Compacted Math, No Homework

[Anonymous]

I am very disappointed in the level of challenge offered by 4/5 math. My child is completely bored and I see him being more and more "turned off" by math. "Oh, it's so boring now, etc." I think it is a real shame that kids who really love math and have an ability to do more are stuck in this new math curriculum. (It feels similar to having a very advanced reader who isn't allowed to read books in school, but rather has to simply repeat the ABC's in order to "get the fundamentals down.")
I have a 5th grader who is grandfathered into the "old" curriculum and he is doing very advanced math b/c he's ready for it. Kids in this 2.0 curriculum are really getting the shaft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very disappointed in the level of challenge offered by 4/5 math. My child is completely bored and I see him being more and more "turned off" by math. "Oh, it's so boring now, etc." I think it is a real shame that kids who really love math and have an ability to do more are stuck in this new math curriculum. (It feels similar to having a very advanced reader who isn't allowed to read books in school, but rather has to simply repeat the ABC's in order to "get the fundamentals down.")
I have a 5th grader who is grandfathered into the "old" curriculum and he is doing very advanced math b/c he's ready for it. Kids in this 2.0 curriculum are really getting the shaft.

I am really surprised by the posters that say their kids are getting nightly math homework assignments. My child is in the 4/5 compacted math class at his school and only has brought home about 3 math worksheets since school started. They were things he could have done in kindergarten. No challenge. Nothing new. Definitely no rigor.

Perhaps the staff at his school has not been properly trained because it seems they are just winging it and giving the children busy work. My older kids did have nightly math homework from a textbook by 4th grade and the curriculum was much more challenging than what my youngest is being offered. I am supplementing with other math resources so my child receives learning experience and opportunities he craves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am very disappointed in the level of challenge offered by 4/5 math. My child is completely bored and I see him being more and more "turned off" by math. "Oh, it's so boring now, etc." I think it is a real shame that kids who really love math and have an ability to do more are stuck in this new math curriculum. (It feels similar to having a very advanced reader who isn't allowed to read books in school, but rather has to simply repeat the ABC's in order to "get the fundamentals down.")
I have a 5th grader who is grandfathered into the "old" curriculum and he is doing very advanced math b/c he's ready for it. Kids in this 2.0 curriculum are really getting the shaft.

Perhaps you meant to say, "My kid in this 2.0 curriculum is really getting the shaft"? Because the curriculum being bad for one kid doesn't mean it's bad for all kids.

[Anonymous]

Please.... name your schools, whether you have something positive or negative to say. It's much more helpful for a parent to be able to say.... at (fill in the blank school) I heard they have homework every night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am very disappointed in the level of challenge offered by 4/5 math. My child is completely bored and I see him being more and more "turned off" by math. "Oh, it's so boring now, etc." I think it is a real shame that kids who really love math and have an ability to do more are stuck in this new math curriculum. (It feels similar to having a very advanced reader who isn't allowed to read books in school, but rather has to simply repeat the ABC's in order to "get the fundamentals down.")
I have a 5th grader who is grandfathered into the "old" curriculum and he is doing very advanced math b/c he's ready for it. Kids in this 2.0 curriculum are really getting the shaft.

Perhaps you meant to say, "My kid in this 2.0 curriculum is really getting the shaft"? Because the curriculum being bad for one kid doesn't mean it's bad for all kids.

No, it is more general than that. Not just my kids. Perhaps I should say "smart kids, who are very good at math and who would have been given very challenging and interesting work under the old curriculum" are getting the shaft.

When you see what 5th graders (under the old curriculum) are offered in terms of advancement opportunities, etc. and compare that to what 4th graders are offered under the compacted 4/5, there is no comparison. I don't believe that this year's 4th graders are unworthy of the type of advanced opportunities provided under the old system. I simply believe they are getting the shaft by arbitrarily being told that 4/5 is the maximum level they can have (whether or not that is enough advancement for them).

I call that a bum deal for the 4th graders. You may disagree.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you meant to say, "My kid in this 2.0 curriculum is really getting the shaft"? Because the curriculum being bad for one kid doesn't mean it's bad for all kids.

Really? I thought the general idea about curriculum 2.0 was the concept of a standard curriculum. This person is not alone in their disdain for the curriculum 2.0, lots of parents (and kids) don't like the dumbing down of the curriculum. It's not just one kid that is being underserved.

I'm not a fan of homework in 4th/5th grade, they will have plenty of time for homework later on in their school careers. My child is in the HGC and has very little homework and I am thrilled.

I can't judge if the homework is too easy because she is highly gifted in math so not much is challenging for her math wise, but it appears to be on target and not that advanced. I can tell you that the homework she had last year in regular class was ridiculous, seriously my kindergarten could have done most of it.

Her nightly assignment is also to do 10 minutes of math facts, and that makes a lot of sense to me. The quicker they can do math in their head the faster they can do word problems and apply concepts.

[Anonymous]

DS is in compacted math, I'm ok with with what I'm seeing sofar. It's multiplication but with the added concept of geometry (calculating perimeters). I'm not complaining.

[Anonymous]

My DD is in compacted math at an HGC and I do not think it is challenging at all. She did accelerated math as a 2nd grader (2 years ago) and did what was called 4th grade math at that time and was very challenged and loved math. Last year, the acceleration ended and she had to do "regular 3rd grade math" under 2.0 as it was called and, that was a joke - very simplistic. So, this year as a 4th grader, she's doing 4/5 compacted math and, guess what, it is still not as challenging as the math she was able to do in 2nd grade on the accelerated track. She is 7 weeks into school and her class is doing subtraction and arrays!
Something has to give. We are boring these smart math students by forcing them to do the same basics over and over again.

[Anonymous]

My son is receiving compacted math at a HGC - he gets nightly homework. My younger son has received 2.0 since kindergarden and I am very pleased with it. It is far better than the "advanced" math my HGC child had k-2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is receiving compacted math at a HGC - he gets nightly homework. My younger son has received 2.0 since kindergarden and I am very pleased with it. It is far better than the "advanced" math my HGC child had k-2.

My son is in compacted math at Redland Middle School. He gets homework every night including sometimes on the weekend. It doesn't take too long (sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes) but it often has some challenging questions. I find it perfect but maybe there are others in the class besides my son that find it too easy.