MCPS Middle School writing: do you think expectations are in line with state standards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

Do you have a previous MCPS MS curriculum to compare it to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

terrifying. how the hell are these kids supposed to compete in today's world without decent writing and grammar instruction?

this is a big reason why we're paying for K at our preschool program (which luckily offers a true K year). might as well delay the dumbed down curriculum until 1st grade. DH doesn't follow these debates as closely as I do, and thinks DD will be fine next year ... I keep telling him otherwise. it might take her going through 1st grade for him to realize how bad the situation actually is, and get on board with private school. I get that he doesn't want to pay for it, and wants to support public education--I do, too--but what are we supposed to do when MCPS won't even teach grammar? we can fight and fight with the administration, but ultimately they're going to make the boneheaded decisions they want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

terrifying. how the hell are these kids supposed to compete in today's world without decent writing and grammar instruction?

this is a big reason why we're paying for K at our preschool program (which luckily offers a true K year). might as well delay the dumbed down curriculum until 1st grade. DH doesn't follow these debates as closely as I do, and thinks DD will be fine next year ... I keep telling him otherwise. it might take her going through 1st grade for him to realize how bad the situation actually is, and get on board with private school. I get that he doesn't want to pay for it, and wants to support public education--I do, too--but what are we supposed to do when MCPS won't even teach grammar? we can fight and fight with the administration, but ultimately they're going to make the boneheaded decisions they want to.

You’re basing a lot on some random anonymous poster’s comments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

terrifying. how the hell are these kids supposed to compete in today's world without decent writing and grammar instruction?

this is a big reason why we're paying for K at our preschool program (which luckily offers a true K year). might as well delay the dumbed down curriculum until 1st grade. DH doesn't follow these debates as closely as I do, and thinks DD will be fine next year ... I keep telling him otherwise. it might take her going through 1st grade for him to realize how bad the situation actually is, and get on board with private school. I get that he doesn't want to pay for it, and wants to support public education--I do, too--but what are we supposed to do when MCPS won't even teach grammar? we can fight and fight with the administration, but ultimately they're going to make the boneheaded decisions they want to.

You’re basing a lot on some random anonymous poster’s comments.

these comments only provide more evidence to back up what I've read in MCPS's own curriculum materials and heard in person from parents with kids in the later ES and MS grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

terrifying. how the hell are these kids supposed to compete in today's world without decent writing and grammar instruction?

this is a big reason why we're paying for K at our preschool program (which luckily offers a true K year). might as well delay the dumbed down curriculum until 1st grade. DH doesn't follow these debates as closely as I do, and thinks DD will be fine next year ... I keep telling him otherwise. it might take her going through 1st grade for him to realize how bad the situation actually is, and get on board with private school. I get that he doesn't want to pay for it, and wants to support public education--I do, too--but what are we supposed to do when MCPS won't even teach grammar? we can fight and fight with the administration, but ultimately they're going to make the boneheaded decisions they want to.

You’re basing a lot on some random anonymous poster’s comments.

these comments only provide more evidence to back up what I've read in MCPS's own curriculum materials and heard in person from parents with kids in the later ES and MS grades.

Talk to some more parents, then.

What if your daughter goes to first grade, and your husband thinks it's fine?

[Anonymous]

You all do know that in the rest of the world (outside the DC-area bubble) people bemoan the common core standards because they are too hard, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all do know that in the rest of the world (outside the DC-area bubble) people bemoan the common core standards because they are too hard, right?

In the DC area. On the gazillion threads about the Common Core standards on DCUM, everyone agreed that the Common Core standards were bad because they were (1) too hard (2) too easy (3) standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

Do you have a previous MCPS MS curriculum to compare it to?

Yes. My oldest child was pre 2.0. My second was a 2.0 Guinea pig. Third is full 2.0.

Three relatives and several close friends are mcps teachers with decades under their belts.

Plus, I've heard it straight from the mouths of my kids' teachers. When commenting on the lack of grammar and writing instruction,teachers immediately responded by saying that the curriculum does not include it. They try to supplement. Whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

Do you have a previous MCPS MS curriculum to compare it to?

Yes. My oldest child was pre 2.0. My second was a 2.0 Guinea pig. Third is full 2.0.

Three relatives and several close friends are mcps teachers with decades under their belts.

Plus, I've heard it straight from the mouths of my kids' teachers. When commenting on the lack of grammar and writing instruction,teachers immediately responded by saying that the curriculum does not include it. They try to supplement. Whatever.

No, that's not a curriculum to compare it to, that's comparing one kid's experience to another kid's experience.

Speaking of kids' experiences - in my kids' experiences, there is instruction in writing usage and conventions, in middle school.

[Anonymous]

I've had two go through Hoover. My feeling was that the 6th grade English teachers were quite demanding--a good deal of writing, and they held the kids' feet to the fire. (They also seemed to have a passion for teaching English.) 7th and 8th grade was MUCH easier-- little writing, and little homework. (Kids liked it, but I'm not sure how much they learned.)

[Anonymous]

But it isn't in the actual curriculum. If your kid is getting it, then his teacher is supplementing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The curriculum has been dumbed down. Kids are given a ridiculous rubric. Nobody is actually teaching kids how to write. Plus, mcps abandoned grammar instruction.

terrifying. how the hell are these kids supposed to compete in today's world without decent writing and grammar instruction?

this is a big reason why we're paying for K at our preschool program (which luckily offers a true K year). might as well delay the dumbed down curriculum until 1st grade. DH doesn't follow these debates as closely as I do, and thinks DD will be fine next year ... I keep telling him otherwise. it might take her going through 1st grade for him to realize how bad the situation actually is, and get on board with private school. I get that he doesn't want to pay for it, and wants to support public education--I do, too--but what are we supposed to do when MCPS won't even teach grammar? we can fight and fight with the administration, but ultimately they're going to make the boneheaded decisions they want to.

You’re basing a lot on some random anonymous poster’s comments.

these comments only provide more evidence to back up what I've read in MCPS's own curriculum materials and heard in person from parents with kids in the later ES and MS grades.

Talk to some more parents, then.

What if your daughter goes to first grade, and your husband thinks it's fine?

Then we'll keep our daughter in public school, but I'm doubtful he'll think it's fine. When I mentioned to him that MCPS doesn't include grammar in the curriculum, he was dumbstruck. He keeps thinking that maybe MCPS will change things in the next few years ... haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Then we'll keep our daughter in public school, but I'm doubtful he'll think it's fine. When I mentioned to him that MCPS doesn't include grammar in the curriculum, he was dumbstruck. He keeps thinking that maybe MCPS will change things in the next few years ... haha.

Given that your child hasn't even started school yet, you seem quite certain about what it's going to be like. Maybe consider keeping an open mind?

The kids are learning where to put periods and commas somehow. If it's not in the curriculum, how are they learning it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it isn't in the actual curriculum. If your kid is getting it, then his teacher is supplementing.

What are you defining as "the actual curriculum", and how do you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Then we'll keep our daughter in public school, but I'm doubtful he'll think it's fine. When I mentioned to him that MCPS doesn't include grammar in the curriculum, he was dumbstruck. He keeps thinking that maybe MCPS will change things in the next few years ... haha.

Given that your child hasn't even started school yet, you seem quite certain about what it's going to be like. Maybe consider keeping an open mind?

The kids are learning where to put periods and commas somehow. If it's not in the curriculum, how are they learning it?

learning where to put periods and commas is the bare minimum to ensure basic literacy. kids should be learning the full array of grammar rules.