So disappointed in MCPS

[Anonymous]

The posters said it was the result of placement test and the kids did some of the math over the summer so I don't think it was just to fit into a track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Under the old system we complained because acceleration caused them to miss whole concepts like long division or fractions because they skipped 2nd grade math..and then they skipped 4th grade math 1 year later. Let's not go back there again.

I agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking through the things my ES student brought home. Its incredibly disappointing how remedial the curriculum is for K-1 grade kids. Hoping 2nd will be better but I hear its more of the same. DC did more interesting work in preschool.

My older child went through MCPS. This wasn't his experience. It looks like they dropped their standards by YEARS.

I disagree, because my child did not do "work" in preschool. He played and fingerpainted and learned to get along with friends and learned to sit still at circle time. It's very odd to me that kindergarten can be seen as "remedial." This is their first year official year of school, so it's unclear to me how they already have to make up for what they failed to learn previously. I guess a lot of people must be sending their kids to academic preschools that try to introduce elementary curricula to 3-year-olds. We didn't send our kids to one of those because we didn't think it was developmentally appropriate. They were still reading before they started kindergarten, just from what they learned at home.

[Anonymous]

These threads are always the same. My child is not doing advanced work like I give him to do at home. His teacher gave the class one assignment that had material he had covered before (and likely needed a refresher on). How dare he not be constantly stimulated with new material!

This is utterly ridiculous. Even if your child had seen material before, so what? Is he so world weary he can't sit still for an hour, or help peers, or use a refresher? Are you so cynical that you believe the school system is FAILING your child because new material at his individual level is not constantly introduced? Get over yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These threads are always the same. My child is not doing advanced work like I give him to do at home. His teacher gave the class one assignment that had material he had covered before (and likely needed a refresher on). How dare he not be constantly stimulated with new material!

This is utterly ridiculous. Even if your child had seen material before, so what? Is he so world weary he can't sit still for an hour, or help peers, or use a refresher? Are you so cynical that you believe the school system is FAILING your child because new material at his individual level is not constantly introduced? Get over yourselves.

I disagree with your characterization of some of the concerns repeatedly voiced on this forum. I have a child who has attended a HGC and a magnet middle school. He does have to practice the same skills over and over again - note taking, writing well crafted responses to questions, comprehension, writing conventions (grammar and so on). He does this day in and day out but it is never boring because the assignments are interesting and challenging. I do believe that children have to review material repeatedly and constantly practice key skills in order to learn them properly but this can be done in a stimulating manner. I don't recall too many of these posts from parents with children in HGCs or the magnets, its the parents in the regular MCPS schools that generally feel dissatisfied. Also, although I think it is good for children to help other students, this can be taken too far - it is is not a substitute for providing an appropriate education.

[Anonymous]

I also disagree with 8:18. How low would be too low for you to be bothered by this? If your middle school child started only doing single digit addition or cutting and pasting shapes would this be fine because MCPS says its fine?

To the MCPS teacher, how on earth does having children learn nothing for 2-3 years will somehow translate into deeper understanding and better performance in high school?? With this attitude the county could save a huge amount of money by just giving all the kids an assessment and sending the majority to rooms staffed by daycare workers. The kids ready to move on are gaining no value from sitting in your class listening to you present things they learned long ago. Your teaching may have value to students who need to learn basic things but in many clusters these are fewer.

Most of the posts that I have read aren't even about giving children truly challenging work or work that they would struggle to learn. The posts are about not dropping the curriculum so low that school is complete waste of time for the kids for the first several years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These threads are always the same. My child is not doing advanced work like I give him to do at home. His teacher gave the class one assignment that had material he had covered before (and likely needed a refresher on). How dare he not be constantly stimulated with new material!

This is utterly ridiculous. Even if your child had seen material before, so what? Is he so world weary he can't sit still for an hour, or help peers, or use a refresher? Are you so cynical that you believe the school system is FAILING your child because new material at his individual level is not constantly introduced? Get over yourselves.

I disagree with your characterization of some of the concerns repeatedly voiced on this forum. I have a child who has attended a HGC and a magnet middle school. He does have to practice the same skills over and over again - note taking, writing well crafted responses to questions, comprehension, writing conventions (grammar and so on). He does this day in and day out but it is never boring because the assignments are interesting and challenging. I do believe that children have to review material repeatedly and constantly practice key skills in order to learn them properly but this can be done in a stimulating manner. I don't recall too many of these posts from parents with children in HGCs or the magnets, its the parents in the regular MCPS schools that generally feel dissatisfied. Also, although I think it is good for children to help other students, this can be taken too far - it is is not a substitute for providing an appropriate education.

That's the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also disagree with 8:18. How low would be too low for you to be bothered by this? If your middle school child started only doing single digit addition or cutting and pasting shapes would this be fine because MCPS says its fine?

To the MCPS teacher, how on earth does having children learn nothing for 2-3 years will somehow translate into deeper understanding and better performance in high school?? With this attitude the county could save a huge amount of money by just giving all the kids an assessment and sending the majority to rooms staffed by daycare workers. The kids ready to move on are gaining no value from sitting in your class listening to you present things they learned long ago. Your teaching may have value to students who need to learn basic things but in many clusters these are fewer.

Most of the posts that I have read aren't even about giving children truly challenging work or work that they would struggle to learn. The posts are about not dropping the curriculum so low that school is complete waste of time for the kids for the first several years.

Is there actually a danger of this occurring? Why do you need a bright line rule to protect against a danger that doesn't exist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The high school teachers would tell you that all of your kids who are supposedly bored and ready for more challenge are really getting a better math basis than the ones who came before. They went faster and certainly had more challenge but when they got to upper math they were not always so strong. Have you read the recent posts about kids needing to repeat algebra and geometry when they switched to private? I know many will probably chime in to say that their child got all A's in higher math..but an MCPS A isn't always that outstanding.

How could the high school teachers possibly know that yet? They are clearly not seeing these kids yet. How absurd. Lots of MCPS shills on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking through the things my ES student brought home. Its incredibly disappointing how remedial the curriculum is for K-1 grade kids. Hoping 2nd will be better but I hear its more of the same. DC did more interesting work in preschool.

My older child went through MCPS. This wasn't his experience. It looks like they dropped their standards by YEARS.

I disagree, because my child did not do "work" in preschool. He played and fingerpainted and learned to get along with friends and learned to sit still at circle time. It's very odd to me that kindergarten can be seen as "remedial." This is their first year official year of school, so it's unclear to me how they already have to make up for what they failed to learn previously. I guess a lot of people must be sending their kids to academic preschools that try to introduce elementary curricula to 3-year-olds. We didn't send our kids to one of those because we didn't think it was developmentally appropriate. They were still reading before they started kindergarten, just from what they learned at home.

My kid went to an awesome academic preschool and loved it. It was way more advanced than learning to sit in the magic circle, keep hands to yourself, etc. (He learned that in the 2 to 3 year old class. How many years do they need?) By K in MCPS he was eagerly learning as much as he could. His current K sibling learned a fraction of what my older DC learned in K.

For bright kids the new system is a waste of school time.

[Anonymous]

The previous post was making the point that standards have dropped significantly in MCPS and how far would it need it to go to get the previous poster to care.

The Montessori comparison is striking. Both classes were teaching the exact same concept and using the same technique. Where MCPS was lacking is that they were teaching it to kids 3-4 years older, not requiring students to master it before they went on, not really providing an efficient way for students to practice it, and not caring if many students already knew it and didn't need to hear it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The previous post was making the point that standards have dropped significantly in MCPS and how far would it need it to go to get the previous poster to care.

The Montessori comparison is striking. Both classes were teaching the exact same concept and using the same technique. Where MCPS was lacking is that they were teaching it to kids 3-4 years older, not requiring students to master it before they went on, not really providing an efficient way for students to practice it, and not caring if many students already knew it and didn't need to hear it again.

That is the PP's opinion. It is not established fact.

[Anonymous]

No one on the thread has disputed that standards and levels have dropped. You'd have to be blind not to see this.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, if you happen to be one of the unlucky ones that hit 2.0 when it changes over and gets to repeat what he did the year or two before because now that is grade level, you can't pretend standards didn't drop.

[Anonymous]

Though my child was accelerated 2 year ahead in math under the old system, I do not think it was high standards. 2/3 of my sons non-W 5th grade class was taking 7th grade math. This only refelcts that principals were under presssure to accelerate kids and fill math classes. That is almost like no standard at all.