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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ those are all great things, but people are complaining already about huge class sizes, lack of more magnets, etc... to address those things cost more $. If we want all these great things, we need to increase taxes.

Nothing above would cost more money. The ratios would stagger from lowest to highest based on grade need. The aide or paraeducator would spend more time in the lower 1-2 classes than the higher 1-2 classes. Nothing about that cost more money.

And the county does not need more magnets. Magnets are a waste of resources and their only goal for MCPS is to bring up test scores in otherwise failing schools. Any programs that are given to kids by sheer luck (after only knowing all the info you need) need to be removed. HGC, Magnets, IB, Immersion. They are tainted and unfair and extremely costly to run, to only benefit a very small percentage of kids. If they track the higher kids in each grade and give the exceptional ones some challenging work above that and have teachers teaching to them (instead of a quick worksheet and reading chapter books at a desk 70% of the day) they wouldn't need these programs. All high schools offer AP programs. They don't need the Magnet and IB diploma programs. Time to get back to teaching EVERY kid a good education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ those are all great things, but people are complaining already about huge class sizes, lack of more magnets, etc... to address those things cost more $. If we want all these great things, we need to increase taxes.

Nothing above would cost more money. The ratios would stagger from lowest to highest based on grade need. The aide or paraeducator would spend more time in the lower 1-2 classes than the higher 1-2 classes. Nothing about that cost more money.

And the county does not need more magnets. Magnets are a waste of resources and their only goal for MCPS is to bring up test scores in otherwise failing schools. Any programs that are given to kids by sheer luck (after only knowing all the info you need) need to be removed. HGC, Magnets, IB, Immersion. They are tainted and unfair and extremely costly to run, to only benefit a very small percentage of kids. If they track the higher kids in each grade and give the exceptional ones some challenging work above that and have teachers teaching to them (instead of a quick worksheet and reading chapter books at a desk 70% of the day) they wouldn't need these programs. All high schools offer AP programs. They don't need the Magnet and IB diploma programs. Time to get back to teaching EVERY kid a good education.

I disagree. I love that MCPS has magnets. You'd see a lot of the smarter kids move out of mcps if they got rid of magnets. I certainly wouldn't have moved here if there weren't magnet programs. I don't agree with tracking at a young age. It pigeon holes them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I have one kid in the lower track and I absolutely hate hime being in a class with kids mostly smarter than him He struggles daily and I would love for him to be with peers at his level. Maybe lower ratios and more direct teaching would help these kids. Right now he blows off worksheets because he is embarrassed. And because he can. No one is watching him or helping him. Then he gets labeled as a problem child. Very frustrating.

My DD is in first grade, and I see this weekly when I volunteer. If I'm there, I can sit with the kids who are having difficulty and walk them through what they should be doing. Otherwise, the kids who don't get what's going on just blow them off and learn that they're stupid (which I adamantly do NOT believe, I just hear the kids say 'Larla is good at math, I'm not'). More direct instruction would be better for ALL the kids.

I agree with lower ratios of the kids who need to catch up. Putting them with the kids who are more advanced isn't helping. Some people on here have argued that the kids who are above level are helping the kids who need to catch up, but I don't see this happen. The kids who speed through the worksheets, just go to the reading corner and read or take extra bathroom breaks, etc.

It definately happens, what people who don't volunteer with these early primary grade kids don't realize is that they compare themselves to each other constantly. It has nothing to do with parent pressure or anything else, it's just a human fault to look at others and notice if they are better than you. As we mature, the reflection is one of admiration, for the very young it leads to not wanting to compete.



I volunteer often and see the same thing. It is sad that these struggling kids just give up after watching peers move faster than them.

+1

Not only do these struggling kids need a tracking class to themselves, but they need a lower ratio than their peers and a support of a full time aide. This needs to start immediately in K. They need written material in multiple languages that these kids can bring home and practice. Not only to help the kids but to help the parents learn what their kids are learning to better help them. By the time the kids are coming to parents for help, some parents have no idea what to do. Trying to get kids to pass their parents education by upper elementary school is tough. By the time they hit middle school there is no one to help them. Heck, I even had to Google mean, median, mode to make sure I remembered which one was which. Most kids getting good grades in MCPS are parent or tutor led and not teacher led. The struggling kids need more help early and quickly. They don't get it in combined classes watching peers excel 1-2 grade levels past them. And many also get pulled out for ESOL and they lose more ground missing material that was taught when they were gone. The system makes no sense. It encourages a huge achievement gap.

So true!

I'm college educated (and definitely no genius) and I had to Google some videos to help my 3rd grader with some math strategies that she did NOT understand in school. I thought the same thing - how does a busy/ESOL/lower SES whatever parent figure this out well enough to explain to the kid who isn't understanding it in school? This system does a disservice to all the kids.

What the PP said make sense - lower ratios for the kids who are struggling with extra teaching help. So the kids actually learn the material, and don't just get passed on to the next grade (which is what is happening now). And, I agree that the way it is now, encourages the achievement gap. The kids who can get help at home, or whose parents can afford tutoring perform better. The kids who do well in MCPS would do well in any school system. It's not MCPS that generates the high performing kids. If it was, the achievement would be getting smaller.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ those are all great things, but people are complaining already about huge class sizes, lack of more magnets, etc... to address those things cost more $. If we want all these great things, we need to increase taxes.

Nothing above would cost more money. The ratios would stagger from lowest to highest based on grade need. The aide or paraeducator would spend more time in the lower 1-2 classes than the higher 1-2 classes. Nothing about that cost more money.

And the county does not need more magnets. Magnets are a waste of resources and their only goal for MCPS is to bring up test scores in otherwise failing schools. Any programs that are given to kids by sheer luck (after only knowing all the info you need) need to be removed. HGC, Magnets, IB, Immersion. They are tainted and unfair and extremely costly to run, to only benefit a very small percentage of kids. If they track the higher kids in each grade and give the exceptional ones some challenging work above that and have teachers teaching to them (instead of a quick worksheet and reading chapter books at a desk 70% of the day) they wouldn't need these programs. All high schools offer AP programs. They don't need the Magnet and IB diploma programs. Time to get back to teaching EVERY kid a good education.

I disagree. I love that MCPS has magnets. You'd see a lot of the smarter kids move out of mcps if they got rid of magnets. I certainly wouldn't have moved here if there weren't magnet programs. I don't agree with tracking at a young age. It pigeon holes them.

Hate to break it to you but only a small percentage get into Magnets and it isn't always the smartest kids. If you moved here for a magnet program, there are 100 more sending their kids to private because the basic education sucks and lacks any direct teaching to certain levels in younger grades. Most privates in the area have huge wait lists. If MCPS was so great wouldn't everyone just go there? if the Magnets are so great, why not offer a smaller version in every middle school? You are looking at it only from your side. I had a child in a HGC. It was terribly long day for them just to get a little extra. It wasn't anything that great. And she lost her home school friendships and decided no magnet. They aren't appealing to everyone and it really pushes a child away from their neighborhood and home school. Tiger moms don't seem to care but it happens.

[Anonymous]

If MCPS was so great wouldn't everyone just go there? if the Magnets are so great, why not offer a smaller version in every middle school?

Because then they would not be great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ those are all great things, but people are complaining already about huge class sizes, lack of more magnets, etc... to address those things cost more $. If we want all these great things, we need to increase taxes.

Nothing above would cost more money. The ratios would stagger from lowest to highest based on grade need. The aide or paraeducator would spend more time in the lower 1-2 classes than the higher 1-2 classes. Nothing about that cost more money.

And the county does not need more magnets. Magnets are a waste of resources and their only goal for MCPS is to bring up test scores in otherwise failing schools. Any programs that are given to kids by sheer luck (after only knowing all the info you need) need to be removed. HGC, Magnets, IB, Immersion. They are tainted and unfair and extremely costly to run, to only benefit a very small percentage of kids. If they track the higher kids in each grade and give the exceptional ones some challenging work above that and have teachers teaching to them (instead of a quick worksheet and reading chapter books at a desk 70% of the day) they wouldn't need these programs. All high schools offer AP programs. They don't need the Magnet and IB diploma programs. Time to get back to teaching EVERY kid a good education.

I disagree. I love that MCPS has magnets. You'd see a lot of the smarter kids move out of mcps if they got rid of magnets. I certainly wouldn't have moved here if there weren't magnet programs. I don't agree with tracking at a young age. It pigeon holes them.

Hate to break it to you but only a small percentage get into Magnets and it isn't always the smartest kids. If you moved here for a magnet program, there are 100 more sending their kids to private because the basic education sucks and lacks any direct teaching to certain levels in younger grades. Most privates in the area have huge wait lists. If MCPS was so great wouldn't everyone just go there? if the Magnets are so great, why not offer a smaller version in every middle school? You are looking at it only from your side. I had a child in a HGC. It was terribly long day for them just to get a little extra. It wasn't anything that great. And she lost her home school friendships and decided no magnet. They aren't appealing to everyone and it really pushes a child away from their neighborhood and home school. Tiger moms don't seem to care but it happens.

My DC is in HGC. We decided not to apply to MS magnet for various reasons. I still like that MCPS has magnets. And they are great. That's why so many people apply, and some private school parents switch their kids to mcps magnets. Just because a program doesn't serve my kid, doesn't mean I want it to go away so that my kid can get better services. I think a good school district can offer programs for everyone, including the very smart kids. MCPS offers lower income area schools something extra by providing smaller class sizes, more funding, and more specialists. My DC isn't all that special, but pretty high-achieving. I think DC will be fine in a non W cluster, non magnet, non Title 1 school. Would it be great if MCPS could offer kids like DC more? Of course, but I'm realistic in that I know a school district has a fixed budget, and trying to spread it around is not that easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ those are all great things, but people are complaining already about huge class sizes, lack of more magnets, etc... to address those things cost more $. If we want all these great things, we need to increase taxes.

Nothing above would cost more money. The ratios would stagger from lowest to highest based on grade need. The aide or paraeducator would spend more time in the lower 1-2 classes than the higher 1-2 classes. Nothing about that cost more money.

And the county does not need more magnets. Magnets are a waste of resources and their only goal for MCPS is to bring up test scores in otherwise failing schools. Any programs that are given to kids by sheer luck (after only knowing all the info you need) need to be removed. HGC, Magnets, IB, Immersion. They are tainted and unfair and extremely costly to run, to only benefit a very small percentage of kids. If they track the higher kids in each grade and give the exceptional ones some challenging work above that and have teachers teaching to them (instead of a quick worksheet and reading chapter books at a desk 70% of the day) they wouldn't need these programs. All high schools offer AP programs. They don't need the Magnet and IB diploma programs. Time to get back to teaching EVERY kid a good education.

+1

Having these programs cost more money to everyone for only a small benefit to a small group of kids. I think of all the programs the immersions are the first to go. Most families only use it to get out of their home school.

[Anonymous]

Can you define extremely costly to run? I think they largest cost is busses. Also, how are you measuring the "small" benefit to the kids involved?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you define extremely costly to run? I think they largest cost is busses. Also, how are you measuring the "small" benefit to the kids involved?

Not PP. Of course it's impossible to quantify the benefit.

From the choice study report, there are 884 students at HGCs the admin budget (yes, bussing is the largest component but also district staff) is 1.27 million. That's $1400 extra per student per year. The additional cost of immersion is more like $1000 per student per year. For reference, the MCPS cost per ES student is $14,500. Numbers are 2015 fiscal year.

[Anonymous]

I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

I pointed that out many pages ago. DCUM rarely lets facts stand in the way of a good MCPS complaint!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

Shouldn't parents teach their kids how to tell time? I am confused how it is exclusively the schools responsibility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

I have a child in 1st and there is no telling time yet. Just a few weeks yet so we shall see

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

I pointed that out many pages ago. DCUM rarely lets facts stand in the way of a good MCPS complaint!

My second grader knows how to tell time now -- yay! -- but doesn't understand fractions at all, and still has no idea why a quarter -- 25 cents -- is called a quarter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. Telling time is being taught now in the 4th quarter in first grade. At least, it's in the curriculum, so it should be taught. PPs are correct in that fractions are taught first, then telling time. Forgive me if this has been pointed out already--I haven't read through the whole thread. . -MCPS 1st grade teacher

I pointed that out many pages ago. DCUM rarely lets facts stand in the way of a good MCPS complaint!

My second grader knows how to tell time now -- yay! -- but doesn't understand fractions at all, and still has no idea why a quarter -- 25 cents -- is called a quarter.

Why don't you teach them??