Middle School is way too easy

[Anonymous]

Have you talked with the teachers? I'm not in FCPS, but my kid's middle school teachers have been very open about the adjustments made post-Covid to the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This might be school and teacher dependent. DD is busy and engaged in MS for the most part. Math and English especially keep her on her toes. Science is an absolute travesty.

She rarely has homework because there is enough time built into her school day so she can finish assignments, and there is still enough time left over that she's unofficially tutoring a couple of friends. There are still so many quizzes and tests, she has to come home and do that work.

Other than math no tests or if there are there is no studying needed. Maybe one test a month? It's barely anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you should consider sending your kid to private school.

Most of the privates are much easier than FCPS AAP. We moved one from private back to FCPS and the curriculum in FCPS was far more challenging. Have heard the same from several others.

10:43 here. When did this happen? Recently or years ago, and for 7th or 8th grade? I'm willing to see if things improve after the first quarter - maybe, like grade school, the first quarter is just a placeholder while everyone remembers how to do school after the summer and real learning starts in the second quarter. Is that the case?

Recently and we moved after 7th. 7th in private was much easier with far less acceleration. 8th in FCPS was better but not over the top challenging. If you are really worried about it, send them to BASIS and they can start taking AP classes in 8th grade. There is really no need for it though. They are kids and don't gain a lot by finishing differential equations in 11th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you should consider sending your kid to private school.

Most of the privates are much easier than FCPS AAP. We moved one from private back to FCPS and the curriculum in FCPS was far more challenging. Have heard the same from several others.

10:43 here. When did this happen? Recently or years ago, and for 7th or 8th grade? I'm willing to see if things improve after the first quarter - maybe, like grade school, the first quarter is just a placeholder while everyone remembers how to do school after the summer and real learning starts in the second quarter. Is that the case?

Recently and we moved after 7th. 7th in private was much easier with far less acceleration. 8th in FCPS was better but not over the top challenging. If you are really worried about it, send them to BASIS and they can start taking AP classes in 8th grade. There is really no need for it though. They are kids and don't gain a lot by finishing differential equations in 11th grade.

Your experience may be different than mine in public and private. My older child is in AP classes and they are not comparable to a strong honors 7th-grade class so it's silly strawman argument. You can have strong 7th grade classes that are not AP level. I think my child had more work in 3rd grade than AAP 7th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like you should consider sending your kid to private school.

Most of the privates are much easier than FCPS AAP. We moved one from private back to FCPS and the curriculum in FCPS was far more challenging. Have heard the same from several others.

I switched my son from public to Catholic school in MS. He went from 10 minutes of HW each day to 2-3 hrs. And he couldn't handle in crap either or they'd make him redo it.

[Anonymous]

7th grade is the first time FCPS kids are getting real grades, interacting with teachers and assignments without parent involvement (at least that’s the idea!), and just generally taking up more responsibility. While I agree that the course material hasn’t been very challenging this first quarter, I’ve been really proud of the time management skills my son is gaining (like getting homework done in advisory).

Yes, I’d like to see higher expectations and more work on writing especially, but that’s been a failure in FCPS all along, so no surprise there. I think they do very well with the math curriculum and electives.

[Anonymous]

It's such a low bar. I wish they'd give more homework, grade harder etc

[Anonymous]

Yeah, better for all these kids to be hitting the books for 4-5 hours a night after a 7 hour school day and then having a nervous breakdown by high school. You people are nuts. Hey, OP, what's wrong with your bosses that you have time to post on DCUM whining about this? They not giving you enough work? People aren't supposed to have any free time, you know, they should always be busy. Or wait, do you just feel that way about your kids.

[Anonymous]

Which electives did your child choose? Perhaps they selected ones that are too easy for their skill level? As far as the core classes, you should make sure that your child is reading at least 1 hour per day after school from a high level book of your or their choosing. (Let me know if you would like suggestions for books.) Also, I would recommend that they do extra practice through Khan Academy for math. Perhaps 30 min per day? Your child should also be filling their free time with several hours of sports practice or exercise every day. Do they play an instrument?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, better for all these kids to be hitting the books for 4-5 hours a night after a 7 hour school day and then having a nervous breakdown by high school. You people are nuts. Hey, OP, what's wrong with your bosses that you have time to post on DCUM whining about this? They not giving you enough work? People aren't supposed to have any free time, you know, they should always be busy. Or wait, do you just feel that way about your kids.

There is a difference between wanting a higher level, more rigorous education for ones kids and just 5 hours of homework. FCPS is really missing the mark with MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, better for all these kids to be hitting the books for 4-5 hours a night after a 7 hour school day and then having a nervous breakdown by high school. You people are nuts. Hey, OP, what's wrong with your bosses that you have time to post on DCUM whining about this? They not giving you enough work? People aren't supposed to have any free time, you know, they should always be busy. Or wait, do you just feel that way about your kids.

There is a difference between wanting a higher level, more rigorous education for ones kids and just 5 hours of homework. FCPS is really missing the mark with MS.

Exactly. All this no homework or 4-5 hours of AP classes as two binary choices are just trying to steer the conversation away from the fact that the actual standards and practice in middle school have been lowered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which electives did your child choose? Perhaps they selected ones that are too easy for their skill level? As far as the core classes, you should make sure that your child is reading at least 1 hour per day after school from a high level book of your or their choosing. (Let me know if you would like suggestions for books.) Also, I would recommend that they do extra practice through Khan Academy for math. Perhaps 30 min per day? Your child should also be filling their free time with several hours of sports practice or exercise every day. Do they play an instrument?

Why do I need to be scheduling Khan academy and buying books and setting reading times? Also what about writing? Do I have to plan that too? This is 7th grade. Now I need to be a teacher to my kid for 2 hours a day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which electives did your child choose? Perhaps they selected ones that are too easy for their skill level? As far as the core classes, you should make sure that your child is reading at least 1 hour per day after school from a high level book of your or their choosing. (Let me know if you would like suggestions for books.) Also, I would recommend that they do extra practice through Khan Academy for math. Perhaps 30 min per day? Your child should also be filling their free time with several hours of sports practice or exercise every day. Do they play an instrument?

They chose the middle school electives which were not based on rigor but interest. They aren't leveled. There is more homework in the electives than in the core classes. At least there is regular practice with instruments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, better for all these kids to be hitting the books for 4-5 hours a night after a 7 hour school day and then having a nervous breakdown by high school. You people are nuts. Hey, OP, what's wrong with your bosses that you have time to post on DCUM whining about this? They not giving you enough work? People aren't supposed to have any free time, you know, they should always be busy. Or wait, do you just feel that way about your kids.

I feel that way about honors classes and AAP classes. There are general ed classes if you want to do less work or need to go at a slower pace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, better for all these kids to be hitting the books for 4-5 hours a night after a 7 hour school day and then having a nervous breakdown by high school. You people are nuts. Hey, OP, what's wrong with your bosses that you have time to post on DCUM whining about this? They not giving you enough work? People aren't supposed to have any free time, you know, they should always be busy. Or wait, do you just feel that way about your kids.

You are projecting your own lack of interest in school for whatever reason. Travel sports or leisure time you need or something. There are three different levels of classes in middle school. There is absolutely no reason that kids can't find a class that suits their level of interest and rigor.