Fairfax Kindergarten curriculum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

PP 22:07 here. Thanks for sharing your experience. When your kids entered FCPS in 1st grade after they have finished their Montessori K programs, were they ahead of their classes in reading and Math? By which grade did the rest of the class finally "caught up" with your kids ?

You were quoting my post. Not sure who posted that everyone caught up by January, but that was not true for us.

My kids were ahead of the class for all of first grade; there were a few kids on their level but not many. My middle child, in particular, was bored to death with the math - they were doing single-digit addition most of the year, and he knew all of his multiplication tables when he finished kindergarten.

But in 2nd grade, we found that the curriculum was differentiated enough that they were getting appropriate work (eg, they put the kids in different spelling groups, etc,) and they were getting pulled out of class to work with the GT specialists for math and language arts most days. And by 3rd grade, in the GT Center (now AAP Center), they are on par with their peers. (I'm speaking just of my older two; the younger one is just going into 1st grade now.)

Thanks!! This is good to know. I was quite surprised when I read the previous post that by January everyone are on par with your Montessori kids. What you have just said sounded much more plausible. Congratulations with your two kids in the GT program.

[Anonymous]

I think that is the difference between a GT kid and an "average" ability kid. In my experience, the average ability students from private K were on par with everyone else by January. I know a lot of kids who have completed Montessori programs and they certainly were not doing multiplication. Your kids will obviously need more than a typical ps classroom can provide.

[Anonymous]

I think that is the difference between a GT kid and an "average" ability kid.

I was thinking the same thing. I had a similar experience with my older child who entered our FCPS public in first grade from a non-academic playbased private. DC was very bored until third and the GT program.