If you supplement at home, please share what you do (not a debate about whether it's good)

[Anonymous]

A summer at Duke's TIP (RIP) and a summer at Hopkins' CTY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know many parents don't supplement at home based on their beliefs and that is great.

If you do supplement, please share what you do. The reason I am curious about this is because my 1st grader gets pulled for enrichment math every day. There are four other kids who also get pulled. The worksheets these kids are given (and work independently) sometimes say "5th-6th grade" (other times, they are logic puzzles). If x=5 and y=24, what is x/4xy.

I knew my daughter could do these problems, but I was suprised to learn that there were four other kids who were at this level.

Parents do not talk about supplementing AT ALL, even though we see each other a lot.

This does not sound like MCPS at all. Are you sure you didn't post to the wrong forum? The enrichment in math that MCPS offers is generally just having kids who are better at math do the later problems in the problem set. I have never, ever heard of a 1st grader get 5/6 grade math. My child is in 5/6 math now and is over halfway through the 6th grade Eureka curriculum and still hasn't gotten problems like you describe.

[Anonymous]

Music lessons
Trips to the library
encouraged extracurriculars like chess, Mad Science, ceramics, summer swim team
Attend theater productions
travel
Read a lot of books to my kids
let them play outside a ton

two kids, both attended CES, both attended magnet middle, one headed to a high school magnet, the other attending a high school magnet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy for us also.

My kids got zero enrichment in Math. Like another PP said, if your kid is above grade level, they are largely ignored. MCPS has no incentive to help kids who are already working above grade level as that simply makes the Achievement Gap worse.

Beast Academy is great if your kid enjoys Math because it goes deeper into concepts and provides a much better understanding. If your kid dislikes Math, I still think it’s a good way to help your kid understand math better (and maybe dislike it less). BA was recommended on here for me years ago and I am so grateful.

they offer free tutoring

[Anonymous]

I had one child who could do the homework of an older sibling when he was in kindergarten and first grade. His sibling was fourth and fifth grade. He was curious so he sat with us as I reviewed her math homework. I got him math workbooks at the teacher supply store so he could keep learning at his pace instead of the MCPS classroom pace. Finally, after multiple requests for assessing him to see what the appropriate level of math he should be learning, he placed four grades above grade level.

While my child was above grade level in math and quickly learned science subjects because of his high interest, he had several disabilities that impacted his ability to learn to read and write. We had to pay for private assessments to identify his disabilities and pay for a private tutor to implement the reading program the private assessment recommended. There wasn’t a good fit in MCPS for a child with extreme gifts and extreme needs so we eventually moved him to a small private school which could meet his needs better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy for us also.

My kids got zero enrichment in Math. Like another PP said, if your kid is above grade level, they are largely ignored. MCPS has no incentive to help kids who are already working above grade level as that simply makes the Achievement Gap worse.

Beast Academy is great if your kid enjoys Math because it goes deeper into concepts and provides a much better understanding. If your kid dislikes Math, I still think it’s a good way to help your kid understand math better (and maybe dislike it less). BA was recommended on here for me years ago and I am so grateful.

they offer free tutoring

The point of tutoring is not for enrichment and I sure hope you aren't using it that way.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy for us also.

My kids got zero enrichment in Math. Like another PP said, if your kid is above grade level, they are largely ignored. MCPS has no incentive to help kids who are already working above grade level as that simply makes the Achievement Gap worse.

Beast Academy is great if your kid enjoys Math because it goes deeper into concepts and provides a much better understanding. If your kid dislikes Math, I still think it’s a good way to help your kid understand math better (and maybe dislike it less). BA was recommended on here for me years ago and I am so grateful.

Glad to hear that Beast Academy is good- will have to look into that for DS (1st grade), I think he could use a challenge beyond the Eureka homework.

We do some All About Reading at home although not every night, depends how tired he is. He struggles a bit with reading but not enough to get intervention and I was having a hard time figuring out how to help him practice at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know many parents don't supplement at home based on their beliefs and that is great.

If you do supplement, please share what you do. The reason I am curious about this is because my 1st grader gets pulled for enrichment math every day. There are four other kids who also get pulled. The worksheets these kids are given (and work independently) sometimes say "5th-6th grade" (other times, they are logic puzzles). If x=5 and y=24, what is x/4xy.

I knew my daughter could do these problems, but I was suprised to learn that there were four other kids who were at this level.

Parents do not talk about supplementing AT ALL, even though we see each other a lot.

This does not sound like MCPS at all. Are you sure you didn't post to the wrong forum? The enrichment in math that MCPS offers is generally just having kids who are better at math do the later problems in the problem set. I have never, ever heard of a 1st grader get 5/6 grade math. My child is in 5/6 math now and is over halfway through the 6th grade Eureka curriculum and still hasn't gotten problems like you describe.

My kid is in 4/5 and the enrichment packets are NCTM Problem of the Week problems from Algebra I and Geometry. They are presented as “explore and research “ not “you should know how to solve these the standard way”.

I helped my kid do a hard geometry problem. A classmate said “it was easy, I used a ruler.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Music lessons
Trips to the library
encouraged extracurriculars like chess, Mad Science, ceramics, summer swim team
Attend theater productions
travel
Read a lot of books to my kids
let them play outside a ton

two kids, both attended CES, both attended magnet middle, one headed to a high school magnet, the other attending a high school magnet

This. My kids hated worksheets at school, and would have been miserable coming home to do more of them. Same with computerized lessons. And moving ahead in a curriculum would have meant even more boredom and frustration in school. It was bad enough when they were sitting through three days on a concept they grasped the first time it was presented, and would have been worse if they’d already mastered it ahead of time.

We just facilitated exploration, exposed them to new things, and encouraged them to explore every interest as fully as possible. Math, science, and history all got worked into daily life, and expanded as they expressed interest. Weekly library trips, books, newspapers, and magazines in every room of the house, museums and national parks, travel (even just local day trips).

I feel like it’s far better to encourage brain development and a love of learning than to just tack on more formal lessons that stifle creativity. Even if a kid doesn’t mind worksheets and computer lessons, and they learn a lot from them and get “ahead,” that doesn’t mean it’s what best for them. If you truly want to *supplement* your child’s education (not just give them a leg up on the “competition”), shore up the parts that the modern educational system neglects: creativity and intellectual curiosity.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP is that children learn best when the activity is fun and engaging. What that modality is will be different from child to child as well as subject to subject.

However, when MCPS started rolling out their own math curriculum (Curriculum 2.0) years ago, I could see significant gaps in the curriculum. I used math workbooks to fill in basic skills the curriculum had skipped over. I came up with a prize box so my child had a reward for every workbook he successfully completed. He would work at his own pace but the prizes helped to encourage him to spend time each day with learning basic math skills.

For language arts, I just encouraged him to keep reading by going to the library to find books he wanted to read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy for us also.

My kids got zero enrichment in Math. Like another PP said, if your kid is above grade level, they are largely ignored. MCPS has no incentive to help kids who are already working above grade level as that simply makes the Achievement Gap worse.

Beast Academy is great if your kid enjoys Math because it goes deeper into concepts and provides a much better understanding. If your kid dislikes Math, I still think it’s a good way to help your kid understand math better (and maybe dislike it less). BA was recommended on here for me years ago and I am so grateful.

they offer free tutoring

The point of tutoring is not for enrichment and I sure hope you aren't using it that way.....

The point of the tutoring is for any child whose parents feel they need it. You can use it any way you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Music lessons
Trips to the library
encouraged extracurriculars like chess, Mad Science, ceramics, summer swim team
Attend theater productions
travel
Read a lot of books to my kids
let them play outside a ton

two kids, both attended CES, both attended magnet middle, one headed to a high school magnet, the other attending a high school magnet

This. My kids hated worksheets at school, and would have been miserable coming home to do more of them. Same with computerized lessons. And moving ahead in a curriculum would have meant even more boredom and frustration in school. It was bad enough when they were sitting through three days on a concept they grasped the first time it was presented, and would have been worse if they’d already mastered it ahead of time.

We just facilitated exploration, exposed them to new things, and encouraged them to explore every interest as fully as possible. Math, science, and history all got worked into daily life, and expanded as they expressed interest. Weekly library trips, books, newspapers, and magazines in every room of the house, museums and national parks, travel (even just local day trips).

I feel like it’s far better to encourage brain development and a love of learning than to just tack on more formal lessons that stifle creativity. Even if a kid doesn’t mind worksheets and computer lessons, and they learn a lot from them and get “ahead,” that doesn’t mean it’s what best for them. If you truly want to *supplement* your child’s education (not just give them a leg up on the “competition”), shore up the parts that the modern educational system neglects: creativity and intellectual curiosity.

A lot of kids don't enjoy it but you do it to support their learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Beast Academy for us also.

My kids got zero enrichment in Math. Like another PP said, if your kid is above grade level, they are largely ignored. MCPS has no incentive to help kids who are already working above grade level as that simply makes the Achievement Gap worse.

Beast Academy is great if your kid enjoys Math because it goes deeper into concepts and provides a much better understanding. If your kid dislikes Math, I still think it’s a good way to help your kid understand math better (and maybe dislike it less). BA was recommended on here for me years ago and I am so grateful.

they offer free tutoring

The point of tutoring is not for enrichment and I sure hope you aren't using it that way.....

The point of the tutoring is for any child whose parents feel they need it. You can use it any way you want.

NP. Have folks had good experiences with the free tutoring? Did your kids respond to it?

[Anonymous]

We do RSM for math (in person) and AoPS for ELA (virtual campus). Both have been great, and 2 hours of class is better than an entire week of Eureka or Benchmark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Music lessons
Trips to the library
encouraged extracurriculars like chess, Mad Science, ceramics, summer swim team
Attend theater productions
travel
Read a lot of books to my kids
let them play outside a ton

two kids, both attended CES, both attended magnet middle, one headed to a high school magnet, the other attending a high school magnet

This. My kids hated worksheets at school, and would have been miserable coming home to do more of them. Same with computerized lessons. And moving ahead in a curriculum would have meant even more boredom and frustration in school. It was bad enough when they were sitting through three days on a concept they grasped the first time it was presented, and would have been worse if they’d already mastered it ahead of time.

We just facilitated exploration, exposed them to new things, and encouraged them to explore every interest as fully as possible. Math, science, and history all got worked into daily life, and expanded as they expressed interest. Weekly library trips, books, newspapers, and magazines in every room of the house, museums and national parks, travel (even just local day trips).

I feel like it’s far better to encourage brain development and a love of learning than to just tack on more formal lessons that stifle creativity. Even if a kid doesn’t mind worksheets and computer lessons, and they learn a lot from them and get “ahead,” that doesn’t mean it’s what best for them. If you truly want to *supplement* your child’s education (not just give them a leg up on the “competition”), shore up the parts that the modern educational system neglects: creativity and intellectual curiosity.

+ 1000. My kids hate to brush their teeth and wash their hands, so we don’t bother with it. We want them to be happy above all else.