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Public school K questions
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Anonymous
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op could have been me. my dc goes to wood acres elementary. same description as the pp who said she was happy with the school, except when in small groups and centers, they do worksheets or "games" that involve some sort of prepared item from some scholastic company. they also play computer games. they have "specials" also, but in general a very unimpressive situation. we're sending dc to private at the very latest by 3rd grade. hopefully for 2nd. worth every penny if it can offer dc a little opportunity for creativity in learning.
that said, academics were fine. dc learned everything expected and more. just not very excited about it. |
Anonymous
| OP what school is your child at? |
Anonymous
Would you mind telling us if this is public or private, and if public, what county? |
Anonymous
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It seems that our sons like their public schools better than the expensive private schools they went to.
However, in general, K is becoming more like 1st grade, with a lot of assessments, many of which are probably not meaningful. For example, one son got a low grade in "Listening" but a very high grade in "Writting". Which probably just reflects his unwillingness in speaking up but more willingness in writing to express himself (this certainly worries me a lot). Yes, there are few group projects in the school, not enough interactions among the kids, which can be a serious problem if a kid is shy. Still, I am happy about the public school they go to so far. |
Anonymous
Public school, Fairfax County |
Anonymous
We are heading to a GT Center for 3rd grade in the fall. 2nd grade has been okay but not as good as 1st grade. The advantage we had for 2nd grade is that the students looped with their teachers from 1st to 2nd grade, which I think was a great way to start the academic year. |
Anonymous
| OP here. I live in Baltimore County, MD. I think they start identifying kids for the gifted classes in 2nd or 3rd grade but I think my son might be completely turned off by then. I did ask to observe in his school when he was in pre-k (and I was thinking about private schools) and all the school could offer me was a tour (which didn't tell me much). |
Anonymous
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PG County public school mom here. While kindergarten is indeed the new first grade, not all K classes are like this. It may have a lot to do with the school itself, or it could also be the particular mix of the particular teacher and the classroom.
Where my son goes, the kids are grouped together in learning communities (not tracked...it's a carefully considered mix of abilities, gender, ethnic backgrounds, etc.) and this group is then assigned to a teacher for the following grade. It wouldn't hurt to talk to the principal about any preferences you have for next year. E.g., this past year, I asked for my son to be put in a class with a more experienced teacher, if possible (His 1st grade teacher was a lovely person and good at what she did, but VERY green, and, uh, frankly my special snowflake can be a bit of a challenge). |
Anonymous
| OP here. My son's teacher had appr. 12 yrs of experience so it wasn't the teacher that was a problem really. I helped out in 2 other K classes (there were 4 K classes) and they were pretty much the same. I can only see it getting worse as the testing gets closer. I may be looking into private schools this fall... |
Anonymous
| OP: would it be possible to reveal which school you are talking about? |
Anonymous
| We (the parents at my school) tried SO hard to make it better. We had the most fabulous families willing to do any and everything to add creativity and support the teachers to free them up so that they could do fun projects. Our PTA earned money and upped fundraising for extras etc. etc. We had a decent principal who supported us, and for awhile we had lots of new neighborhood families attending because people were excited to have a good neighborhood school. I still get a pit in my stomach when I think about all of the time and energy that went into the simplest request - even trying to get them outside more - (it seemed if the weather wasn't picture perfect they were happy to keep them indoors). 5 years later and we are in private. The fact of the matter is, the teachers hated us - we were a total pain in the butt - even when we tried to be diplomatic - most would lower their eyes when they saw us coming. That said, there were def. some great teachers (even the ones that didn't like us) - and when you were in a good class with a great teacher you could not imagine paying $$$ for private. But 2 kids and 8 teachers later, we were batting way less then 50% for great teachers - and the bad teacher was REALLY bad - so many parents complained and the attitude was "we'll survive without you - ". In hindsight, I saw way too much yelling in the halls - it was like boot camp - and the kids were not unruly - just kids - it was excessive - and I still wonder why people that seemed to dislike kids so much wanted to spend all day with them. But by far the worst thing was the repetition to get them to pass the tests. It was pure torture for our oldest - and it made me think how slowly time must pass in those classes every day. We stayed through 4th and tried one year of TAG and it wasn't great either - and then we were gone. I hate writing this - and please don't ask which school - it doesn't matter - it could be anywhere. I blame the testing and too many teachers required, but not able to manage, the challenge of a diversified classroom. I also saw some terrible teachers that probably should not be teaching. The most depressing thing about going private (aside from the money) was accepting how bad it really was. |
Anonymous
| PP that really sounds awful! While we are happy with our public, if the school was not responsive to parents then we would be out. I have also seen parents leave who have had two terrible teachers back-to-back. Even though our school is well regarded and has great parental involvement, there are still some bad apples among the teachers. |
Anonymous
| I am the OP. I think it wouldn't matter too much who the teacher is actually. The teachers all have to get through X amount of material daily to meet their goals. My friend teaches K at another school and she has lower income families in her area so she has kids coming in who have been at home watching TV for 5 yrs. They don't even recognize their own name in print. So she really has an uphill battle. But for kids in my area who have all been to preschool and have good starts, I don't see the ridiculous urgency to push, push, push. In Nov, at my first parent/teacher conference, the teacher said my son was reading on a first grade level, about halfway through the first grade. I thought "Sounds great." But her plan was to get him to the second grade level mid year by the end of K. What's the rush? At that point, he still enjoyed reading. I felt like she might have gotten a bonus or something by how far she could push her students ahead. The kids don't even take the state tests until 3rd grade but yet all of their many worksheets have "MSA Sample" at the bottom. I feel like bright kids who could benefit from some activities that promote problem solving, group work, creative thinking, etc aren't getting that at all. I guess it isn't on the test. Even their art assignments aren't creative. They all look kind of the same. My son used to love art in preschool now says it is boring b/c the teacher tells them what to do. Sigh. |
Anonymous
Wow. That's a big school! If it's all the same, then, yes, it doesn't sound like a classroom dynamic issue so much as a school cultural issue. |
Anonymous
| Not really assuming there are about 25 kids per class. That's 100 kids in each grade. 500 kids isn't that large for an ES school unless it is rural. |