Middle School is way too easy
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Anonymous
My DC was in local level AAP and the MS stopped reading novels. This is.due to their no homework policy. Oh they said it was not important to read them and that the kids will read other things just not long time consuming novels. Unbelievable. |
Anonymous
Ah yes the immigrants who don’t pay taxes are at fault. Your poor, poor stellar student. He’s stuck in a school system that’s trying to educate every kid, not just MC/UMC legal ones. |
Anonymous
My son is in 7th grade and this is tracks with his experience. But also his English teacher has encouraged his classmates to talk about the books they are reading at home as well. My son has been excited to read classmate recommended books. He has read for pleasure much more this year than last year. He hasn’t had much homework except math. My daughter is in high school taking several AP classes after taking FCPS middle school and is doing great. So it definitely preps the kids for high school. |
Anonymous
Thank you for posting. What ELA skills do you wish your students were better prepared for before starting your class? What are some of the novels they will be reading. Thank you. |
Anonymous
My kid also has already written essays in English and history, and both teachers taught students how to write well, something that was not taught at all in ES. The history teacher has students actually apply what they've learned about historical events, so they have to understand what they are learning, not just parrot back facts and dates. My kid's English teacher also requires students to actually analyze literature they are reading, not just answer basic questions. She also teaches students to break down words to look for roots and other parts. My kid complained that this is hard, but I am ecstatic to see her struggle with this skill because she has to slow down, think, and analyze. I am very happy with the level of rigor at our middle school, which is an excellent school (but not a TJ feeder). |
Anonymous
There are three levels in middle school. Three. Why can’t all kids get educated at their level? How are they educating every kid if there is no aap curriculum being taught? Isn’t that the reason for differentiation? The lower classes already get smaller classes. Why can’t the 30 plus aap classrooms actually have aap curriculum and work? Your statement would only be correct if there actually was an aap level program. |
Anonymous
Lucky you. None of this exists at my kid’s school. |
Anonymous
Did your AAP student write a different type of essay during 1st quarter? I'd much rather my kid write persuasive, technical, or expository essays than personal narratives. All they wrote in elementary school was narratives and creative poems, and they were never taught how to write. If in middle school the teacher chooses to have students write at a higher level by having them write persuasively or technically, that should be celebrated. |
Anonymous
| OP, if your kid is finding the curriculum not challenging, they need to be put in programs outside the school day that challenges them. AOPS can be a great resource. Middle school is a wonderful sandbox for your kids to get enriched without it impacting GPA. I found solutions for my kid when he was in middle school. |
Anonymous
| Why aren’t all 7th grade honor and aap students required to write a personal narrative first quarter? That was the Prince William standard in sixth grade to write a 3 page typed personal narrative. My kid is in 7th and didn’t do it in 6th or 7th yet. They’ve never written more than a page of anything. |
Anonymous
Yes, we are very happy with what our kid is learning at Franklin but especially in history and English. Our kid is learning how to struggle while learning which is a critical skill. |
Anonymous
I don’t see why this is always the first go to though when the school system obviously is just not assigning strong enough work. If all the kids have As it’s not a good level for the kids and they can do more. Btw to the other poster, the AAP classes are very diverse. It’s often the white kids that aren’t cutting it. |
Anonymous
Because narrative writing is extremely low level. AAP and Honors students should be writing in more challenging formats such as persuasive and expository. |
Anonymous
I teach 6th AAP and if this was the case, your child had teachers not using the pacing guide. In 6th grade students write memoirs, nonfiction, newspaper articles, poetry, research project, historical fiction, persuasive essays, etc. Other grades also have a mix of expository and narrative writing. I will say this. Most kids hate writing and it is hard for many. My students are writing a lot. This does not include writing about reading. |
Anonymous
First that is a ridiculous statement that a narrative story is “low level”. It just says your thinking is low level. Kids and adults write narrative stories all through their lives and people make good money writing narrative stories. They aren’t writing anything of the sort though of the items you mentioned beyond a couple of sentences. It’s just not hard stuff. The curriculum is easy and therefore the grades are inflated. Anyway the 7th grade teacher said they were doing narratives and so I asked why all schools weren’t doing them. We didn’t talk about other writing pieces. |