Thoughts on DCI, Latin or BASIS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no textbooks

this was a response re DCI

virtually no textbooks at BASIS either, but no chrome books instead the Blocks make millions off their "curriculum" while kids take notes filling in the blanks from power point presentations. Almost an equal waste of teachers, but more quality control (and profit) in the curriculum for the for-profit Block organization which supplies DC and every other public charter with the curriculum. Private schools are straight up for profit so no lines have to be crossed or concealed. Still a better education in terms of middle school than Latin

the one exception is math, where they use Saxon to "meld in" Geometry which is why all kids who leave who have not taken Calculus have to take Geometry at Walls or Wilson, and Geometry is measured on the SAT so it seems worth a year.

Latin offers two years of Algebra I (7th and 8th) if you want to catch up you take Algebra II and Geometry in 9th grade
oddest system I had ever heard of before skipping Geometry
but my kid got a good score on the first AP Calc exam at BASIS in 10th grade - simply not possible at Latin or Wilson

[Anonymous]

^^ Things have changed - my BASIS 6th grader has textbooks for history, biology and math.

[Anonymous]

I work at a university and there is a distinct push to move away from textbooks for undergrad studies. I was skeptical at first until I saw a few core "open source" based courses presented to us. I now firmly believe that's where the future is headed and I'm not too weary about it, so long as there is a curriculum to teach and clear standards are set. Otherwise, it's a complete mess, with teachers running whatever they happen to come across through the copier.

Textbook companies have but themselves to blame for that development. They've sucked taxpayers and college students dry for way too long.

[Anonymous]

Agreed that not all classes need textbooks but teachers need to be really strong to make !

[Anonymous]

So, are latin parents happy with math instruction at latin

[Anonymous]

Something I do like at BASIS is that so long as they cover the required material for each class the teachers are free to design their own courses. Some newer teachers rely on materials used by others in the BASIS network but they have a lot more freedom than other teachers.

Of course this can be a problem if you get a bad teacher and my kids have had a couple of those. But the good ones love the freedom and it is part of what keeps them at the school.

[Anonymous]

Link below is interesting. Supports concerns of parents who don't want kids to be using phone at lunch, etc.

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/28/343735856/kids-and-screen-time-what-does-the-research-say

[Anonymous]

Another interesting article..

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2013/sep/26/children-reading-less-apps-games

[Anonymous]

What about literature classes? Are students reading on Chromebooks for those sorts of classes? Just trying to get a sense of what the next few years will look like. It is already such a struggle at home to limit screen time. What about schools like Deal? Are books just not used anymore in middle and high school? Obviously, I'm out of touch!

[Anonymous]

Latin parents, can you tell me more about the good/bad about math classes? thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Latin parents, can you tell me more about the good/bad about math classes? thanks

You should start a new thread - the Latin people abandoned this one a few weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

At Deal in 6th grade they still use actual books that they give them. They use computers in class for writing assignments but little else I think. Funny, I sometimes worry they don't do enough with technology - I guess the grass is always greener!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

Here is the link: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WLPCS-College-Acceptances-2015.pdf

I actually think the list is impressive, relative to where most of these kids would've ended up if they attended their IB school. Isn't it primarily low SES? Agree though that it'd be interesting to parse out college admissions results for high SES kids.

I agree that this list is impressive. What is PP looking for? Harvard or Yale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Latin does not have a very impressive list of college acceptances either. No idea of basis and DCI is too new.

Here is the link: http://latinpcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/WLPCS-College-Acceptances-2015.pdf

I actually think the list is impressive, relative to where most of these kids would've ended up if they attended their IB school. Isn't it primarily low SES? Agree though that it'd be interesting to parse out college admissions results for high SES kids.

I agree that this list is impressive. What is PP looking for? Harvard or Yale?

Then you must have low standards. It would be nice to see more colleges and universities in the top 50 (USNWR).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At Deal in 6th grade they still use actual books that they give them. They use computers in class for writing assignments but little else I think. Funny, I sometimes worry they don't do enough with technology - I guess the grass is always greener!

We believe DCI is on the right path: http://one-to-oneinstitute.org/research-overview