What’s a cram school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One side of me is really, really impressed at the investment of time, resources and effort.

The other side doesn't think it is possible to compare these kids to the ones that spent the summer helping their uncles weed lawns, paint houses, and do a thousand other handyman jobs that MCPS kids actually do to help their families pay the rent.

And both sides of me think that, for academic success, learning material ahead of time is definitely more beneficial than 'painting houses'.

Sorry you're not impressed. You many now go and donate a part of your flush investment portfolio to the college fund for poor teenage handymen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One side of me is really, really impressed at the investment of time, resources and effort.

The other side doesn't think it is possible to compare these kids to the ones that spent the summer helping their uncles weed lawns, paint houses, and do a thousand other handyman jobs that MCPS kids actually do to help their families pay the rent.

And both sides of me think that, for academic success, learning material ahead of time is definitely more beneficial than 'painting houses'.

Sorry you're not impressed. You many now go and donate a part of your flush investment portfolio to the college fund for poor teenage handymen.

And posters like this make me love the lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One side of me is really, really impressed at the investment of time, resources and effort.

The other side doesn't think it is possible to compare these kids to the ones that spent the summer helping their uncles weed lawns, paint houses, and do a thousand other handyman jobs that MCPS kids actually do to help their families pay the rent.

And both sides of me think that, for academic success, learning material ahead of time is definitely more beneficial than 'painting houses'.

Sorry you're not impressed. You many now go and donate a part of your flush investment portfolio to the college fund for poor teenage handymen.

Well.... that is pretty darned callous.

I had roofers come over a few years ago. One of my sons classmates was in the truck and schlepping stuff around. My kid was upstairs in his room studying while his classmate was helping patch our roof.

I try to remember that when people say that their kids "earned" some all on their own

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see cram schools referenced on many threads, including the current Magnet lottery thread. What’s a cram school? Are we taking outlets like Russian math and Kumon?

They don’t exist. It’s crazy people who are bitter and racist insinuating that Asian kids lack merit due to some imaginary “cheating” which oddly is just studying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One side of me is really, really impressed at the investment of time, resources and effort.

The other side doesn't think it is possible to compare these kids to the ones that spent the summer helping their uncles weed lawns, paint houses, and do a thousand other handyman jobs that MCPS kids actually do to help their families pay the rent.

And both sides of me think that, for academic success, learning material ahead of time is definitely more beneficial than 'painting houses'.

Sorry you're not impressed. You many now go and donate a part of your flush investment portfolio to the college fund for poor teenage handymen.

Well.... that is pretty darned callous.

I had roofers come over a few years ago. One of my sons classmates was in the truck and schlepping stuff around. My kid was upstairs in his room studying while his classmate was helping patch our roof.

I try to remember that when people say that their kids "earned" some all on their own

Wow. I don’t think you fully understand how demeaning you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see cram schools referenced on many threads, including the current Magnet lottery thread. What’s a cram school? Are we taking outlets like Russian math and Kumon?

They don’t exist. It’s crazy people who are bitter and racist insinuating that Asian kids lack merit due to some imaginary “cheating” which oddly is just studying.

Except they do exist. There are several that come to mind and are quite popular in Western moco. In VA they are so common that most of the kids who are admitted to TJ wouldn't have a had a chance without them. They even offer help with application essays these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My own opinion is that the phrase "cram school" typically refers to a tutoring program that is utilized by first generation immigrant families and are mainly advertised by word of mouth within particular immigrant communites (a plus is one that comes to mind that is popular with east asians).

Kids do these programs not just as test prep for the county magnat programs but also as an extracurricular activity. because it is popular with the parents of their social circles (and a better use of money than sports).

I would not characterize the franchise type places (Kumon, Mathnasium, Russian School of Math, etc.) as "cram schools".

Your racism is showing, Karen.

Kumon is the typical "cram school" because you do repetitive math worksheets. There is not much "teaching" in these schools and they do not explain concepts. Same for Mathnasium. Russian school of Math is a group of Russians teaching Math. Most advanced Math students like AOPS (Art of Problem Solving) Academy. Then there are several individuals that tutor and prep students for all kinds of Math competitons.

IMHO an enrichment school is more akin to the summer programs at Dr. Li, that teaches geography, history, Math, science and English writing that is not covered in MCPS. Similarly, APlus teaches a "magnet" level Math and English curriculum (different than MCPS), which tests in students who are GT. They also have an English creative writing component that is pretty great. Of course, these two schools were also pretty great in SAT and ACT types of prep courses that is very similar to the SAT prep courses taught in Montgomery College (community college). Their so called magnet admissions test prep do repetitive worksheets for COGAT and SAT. If you have an average student who does not know the content, these prep will not get your child in these programs. Your money is better spent in hiring a private tutor (or teach yourself) and fill in any knowledge gap.

C2 is one of the best tutoring centers (value for money) for students who are struggling or who want to do well in their classes in area private and public schools. They do well to fill in the gaps in knowledge and also cover the curriculums that the teachers do not cover. Especially useful for AP exams because sometimes teachers in schools are not able to do justice to the curriculum.

I prefer teaching my kids myself as much as possible and using online resources. However, if I had to spend money, I would spend it on a tutor who can work one on one with my kid and teach they concepts, instead of a school like Kumon that only makes kids do hundreds of worksheets.

C2 and Doc Li are among the best examples of a cram school. I don't really like the term cram school nor am I against enrichment but let's just be honest about this.