Deal kid is floundering in private high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

You forgot that they read Beowulf. After that every book has a racial theme, with a primary emphasis on oppression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

You can learn to think about many kinds of books. I say this as someone who has a degree in literature and a degree in education. If the only literature you can have thoughts about are the classics, then I would suggest you have a marginal understanding of literature in general.

Who said “only?”
Anyway, your degrees in literature and education make any further discussion moot.
Down with the classics and carry on!

The implicit argument that was made was that these children will not learn to think by reading books about racism or oppression and that instead they would learn more from reading the "classics." I agree the training in interpretation could be improved, but you can usefully explicate basically any text. QED.

A facetious rejoinder to an asinine statement argued no such thing. “When you assume…” and all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

+1

Who needs to how to think, anyway?

Yeah because Huck Finn, Pride and Prejudice, The Hobbit, Little Women, Chronicles of Narnia are all great at teaching our 12 years olds how to think? PS, just because an author is black doesn’t mean your kids can’t find any value in the book. Do you know how you sound? SMH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book.

The kids at Deal are the ones that need to read these types of books. They’ll have plenty of time in high school and college to read the classics (that will have no major impact on the way they live the lives).

You can't be serious.

Dead ass…as the teens say.

[Anonymous]

My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

Who insisted upon that?!
No one, that’s who.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

Who insisted upon that?!
No one, that’s who.

The first PP that said “The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book”.

I’m sure they think Malcom X and Raisin in the Sun falls into the not advanced category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is just more work at a private school than a public, it doesn't mean your child isn't able to do it--they just need to get used to the volume. I do think that the volume of work prepares them more for college, but it does take a lot of fun out of the high school experience.

. Come on, such BS. Sine US cities offer far more HS rigor in the public system than DC. My alma mater, Boston Latin,is the HS sending the most grads to Ivies on a per capita basis, not a Top DC (or NYC) private. Spare us your misplaced snobbery, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is just more work at a private school than a public, it doesn't mean your child isn't able to do it--they just need to get used to the volume. I do think that the volume of work prepares them more for college, but it does take a lot of fun out of the high school experience.

. Come on, such BS. Sine US cities offer far more HS rigor in the public system than DC. My alma mater, Boston Latin,is the HS sending the most grads to Ivies on a per capita basis, not a Top DC (or NYC) private. Spare us your misplaced snobbery, PP.

This thread is local.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid just started at a Big3 for 9th and the summer reading was the Autobiography of Malcolm X.

A classic.

Exactly. But PPs insist that only white authors can write classics.

Currently at Deal,
6th graders are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
7th graders are reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
8th graders are reading Raisin in the Sun

Who insisted upon that?!
No one, that’s who.

The first PP that said “The books they read at Deal are not particularly advanced. And for some reason all the books are about racism or minority groups being oppressed. Like every single book”.

I’m sure they think Malcom X and Raisin in the Sun falls into the not advanced category.

I think the point is that these books don’t foster critical thinking. There is nothing to debate. There’s only one correct viewpoint. When the kids finish the book about segregated schools, they start a book about the Japanese internment camps. And when they finish that, they read about about the trail of tears. And then they learn about Jackie Robinson for the seventh consecutive year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is just more work at a private school than a public, it doesn't mean your child isn't able to do it--they just need to get used to the volume. I do think that the volume of work prepares them more for college, but it does take a lot of fun out of the high school experience.

. Come on, such BS. Sine US cities offer far more HS rigor in the public system than DC. My alma mater, Boston Latin,is the HS sending the most grads to Ivies on a per capita basis, not a Top DC (or NYC) private. Spare us your misplaced snobbery, PP.

LMAO. If you went to Boston Latin you know that that school is absolutely a special exception.

[Anonymous]

As a Deal teacher, we used to be able to set a lot of our own curriculum. Now more and more is being forced upon us from downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid left Deal and is at a top private high school (Sidwell/NCS/STA/Potomac).
He/she was a top student at Deal: As every quarter in every class grades 6-8, top math track (Algebra 2), 5's on every PARCC since 3rd grade. 99% on the 6th grade Deal PARCC in both ELA and math.

Started private high school and it is an absolute SH$%T show. Currently getting Ds. My kid doesn't know how to study, how to read and annotate dense text in rapid fashion. He/she gets dozens of pages
a night to read and process (across history, ELA, science). Homework in every subject each evening. Has already written 5 essays and 2 lab lengthy reports. Has frequent pop quizzes. One class has one every single day.
Has a sequence of exams in every class this week.

It just f-ing frustrates me how little my kid learned at Deal. How he never learned to think critically or write well. So much wasted time in the pandemic. No Wednesdays, 45 minute classes twice a week. The chicken has come home to roost because my
kid is now having his/her ass kicked. And it all counts for college grades. Things will get better but we're quitting activities, hiring tutors and trying to right the course.

Not sure what the point of my post is except---if you have a kid in DCPS. Supplement like a mad person. We did but not enough. His/her classmates who are at Wilson report that they haven't done any
homework yet in most classes because with the 4x4 schedule, many teachers are only teaching for half of it and little or no homework is given (and what is given is done in class). So if you're at Wilson
(I have another kid likely headed there) continue to supplement.

I'm just so frustrated. I'm sure it is somewhat better in typical times but the pandemic learning was just a mess. Those of us who have left DCPS are seeing clearly just how bad it was.

We had a similar experience, although our straight 'A' public school kid eventually righted the ship and managed to pull out good grades. The reason your kid is having trouble is because ALL privates schools( even the middle tier ones) teach these critical skills in middle school - how to annotate text; how to properly take notes; how to manage your time and grammar. They also train the kids to do homework - it isn't always a lot but they cover most subjects every night, even if it's just reading a chunk of text. Public schools don't do this - not because they are 'bad' but because they don't have time. I ended up volunteering for some activities at my kid's new private school and our HOS remarked one of the things that always surprised her about public school transfers was how horrible their writing was. And you are right, 'Wasted Wednesdays' for the last couple of years did not help. You are right to stop all activities and get tutors. However, at some point, you have to determine whether it makes sense to have tutors AND pay for private school. You should post this on the private school forum though, because here you are likely to get parents who are prickly and sensitive about your perception of Deal because that is the school their kid(s) attend.

+1. Middle school at private school is all about study skills, grammar, vocabulary, and writing skills. The schools are tough on this kids at the middle school level, when the grades don't matter for college applications. They get rid of bad habits so kids are ready for challenging work in high school.