How is your school's MS/US math program?

[Anonymous]

Are there any schools that regularly send kids to TJ? That might help us learn which schools have better math programs.

[Anonymous]

We have friends who left a K-8 private school for an Arlington magnet. Said the math program was wonderful and their kid will be working one grade up in math this year. TJ takes some kids from Arlington and it is their hope he is able to go there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our K-8 has 3 levels of math per grade starting in 4th. For middle school,, the top group does pre-algebra in 6th, Algebra in 7th and Geometry in 8th. The middle group ends at Algebra and the lowest ends at pre-algebra. For those who are anti-Everyday Math (which I'm not), the top group does something else starting in 4th. I have a middle group kid and I don't know if the "something else" is a textbook or not but they definitely don't have the EDM journals.

Norwood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, 6:32 - can you tell us which school? Our K-8 has only two levels and they dump a variety of levels into the last one so many of the kids complain of being bored (my son being one of them). And the MS doesn't even teach geometry at all - even to the top kids.

Oh, to live in Mont. Co where I hear the math programs in the public schools are outstanding.

MCPS uses EDM!

[Anonymous]

I wasn't referring to Norwood and don't know if this is true of them--I was referring to Grace.

[Anonymous]

We are very happy with the math program at SSSAS's MS. The classes are small and they are all single sex to foster the learning experience. The 6th grade math teacher just won the Excellence in Education Award.

[Anonymous]

Our MCPS elementary school uses a combination of approaches, blending a more conceptual curriculum, like Everyday Math, with more traditional instruction. This approach worked well for both our kids, who have very different learning styles -- one more analytical, the other more intuitive and visual. In neither case, however, was there extensive practice of basic facts in school, though teachers were helpful in suggesting games parent can play to help kids learn facts, as well as websites kids can go on themselves to practice.

As previous posters have noted, MCPS offers a very accelerted track, which my older child was on from second through sixth grade, when he moved to Sidwell. Had he stayed with MCPS, he would have taken algebra as a 7th-grader, but at that time Sidwell didn't have 7th graders taking algebra. Despite my son's indignant response at being "derailed" from the accelerated track, and some initial boredom during the first few weeks, he soon found the math curriculum to be more challenging than what he'd experienced in MCPS. In his words, "they really expect you to think more." He's in high school now and still finds the Sidwell maht curriculum rigorous and the instruction excellent. (I believe the Sidwell MS math curriculum has changed quite a bit now, BTW, and all 9th-graders this year will be taking geometry. Obviously this has implications for the US curriculum, but I don't know what those are.)

This has certainly led me to question the reason for the acceleration in the MCPS curriculum, as has my younger child's experience being in the "on-grade" group in the same MCPS elementary. We feel that the instruction she receives is jut as good as what our son experienced in the accelerated group, with the advantage of not rushing through a particular topic to get to the next one before the kids are really solid on the first.

[Anonymous]

I have always heard great things about the MCPS math program which also tends to inspire many families to move there for it.

I've also heard parents lament about how many public schools (and not necessarily great ones) seem to have stronger math programs than many private schools. At first I thought it was a joke, but after hearing many stories, I'm not so sure anymore....

[Anonymous]

As a casual reader of the Post, it seems to me that there has been a lot of controversy about the MCPS math program recently, with people complaining that kids are being accelerated for the sake of being accelerated but failing to receive a solid grounding in the topics they cover.

[Anonymous]

7:47 -- thanks for that really interesting and substantive post!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far, a couple of schools named that offer a strong math program. Would love to add to the list - and why.

We left our K-8 school before entering MS because of controversy over the MS math program. Parents universally unhappy with both teachers combined with geometry not being taught. I was horrified to hear parents speak of their older childen who were behind in math when they entered 9th grade. Even in the large public high schools.

I have heard of kids from Woods academy having this problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math is such a lightning rod topic for parents and administrators, w/ latter often having to defend against former. About Everyday vs. other types, different kids benefit from different kinds. My impression is that Everyday, and the circular curriculum based ones that come back to the same topic again and again (at higher level each time, is the theory - I think this is Chicago) are good for some kids who need more repetition. Other kids get it the first time, and are ready to move on. So kids really are different, and some schools recognize this and others don't. A kid in the wrong group can get really turned off, which is a pity.
A couple of other issues that folks may want to pick up on:
(a) how to negotiate without being dismissed as a pushy parent
(b) Schools are often citing research that MS students can't think "abstractly," so algebra - or harder algebraic concepts - should not introduced until later. They cite latest brain research. My feeling is this may be right about some kids but clearly wrong about others, and the question is how to deal w/ kids for whom this abstract thinking isn't a problem.

EDM is a spiral curriculum.
It is not about repetition for kids who don't get it the first time. The topics are not introduced in enough depth the first time, so in essence, no one really gets it.
The whole thing needs to be scrapped.

[Anonymous]

Thankfully, I am hearing that EDM is being dropped by more and more schools. Seems to be some studies out (heard this from a couple administrators) that show it really doesn't work well.

I seem to get the sense that good math programs are a combination of several different theories.

[Anonymous]

EDM is a K-6 curriculum. You might validly not prefer schools where EDM is used in K-6, and those schools might in fact be dropping EDM. But when you're talking about a middle or high school, EDM could not have been used in the first place, so it doesn't make any sense to say it's being "dropped" there.

[Anonymous]

Most schools' MSs start in 6th grade. While EDM goes through 6th, these schools are not using it even if they have in in the LS.