masks or who panicked being in a crowded situation.

Behavior expectations in a group setting are also entirely different than at home.

This sounds like kids whose parents way overdid the lockdown thing and kept their kids isolated indoors for their supposed own good. It was possible to be cautious and sensible without going to extremes. Poor kids.

. My family lost two older relatives (who my kids knew) to Covid. I think we did a very good job of ensuring that they don’t have fear for themselves but the reality is families have been impacted by this directly it’s not just headlines for some kids. They directly know people they loved who died.