2.0 1st grade curriculum: Carbon Dioxide? Yes! Telling time? No!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is no math tracking,,then what are the groups that are meeting each day? random?

Not the OP, but I have a kid in 2nd grade in MCPS.

Our school has NO math tracking. Not sure if this is school specific, or just MCPS policy because DD is our first kid going through.
No math groups that meet daily. My DD is a pretty good reporter, so I'm pretty confident that she's not just making it up. All kids get the same worksheets.

What ESs in MoCo have math tracking for 1st and 2nd graders? We have two younger kids, and are currently renting, so are open to moving into a different cluster!

OP noted her child was in a math group that met with the teacher for 10 minutes every day so they must be grouped somehow though she says there is no tracking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is no math tracking,,then what are the groups that are meeting each day? random?

Not the OP, but I have a kid in 2nd grade in MCPS.

Our school has NO math tracking. Not sure if this is school specific, or just MCPS policy because DD is our first kid going through.
No math groups that meet daily. My DD is a pretty good reporter, so I'm pretty confident that she's not just making it up. All kids get the same worksheets.

What ESs in MoCo have math tracking for 1st and 2nd graders? We have two younger kids, and are currently renting, so are open to moving into a different cluster!

Takoma Park has math tracking in 1st, but that's for the "science gifted" program. I believe that's the only school with pull-out math differentiation. But even our poorly-ranked school is doing in-class differentiation. No homework differentiation, but the math groups are doing different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is no math tracking,,then what are the groups that are meeting each day? random?

Not the OP, but I have a kid in 2nd grade in MCPS.

Our school has NO math tracking. Not sure if this is school specific, or just MCPS policy because DD is our first kid going through.
No math groups that meet daily. My DD is a pretty good reporter, so I'm pretty confident that she's not just making it up. All kids get the same worksheets.

What ESs in MoCo have math tracking for 1st and 2nd graders? We have two younger kids, and are currently renting, so are open to moving into a different cluster!

DC's math teacher in 2nd provides "ES" opportunities in math, ie, harder worksheets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids about 7yrs apart and I can't get over how terrible the new curriculum is.

1st grade pre 2.0
Learned math facts in K
Tracked math classes (Mine went into 2nd grade math)
Reading groups, skies the limit on levels
Learned normal age appropriate things in science/geography

1st grade 2.0
Learning math facts in 1st (soooo slowly)
No tracked classes. Math groups that meet 8-10min a day instead
No acceleration except for an occasional sheet once every few weeks
Reading groups unable to bypass following years highest level. So nothing into 3rd grade levels allowed, confirmed by 2 teachers.
Not one lesson telling time or learning a calendar. Kids learn time in 2nd grade now when questioned.
Currently learning about carbon dioxide and the carbon footprint. Volunteered in class. Kids are completely baffled.


I am just so disappointed. How do we rationalize not teaching kids how to tell time until 8yrs old but they need to learn about carbon footprint? Please tell me it gets better. 1st grade has been so boring and strange.

That is why I pulled my child out in 3rd grade and homeschooled until middle school.
I felt that my child learned nothing useful ...

[Anonymous]

My kids were pre 2.0 for elementary school and math was a disaster for both. One needed acceleration but that meant skipping 1st grade math, 3rd grade math, 5th grade math to end up in 6th grade algebra...yes she does well but are there gaps..I am SURE there are. The other who was much closer to grade level still skipped 3rd grade math and 5th grade math. We spent a long time teaching long division at home since it was a 3rd grade concept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two kids about 7yrs apart and I can't get over how terrible the new curriculum is.

1st grade pre 2.0
Learned math facts in K
Tracked math classes (Mine went into 2nd grade math)
Reading groups, skies the limit on levels
Learned normal age appropriate things in science/geography

1st grade 2.0
Learning math facts in 1st (soooo slowly)
No tracked classes. Math groups that meet 8-10min a day instead
No acceleration except for an occasional sheet once every few weeks
Reading groups unable to bypass following years highest level. So nothing into 3rd grade levels allowed, confirmed by 2 teachers.
Not one lesson telling time or learning a calendar. Kids learn time in 2nd grade now when questioned.
Currently learning about carbon dioxide and the carbon footprint. Volunteered in class. Kids are completely baffled.


I am just so disappointed. How do we rationalize not teaching kids how to tell time until 8yrs old but they need to learn about carbon footprint? Please tell me it gets better. 1st grade has been so boring and strange.

It doesn't - it gets worse. You will come to realize that 2.0 is just busy work for smart kids and trying to catch up for the struggling kids. Middle of the road kids, ignored.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is no math tracking,,then what are the groups that are meeting each day? random?

Not the OP, but I have a kid in 2nd grade in MCPS.

Our school has NO math tracking. Not sure if this is school specific, or just MCPS policy because DD is our first kid going through.
No math groups that meet daily. My DD is a pretty good reporter, so I'm pretty confident that she's not just making it up. All kids get the same worksheets.

What ESs in MoCo have math tracking for 1st and 2nd graders? We have two younger kids, and are currently renting, so are open to moving into a different cluster!

OP noted her child was in a math group that met with the teacher for 10 minutes every day so they must be grouped somehow though she says there is no tracking.

10 minutes a day is nothing compared to going with another class for 1.5 hours every day. Please tell me you understand that? Have you been in a current 1st grade math class. CHAOTIC at best. Rotating every 10 minutes. 5 kids meet with a teacher real quick and the other 20+ kids are all over the classroom doing a "center." Computers, bouncing a call and counting, goofing off, going to the bathroom, sleeping at a desk (I have seen it all as a volunteer.) And no, my job is not to help the class. I get a few kids struggling and bring them out to the hallway to help with basic concepts or I stay in the class and do filing, cutting etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand what's abnormal or age-inappropriate about learning about carbon dioxide and the carbon footprint. (And I know that first-graders learned about the environment under the previous curriculum.)

It makes a lot of sense to me to wait to teach about time on an analog clock until the children have learned about fractions. And I don't see the detriment, since everybody uses digital clocks these days anyway.

Also, a lot of the stuff you complain about is school policy, not the curriculum.

(Probably under the previous curriculum, you would have been one of the people complaining about math acceleration. MCPS can't do anything right.)

+1 on the telling time. I volunteered in my DC's 2nd grade class to help teach telling time, and knowing what "quarter" meant was very useful. Some school districts no longer teach how to read an analog clock, or how to write in cursive. I know some parents have stated that their kids haven't learned cursive in mcps, but mine have (in 3rd grade).

Yes, it is it the school policy, not the curriculum. I think it's great that kids learn about the environment as part of science at an early age. They may not understand the big picture, but they can certainly understand that what one does everyday contributes to the environmental pollution. My 6 yr old DD asked me why I couldn't drive her to school instead of her taking the bus. I had to explain to her about the concept of "carbon footprint". I don't think that's a hard concept for a child to learn. You just have to present it so a 6 yr old can understand it.

Some things are slower, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. At this age, too much too quick acceleration in math for 99% of kids is not the best idea. There have been lots of complains by parents and teachers about how too many kids pre 2.0 were accelerated too quickly in math, and they were finding that these kids were missing or weak in the fundamentals.

My K'er knows what 1/2 and 1/4 mean. I didn't teach him fractions, so I assume he learned about them at school. So I'm confused by the statement that they're not learning fractions until 2nd grade. Could it really differ that much by school or individual teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My K'er knows what 1/2 and 1/4 mean. I didn't teach him fractions, so I assume he learned about them at school. So I'm confused by the statement that they're not learning fractions until 2nd grade. Could it really differ that much by school or individual teacher?

PP here.

Honestly, I think it is both. We taught our kids when they were very young what half and quarter meant at home through cooking and counting their coins. Half is easier to learn. Quarter as a concept is harder to learn. I think when you try to get a 6 yr old to apply "quarter" to something other than money, it's harder for them to understand. Some kids will get it; others won't until they get a better understanding of number sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My K'er knows what 1/2 and 1/4 mean. I didn't teach him fractions, so I assume he learned about them at school. So I'm confused by the statement that they're not learning fractions until 2nd grade. Could it really differ that much by school or individual teacher?

PP here.

Honestly, I think it is both. We taught our kids when they were very young what half and quarter meant at home through cooking and counting their coins. Half is easier to learn. Quarter as a concept is harder to learn. I think when you try to get a 6 yr old to apply "quarter" to something other than money, it's harder for them to understand. Some kids will get it; others won't until they get a better understanding of number sense.

+1 Also, remember that getting a kid to understand a quarter of 100, or a quarter of a pizza, is easier than getting them to understand a quarter of 60.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, sounds like you should go private.

I agree with this. For better or for worse, privates teach exactly what the parents want, which is usually exactly what they learned as kids. They are also usually willing to accelerate as much as parents want, for better or for worse, because the customer is always right.

This is a completely incorrect characterization of private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there is no math tracking,,then what are the groups that are meeting each day? random?

Not the OP, but I have a kid in 2nd grade in MCPS.

Our school has NO math tracking. Not sure if this is school specific, or just MCPS policy because DD is our first kid going through.
No math groups that meet daily. My DD is a pretty good reporter, so I'm pretty confident that she's not just making it up. All kids get the same worksheets.

What ESs in MoCo have math tracking for 1st and 2nd graders? We have two younger kids, and are currently renting, so are open to moving into a different cluster!

OP noted her child was in a math group that met with the teacher for 10 minutes every day so they must be grouped somehow though she says there is no tracking.

10 minutes a day is nothing compared to going with another class for 1.5 hours every day. Please tell me you understand that? Have you been in a current 1st grade math class. CHAOTIC at best. Rotating every 10 minutes. 5 kids meet with a teacher real quick and the other 20+ kids are all over the classroom doing a "center." Computers, bouncing a call and counting, goofing off, going to the bathroom, sleeping at a desk (I have seen it all as a volunteer.) And no, my job is not to help the class. I get a few kids struggling and bring them out to the hallway to help with basic concepts or I stay in the class and do filing, cutting etc...

This is exactly the same description of would give of a pre 2.0 math (and reading class). So it sounds like there are groups but the complaint is that they don't get enough teacher time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, sounds like you should go private.

Bad news on that front... my child at highly regarded private is learning to tell time and count money now in 2nd grade. He also learned to tell time in preschool, but had 100% forgotten it by now... so maybe, just maybe, 2nd grade is the more developmentally appropriate time for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My K'er knows what 1/2 and 1/4 mean. I didn't teach him fractions, so I assume he learned about them at school. So I'm confused by the statement that they're not learning fractions until 2nd grade. Could it really differ that much by school or individual teacher?

PP here.

Honestly, I think it is both. We taught our kids when they were very young what half and quarter meant at home through cooking and counting their coins. Half is easier to learn. Quarter as a concept is harder to learn. I think when you try to get a 6 yr old to apply "quarter" to something other than money, it's harder for them to understand. Some kids will get it; others won't until they get a better understanding of number sense.

+1 Also, remember that getting a kid to understand a quarter of 100, or a quarter of a pizza, is easier than getting them to understand a quarter of 60.

PP here.. yes, exactly, some kids had a hard time grasping what quarter of 60 was. And it wasn't just learning how to read the clock using just numbers, like 1:15, but it was also learning the different ways to represent 1:15, as in "a quarter past one", or "a quarter before 2". That's pretty advanced stuff for a 6 yr old to be learning.

[Anonymous]

10 minutes a day is nothing compared to going with another class for 1.5 hours every day. Please tell me you understand that? Have you been in a current 1st grade math class. CHAOTIC at best. Rotating every 10 minutes. 5 kids meet with a teacher real quick and the other 20+ kids are all over the classroom doing a "center." Computers, bouncing a call and counting, goofing off, going to the bathroom, sleeping at a desk (I have seen it all as a volunteer.) And no, my job is not to help the class. I get a few kids struggling and bring them out to the hallway to help with basic concepts or I stay in the class and do filing, cutting etc...

This is exactly what it looks like! It's ridiculous, the ones that don't know what they are doing, and really need help, just bounce around.

No child left behind, because if you go this slow there is no "behind". <---This is exactly right.

To the person who stated the OP needed a private school, how about you get bent.

$2.39 billion Operating budget for a school system that can't provide books or a curriculum, but we who are unhappy should just send our kids to private. How about we hold the school responsible for accomplishing their mission.