So frustrated and worried about what I read/hear about 2.0

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the discussion. To those who augment at home, how do you do it? One poster mentioned great resources here in our area... what are those? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask the teachers in your school. If they trust you and agree to speak honestly and "off the record" you will most likely find that the teachers think 2.0 is horrible. There is a lot of admin rhetoric about it being more integrative and comprehensive - teachers will tell you this isn't true. Under 2.0 you have no differentiation. This means 25+ kids in a class with 1 teacher. How do you teach 25 kids at all different ability levels? The answer is clear: 1) you teach to a low common denominator and 2) you basically ignore the more advanced kids (b/c they'll do well on the assessments regardless.
2.0 is probably fine for some kids. The kids who will be hurt are the higher performing kids who will not find challenge in it.

+100. The same was/is true for kids who are very advanced in the Language Arts (not just reading a year ahead, but at a high school level in elementary school). High performers suffer in this arrangement and we've found that MCPS is at best dismissive and at worst hostile to their needs.

[Anonymous]

There's a whole other thread discussing the downsides of 2.0. We don't really need another one. But OP isn't even at the school yet and has no idea how it will work at her school, in her kid's class, with her kid's skills. If we want to discuss what's wrong with it, let's all go back to the 12-page long thread that's ongoing.

[Anonymous]

What many parents don't recognize is that there is a difference between being good at calculations due to memorization (of the multiplication table for instance) and understanding the core concepts of math. Just because your child can do one doesn't mean he knows the other.

Some of the parents you may refer to are mathematicians, engineers and scientist (I am one of them)...and your point is curriculum 2.0 as presently taught to my little girl is good? It is not. It's a disaster. The previous system where kids, with increasing fluency and mastery in the science, art and beauty of mathematics, could simply move along if competent and capable; the older child did (up to 4 or 5 years ahead of the peer group). He is not defective or deficient because of his acceleration. His performance in and out of school continues to affirm this. My daughter, on the other hand, who may have more potential in math (at least compared to her brother)...she is stuck in the curriculum 2.0 mud. She is taught by her brother who has done a far better job than MCPS teachers -- so-called experts at differentiated teaching.

Curriculum 2.0 will prove a royal failure. MCPS will bring back pathways when she comes to her senses about such a regressive and foolish "one size fits all" policy in our modern educational era.

The schools in MCPS have slowly lost ground (and leadership) over the last decade compared to other systems in the land. The present implementation and execution Curriculum 2.0 will reinforce this slow decline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for all the discussion. To those who augment at home, how do you do it? One poster mentioned great resources here in our area... what are those? Thanks!

That was me. Goodness. We have such great things in the area. Museums, historic sites, libraries, nature centers and so on. Explore. Don't underestimate your kid. We explore and learn what we want. For example, I took her to Fords Theater on day in the summer. Before hand, we got books out about Lincoln from the library - picture books but there are a variety available. Then we went to Lincoln's cottage.

Don't not do something because you think your kid won't understand, but explain it, get on their level, have fun with it, and ask your kid questions (what do you think that was for? What do you think it would be like if your whole family slept in one room?) The art museums are fun for kids, and sometimes they even have kid/family tours. Take advantage of it, and read biographies of the artists before hand (again, the library) It makes the art more interesting when your kid understands the history of the time it was made and a bit about the artist.

Follow your nose... Don't assume your kids won't like it.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the discussion. To those who augment at home, how do you do it? One poster mentioned great resources here in our area... what are those? Thanks!

My kids love Khan Academy.org. The arithmetic for adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing is great. They see it as a fun game. Mindware has some good puzzle type workbooks. Normally, we avoid all workbooks but Mindware's logic links and venn diagram puzzles are fun. Science kits and experiments are also a good activity. We have a book of science experiments that you can do at home which use normal household supplies.

[Anonymous]

Do most kids read before K?

[Anonymous]

That was me. Goodness. We have such great things in the area. Museums, historic sites, libraries, nature centers and so on. Explore. Don't underestimate your kid. We explore and learn what we want. For example, I took her to Fords Theater on day in the summer. Before hand, we got books out about Lincoln from the library - picture books but there are a variety available. Then we went to Lincoln's cottage.

I'm sorry, but can't resist. ^^^ this is just called being a good, engaged parent, isn't it? I'm not knocking what you're doing, I do it too.

[Anonymous]

I think that supplementing is more than just going to the activities around town. If your child has an interest in something that is not being met in school it would include taking them to the activity but then giving then the opportunity to pursue it more. My kids love art and I have an art background. We go to museums and talk about what we see and how the artist created the piece. I also started giving them real art supplies and showing them some of the techniques and encouraging them to try to copy some of the drawings and paintings that they like. I was very surprised at how good they were at this and they then started using the technique with their own ideas. We've done art classes that are for mixed ages so they can work at their own level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do most kids read before K?

I'd say it was about 50/50. Skills ran the range from reading chapter books to just learning letter sounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most kids read before K?

I'd say it was about 50/50. Skills ran the range from reading chapter books to just learning letter sounds.

Maybe it is 50/50, but if your K kid isn't reading yet, don't feel badly - it's pretty meaningless as an indicator of anything. Also, some K students are just about 6 years old and some have just turned 5 in the weeks before school started. Take that into account too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most kids read before K?

I'd say it was about 50/50. Skills ran the range from reading chapter books to just learning letter sounds.

Maybe it is 50/50, but if your K kid isn't reading yet, don't feel badly - it's pretty meaningless as an indicator of anything. Also, some K students are just about 6 years old and some have just turned 5 in the weeks before school started. Take that into account too.

I agree. My daughter wasn't reading before K, but very quickly learned afterwards and is many years ahead reading now.