Any school(s) using textbooks, paper assignments and feedback, and minimizing online portal?

[Transplant_1]

Anonymous wrote:

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:All of the local Classical Christian schools are going to put heavy limits on tech.

VA: Dominion Christian, Oak Hill Christian, Immanuel Lutheran (K-8), Potomac Classical, Ad Fontes, probably also Loudoun Classical

MD: Calvary Christian Academy, Rockbridge Academy

Charlotte Mason is generally pretty low tech - thus Ambleside (K-8, VA)

There's also Waldorf, as represented by Washington Waldorf (DC)

Basically all the local private schools limit tech. It’s not a Christian thing.

I think this depends on your definition of limit and what the OP is looking for. My DC's K class uses ipads and has technology class but they also go outside and do a lot of hands on learning. I'm not sure if OP is looking for any tech though.

Which school?
I'm not looking for no tech. I think learning to type is good, drafting and writing in a word doc is fine, even an online calendar to help you keep organized wtih links to the assignments. It's the "teaching" and supposed "learning" that is suppose to be done through all online materials that doesn't work. Eg: more textbooks, less powerpoint. More paper assignments, less online. More feedback and grades marked on the paper, then online where kids don't pay attention.

My children went to a public elementary school in NW DC - there was no Chromebook/notepad provided to students (although, I think if of limited means, you could apply to borrow one for the home.) During math lessons, there were "stations" and one of them was to use the IReady math exercises in Canvas. If parents wanted, at home through home computers, children could log onto Canvas and continue the exercises. We never did, but practiced with problems on paper. I found the Iready stuff was more "bright lights and colors and click for the sake of clicking" than learning.

My daughter’s private elementary school has no online component to homework and little to no online work at school.

Middle school will have online work, but mostly in the form of writing papers and doing research. Certainly not all the work is online.

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

[Anonymous]

I was very happy coming out of back to school night earlier this school year. For the first time in at least 5 years, I heard several teachers say they are relying on textbooks more than previously. Never heard this mentioned in previous years. The whole-cloth adoption of tech in the classroom based on no data or previous experience means our current students are the guinea pigs here and losers for sure. Teachers are finally getting real-life data sustained over a period of years so moving away from this stuff.

It's tragic that the schools at large (public, diocesans and majority of privates) all went 1:1 based on NO DATA. Amazing to me how they rolled the dice with our kids. Some will be okay. The vulnerable students will suffer for years to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

[Transplant_1]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

For my 15 year old son, I wholeheartedly agree that having so much of school online deteriorated his ability and willingness to read in middle school. And now in HS, we are struggling to get him to even open a book. Granted, I finally had him tested and he was diagnosed with ADHD. He does not do computer games, no social media/streaming on phone (only useful utilities), but we couldn't "control" school's technology. So much of teaching/assignments/feedback being online had a very negative effect.

[Transplant_1]

Anonymous wrote:I was very happy coming out of back to school night earlier this school year. For the first time in at least 5 years, I heard several teachers say they are relying on textbooks more than previously. Never heard this mentioned in previous years. The whole-cloth adoption of tech in the classroom based on no data or previous experience means our current students are the guinea pigs here and losers for sure. Teachers are finally getting real-life data sustained over a period of years so moving away from this stuff.

It's tragic that the schools at large (public, diocesans and majority of privates) all went 1:1 based on NO DATA. Amazing to me how they rolled the dice with our kids. Some will be okay. The vulnerable students will suffer for years to come.

Was this a public or private school, and if you don't mind sharing, which one?

[Anonymous]

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:All of the local Classical Christian schools are going to put heavy limits on tech.

VA: Dominion Christian, Oak Hill Christian, Immanuel Lutheran (K-8), Potomac Classical, Ad Fontes, probably also Loudoun Classical

MD: Calvary Christian Academy, Rockbridge Academy

Charlotte Mason is generally pretty low tech - thus Ambleside (K-8, VA)

There's also Waldorf, as represented by Washington Waldorf (DC)

Basically all the local private schools limit tech. It’s not a Christian thing.

I think this depends on your definition of limit and what the OP is looking for. My DC's K class uses ipads and has technology class but they also go outside and do a lot of hands on learning. I'm not sure if OP is looking for any tech though.

Which school?
I'm not looking for no tech. I think learning to type is good, drafting and writing in a word doc is fine, even an online calendar to help you keep organized wtih links to the assignments. It's the "teaching" and supposed "learning" that is suppose to be done through all online materials that doesn't work. Eg: more textbooks, less powerpoint. More paper assignments, less online. More feedback and grades marked on the paper, then online where kids don't pay attention.

My children went to a public elementary school in NW DC - there was no Chromebook/notepad provided to students (although, I think if of limited means, you could apply to borrow one for the home.) During math lessons, there were "stations" and one of them was to use the IReady math exercises in Canvas. If parents wanted, at home through home computers, children could log onto Canvas and continue the exercises. We never did, but practiced with problems on paper. I found the Iready stuff was more "bright lights and colors and click for the sake of clicking" than learning.

My daughter’s private elementary school has no online component to homework and little to no online work at school.

Middle school will have online work, but mostly in the form of writing papers and doing research. Certainly not all the work is online.

Which school?

Norwood. As a PP said, there is online work in MS, but it’s online research and things like that. There’s still a ton of hands on learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

As the parent of a child with dyslexia, I disagree.

We are prepared to have her work with audiobooks as she gets older, but for now, we have her in a ton of tutoring and she reads physical books.

We expect she will use dictation and audiobooks as she needs to read large amounts of text and write longer essays, to deal with fatigue that comes with reading and writing a lot of material. But we feel strongly that while she’s learning to read, she maximizes her potential to read without technological assistance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:All of the local Classical Christian schools are going to put heavy limits on tech.

VA: Dominion Christian, Oak Hill Christian, Immanuel Lutheran (K-8), Potomac Classical, Ad Fontes, probably also Loudoun Classical

MD: Calvary Christian Academy, Rockbridge Academy

Charlotte Mason is generally pretty low tech - thus Ambleside (K-8, VA)

There's also Waldorf, as represented by Washington Waldorf (DC)

Basically all the local private schools limit tech. It’s not a Christian thing.

No they don’t. My kid was at Congressional (k-8) and now SSSAS. Both are tech-heavy and use a lot of online textbooks, resources, and slides, and most work is turned in through online portals. It’s been fine for our kid, but if that’s not what a family wants, it would be a bad match. Plenty of other private schools are similar, so it’s worth asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

As the parent of a child with dyslexia, I disagree.

We are prepared to have her work with audiobooks as she gets older, but for now, we have her in a ton of tutoring and she reads physical books.

We expect she will use dictation and audiobooks as she needs to read large amounts of text and write longer essays, to deal with fatigue that comes with reading and writing a lot of material. But we feel strongly that while she’s learning to read, she maximizes her potential to read without technological assistance.

As the parent of I child with dyslexia, the opposite has been true for DC. The tech was critical, and due to exactly how the dyslexia manifests for our kid, we were advised to have them listen to audiobooks WITHOUT reading along in a physical book (opposite of what is best for many dyslexic students). It’s important to know what is best for your child’s specific needs regarding their learning difference, and also be aware that other students, even with the same diagnosis, may need different tools and strategies.

[Anonymous]

Transplant_1 wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was very happy coming out of back to school night earlier this school year. For the first time in at least 5 years, I heard several teachers say they are relying on textbooks more than previously. Never heard this mentioned in previous years. The whole-cloth adoption of tech in the classroom based on no data or previous experience means our current students are the guinea pigs here and losers for sure. Teachers are finally getting real-life data sustained over a period of years so moving away from this stuff.

It's tragic that the schools at large (public, diocesans and majority of privates) all went 1:1 based on NO DATA. Amazing to me how they rolled the dice with our kids. Some will be okay. The vulnerable students will suffer for years to come.

Was this a public or private school, and if you don't mind sharing, which one?

This was at Bishop Ireton in Alexandria. Across the board - teachers shared they were working more book / paper based than recent years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

As the parent of a child with dyslexia, I disagree.

We are prepared to have her work with audiobooks as she gets older, but for now, we have her in a ton of tutoring and she reads physical books.

We expect she will use dictation and audiobooks as she needs to read large amounts of text and write longer essays, to deal with fatigue that comes with reading and writing a lot of material. But we feel strongly that while she’s learning to read, she maximizes her potential to read without technological assistance.

How old is your child? The OP was about middle and high school, and if dyslexic students can't access grade level content then, they will be far behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:All of the local Classical Christian schools are going to put heavy limits on tech.

VA: Dominion Christian, Oak Hill Christian, Immanuel Lutheran (K-8), Potomac Classical, Ad Fontes, probably also Loudoun Classical

MD: Calvary Christian Academy, Rockbridge Academy

Charlotte Mason is generally pretty low tech - thus Ambleside (K-8, VA)

There's also Waldorf, as represented by Washington Waldorf (DC)

Basically all the local private schools limit tech. It’s not a Christian thing.

I think the answer is between yes and no. Trinity Christian, for example, requires 1:1 laptop 7-12. Flint Hill (secular) is 1:1 Macbook Airs grades 5-12, Potomac (secular) assigns Chromebooks starting grade 4, whereas the schools listed in my comment above almost certainly ban laptops at least during class time. (My kid is at a classical school, and while, starting in junior high, there is research and the occasional paper done on the computer, it's all done at home.)

I don't know the details of the various implementations -- TC/FH/Potomac probably use them less than, say, FCPS -- but they're probably not as limited as OP wants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip to parents of vulnerable readers out there..... get your kid into no tech school through 8th grade. Vulnerable middle school boy students especially need to be reading actual books and writing with actual pencils / pens. They need to create those brain pathways.

The ship has sailed relative to getting your student to read once they are in high school (and truthfully, middle school for most) so if they are using tech all day at middle school - your hesitant reader will play with learning apps all day and miss out on the critically necessary reading and writing time they need to get their skills to fluent levels.

You only get one shot at this... don't be in a position where you are sending your poor reader kid off to high school. Tech is a disaster for a large percentage of students.

I don't know what "vulnerable readers" means, but tech is vital for students with learning disabilities. They need access to grade level content in the form of audiobooks while they are learning how to read. They need technology (voice to text or typing) in order to convey grade level content and ideas while learning how to write.

No tech means that they can only learn/show what they know at the level of their decoding/encoding, rather than at their cognitive abilities. They also need to be taught how to read and write IN ADDITION TO using technology to access grade level content.

As the parent of a child with dyslexia, I disagree.

We are prepared to have her work with audiobooks as she gets older, but for now, we have her in a ton of tutoring and she reads physical books.

We expect she will use dictation and audiobooks as she needs to read large amounts of text and write longer essays, to deal with fatigue that comes with reading and writing a lot of material. But we feel strongly that while she’s learning to read, she maximizes her potential to read without technological assistance.

How old is your child? The OP was about middle and high school, and if dyslexic students can't access grade level content then, they will be far behind.

I was responding to the PP who advocated for a lot of tech usage while dyslexic kids are in the process of learning to read.

[Anonymous]

Privates vary by school and by grade. Some talk low tech, but use tech more than their website or marketing will admit. Not all privates are as low tech or appropriate tech as some posters here are claiming.

OP should visit and tour their candidate schools in person to get the reality.