Have been stereotyped as a 'Tiger Mom.' Strangest note from teacher.

[Anonymous]

In fairfax county we have AAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:those who look like they could be from certain countries where the sterotypical Tiger Mom comes from.

And what physical features distinguish them?

[Anonymous]

E-mail with cc to the principal:

Dear Teacher,

Thank you for your concern. We do not supplement Suzy's learning at home, beyond typical involved parenting. However, we're so glad you noticed how precocious and excited she is about learning. Given your concern, are there supplemental learning materials that you want to supply her that will keep her mind moving at the pace for which she's expressing a need in your class?

I'm here to support my child in whatever ways she needs. Please let me know how you want to address her needs in a productive manner.

Thank you.

Suzy's Parent(s)

[Anonymous]

This teacher crossed the line. Yes, she was being racist and just plain rude to make this assumption about you. If she had a concern, then she should have went about this in a more professional and considerate manner. Be careful with this teacher. She appears to have an ax to grind or she is projecting her racist insecurities as a teacher onto some parents. This was not a nice thing to do to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E-mail with cc to the principal:

Dear Teacher,

Thank you for your concern. We do not supplement Suzy's learning at home, beyond typical involved parenting. However, we're so glad you noticed how precocious and excited she is about learning. Given your concern, are there supplemental learning materials that you want to supply her that will keep her mind moving at the pace for which she's expressing a need in your class?

I'm here to support my child in whatever ways she needs. Please let me know how you want to address her needs in a productive manner.

Thank you.

Suzy's Parent(s)

I don't see why you'd write anything like this. It's passive aggressive and unclear. Whether or not it's racism, it's an outrageous overstepping of boundaries for a teacher to make substantive demands about what you do and don't teach your kid AT HOME. I would worry about that teacher having something against my kid (race based or not) and would get out of that class by any means necessary.

[Anonymous]

In our Bethesda ES, this kind of email would cause an uproar.

Teachers know full well that the curriculum is displeasing to many parents, and maybe to themselves, although they could never divulge that (my son's teacher has come close!).

Most parents have supplemental academic activities for their children, and although we have families coming from all over the world, the most competitive parents are the wealthy, successful, highly educated, white American parents.

I would ever so politely ask the teacher for clarification from the teacher and cc the principal and all parents in the class on this email.

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain, OP. For whatever reason, my kid's teacher is convinced I'm a type a helicopter parent who is pushing my kid too hard. The reality is that I'm a total slacker mom, but I did raise concerns about my kid's schoolwork (essentially saying that I feel like he's struggling and that I'm concerned that his subpar work (while totally P worthy in elem school) won't cut it in MS...and I'm worried he's being pushed along and deemed "fine" now that the bar has been lowered thanks to 2.0. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Schools of education in the US absolutely worship at the altar of the progressive education model. Pushing or challenging children academically is almost always viewed as not "developmentally appropriate", especially in the lower grades.

I don't think the teacher is lazy or racist as others have suggested. I just bet she is an ideologue, bent on converting the silly ignorant parents who insist that their 1st graders learn to read and write.

Anyway, I disagree with telling the teacher that you do not supplement. That, quite frankly, is none of her business. She doesn't own your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:E-mail with cc to the principal:

Dear Teacher,

Thank you for your concern. We do not supplement Suzy's learning at home, beyond typical involved parenting. However, we're so glad you noticed how precocious and excited she is about learning. Given your concern, are there supplemental learning materials that you want to supply her that will keep her mind moving at the pace for which she's expressing a need in your class?

I'm here to support my child in whatever ways she needs. Please let me know how you want to address her needs in a productive manner.

Thank you.

Suzy's Parent(s)

I agree with PP that I would absolutely not approach the situation this way. The ball is in the teacher's court to explain her letter. At this point, the letter doesn't merit a response.

[Anonymous]

I don't think anyone thinks of Russians as Tiger Moms.

Teacher sounds naive. I would just ignore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think anyone thinks of Russians as Tiger Moms.

Teacher sounds naive. I would just ignore.

Oh, yes, many are.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't care what the teacher would think of me. I'd supplement all I wanted at home!

[Anonymous]

I am Indian-American mom. I have taught my kids multiplication tables. I have told them to not let anyone know that they know their tables.

We do all our learning in a secretive and clandestine way in our house. In front of the world, we pretend to follow common core, but we are so deep undercover and learn the old ways so surreptitiously, that you may think I am a "Sloth Bear" mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am Indian-American mom. I have taught my kids multiplication tables. I have told them to not let anyone know that they know their tables.

We do all our learning in a secretive and clandestine way in our house. In front of the world, we pretend to follow common core, but we are so deep undercover and learn the old ways so surreptitiously, that you may think I am a "Sloth Bear" mom.

You can't just pretend to follow common core if you want your kid to get Ps or ESs in class. They do actually have to know it to get through the school work. And I'm not sure why you have to do all the learning at home in secret. MCPS is not the gestapo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people crying racism here? Maybe those kids that the teacher perceives as being taught at home happen to be Asian or Russian. Maybe all the other kids aren't as advanced. I think people are jumping to conclusions here.

There are several parents around here (both Asian and non Asian) that are teaching their kids at home way beyond what the kids are doing in class because the parents feel that class work isn't rigorous enough, especially math. And the parents may be teaching the kids math the old way, which is very different from 2.0 math. In some cases, the kids are probably not ready for such advancement but the parents push.

The teacher may be hearing some of the kids stating "that's not how I learned" type of stuff. I can see how it might be frustrating for the teacher. It's hard to explain to a 6 or 7 yr old why we are not going to do it that way, and to break that for now. Don't worry, eventually, in the upper grades, they do "carry the one".

I have taught my DC how to do math the old, but quick way, but I have emphasized to DC that DC must still know how to do it the way DC is taught at school, and we do review those methods as well.

Parent-teacher conference is coming up. You could also address it then, too, but a quick reply that you don't teach the kid at home may let the teacher know. I would try to find out why the teacher thinks this way about your DC.

I don't get the"Asian or Russian" comment. We are clearly talking about Indian or Idian-Americans here.