Parents freaking out over 1st grade quizzes

[Anonymous]

Seems like all the parents (well, moms) are making their kids in the first grade cram for every spelling or math test there is. This seems so early for the pressure to start. I don't remember this when I was in first grade. Am I going to fail my child if I just stick to doing homework and trying to learn how to learn and not cram for the tests? Are parents like this outside of the DC area? Also, if we study like crazy for all the tests, there just isn't time for other stuff that might be just as important (e.g., music lessons or reading for pleasure or playing with Legos).

[Anonymous]

OP here again: Also, I am hoping my dc will find her/his own motivation to study for tests....

[Anonymous]

Which school is this? We don't have any quizzes or any spelling homework in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

FCPS has both spelling homework and quizzes in first grade -- kindergarten, too.

[Anonymous]

My DC is in a Vienna FCPS with a large number of advanced kids and there is no spelling homework or quizzes. Is this another school based decision?

[Anonymous]

It's ridiculous. Even if you assess, I wouldn't call it a test or a quiz. And doing so rings all the parent overachiever alarms. I'm so sorry, for you and the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS has both spelling homework and quizzes in first grade -- kindergarten, too.

Not true for our school, at least not so far (first grade).

[Anonymous]

We are in MoCo and the children do "privacy" worksheets. They fill out a worksheet and they get graded on it (ES, P,I,N or whatever it is now). Is this what you mean?

I never occurred to me to call it a test or a quiz. I do however help my child with the sight word spelling. But I definitely don't call it cramming.

[Anonymous]

My kids are in kindergarten, so we haven't hit tests yet, but I definetly remember my parents quizzing me on weekly spelling words when I was in elementary school, so I don't think it's some incredibly new thing.

[Anonymous]

3/4th grade is a lot different than k/1.

[Anonymous]

Dd had weekly spelling tests and quarterly math tests in 1st grade. We didn't freak out over them. We practiced the spelling words with her once or twice during the week. The math tests we never knew about until they were over. Her teacher was the one who would get the kids all worked up about doing well on the tests. It drove DH and I nuts. We actually complained to the principal about how stressed out the teacher was about the tests.

[Anonymous]

Well clearly it is a teacher decision or principal decision since other 1st grades in FCPS have no math or spelling tests beyond the tests FCPS posts on it's website for the entire school system.

[Anonymous]

What level of spelling words are they learning anyway in 1st grade?

[Anonymous]

Teachers stress kids out because principals stress teachers out, and there is someone above the principal stressing him/her out, too. When I was a teacher in FCPS we gave quizzes, tests and standardized assessments in first grade and the stakes were high for us. We had to track ever kid's results and submit them to a literacy coach sometimes. The standardized assessments were submitted to the administration and beyond. Teachers were so stressed out and competitive about the student scores that some actually cheated and gave kids higher scores than they deserved. Welcome to the age of accountability. This is why I will never go back to elementary school - making children cry over a spelling grade is NOT why I became a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What level of spelling words are they learning anyway in 1st grade?

We have a "first hundred sight words" list. Under each word there is a check list for read and spell. At some point my child will be tested on those.