Advice Needed - 1st Grader in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"This is why we need smaller class sizes in k-2. Until that happens there cannot be more meaningful change. Research the candidates and vote for less testing and smaller class size in early elementary."

That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue here. Dc is in a focus school with at most 20 kids in k - 2 classes. The problem is the lack of differentiation. FCPS may not be awesome at it for non- AAP kids but at least they do SOMETHING. MCPS is just refusing to do anything to let kids differentiate in math before 4th.

They used to differentiate. The easy math that is taught in 1st was taught in K and then by 1st, they were all separated into math classes based on ability. Enrichment, grade level, below grade level. By 5th there was 4 different levels offered. But when you have more and more poor minorities that speak little English coming into your district and falling behind, you must dumb it down. So MCPS claimed the smart kids were overwhelmed which was BS. They took away the pathway for the brightest kids so they could help (teach) the bottom kids. That is why they are in mixed classes and exceleration is no longer allowed. Just 5+ years ago kids could move to the next grade for math if there wasn't enough in their class. They also split classes. In 5th grade there was 6th and 7th grade advanced math in one class. My DC is in Algebra 2/Trig Honors in 9th grade at her private school. That pathway is now closed off in MCPS. But all of her friends that took this pathway in ES and then moved onto public or private are excelling in math, they aren't overwhelmed. Most are in IB, Magnet,or private at this point. And to think my youngest does not that opportunity in public ES really bothers me. She is just as smart,if not smarter, and she will be held back for the next 4 years.

A teacher's job is no longer to teach her class. It is to pass standardized testing to show that 2.0 is working. They hate the curriculum as much as you do. I highly recommend private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So MCPS claimed the smart kids were overwhelmed which was BS.

The MCPS math teachers disagree with you. What makes you more of an authority about it than they are?

Also, please keep in mind that GRADE LEVEL math gets you to AP Calculus A/B in 12th grade. You may consider that "held back". I don't.

[Anonymous]

My 1st grader scored in the 99% on map-m as well. While I plan to ask about differentiation at his conference, im not too concerned at this point. He's still learning things in their daily math block - not so much the basic things like skip counting and simple addition and subtraction, which he mastered on his own long ago, but different strategies to decompose and represent numbers that serve him well whatever level he is at (thanks 2.0!). We supplement at home, in that we give him math challenges to figure out in daily life as they arise, which he loves, and he incorporates numbers and measurement into his play all the time. No worksheets or the like to push him ahead, which would accomplish little if he'll get the same later in school, but lots of opportunities to build, set up fake stores, manage his real money, figure out fractions for cooking, etc. So far, he's thriving, picking up great critical thinking skills, and obviously continuing to learn considering his test skills. There's plenty of time in his future to learn formal strategies for long division, and I'm glad he'll have a really strong foundation when he gets there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My goal is to make sure my child is being challenged and is learning at school. This child is extremely good at math, and the current work is too easy. (That would not be the case for my other DC, btw.) Yes, I can and will do my best to supplement the work/homework at home during evenings/weekends. But I do not have experience with this, and I feel like I'll basically be home-schooling my kid in math. I'm also frustrated because I believe this is the responsibility of her ES. Moreover, the more DC studies higher-level/challenging math work at home, the easier and easier the work will become at school.

From what I've heard, MCPS will not allow students to participate in a higher level class (i.e., second grade math class), which was allowed prior to MCPS curriculum 2.0.

The reason I am asking about an assessment is: 1) this hopefully will let us (parents, teacher) know whether DC is truly accelerated in math (or other subjects) or on par with peers; and 2) if the answer is yes, help me persuade the school (teacher, principal) to offer DC a level of learning that's more suitable.

Lastly, DC is in the "highest accelerated" group in the class. Still, the teacher must teach to the lowest common denominator, even in that accelerated group. I'm not saying my DC is a genius, but if as an example you *knew* that your kid was proficient at a 2nd or 3rd grade level in math, would you really want your DC to sludge through an entire year doing 1st grade math?

Sorry OP. Your note reminds me so much of my frustration when I first moved my child into a "top performing" MCPS ES. Well, actually, we had one fantastic year (this was the year right before curriculum 2.0 was rolled out. The kids were challenged, the school allowed kids to go to a different grade for math if they were up to it (that was great), tests were graded and returned, reports on progress happened pretty regularly. And then…post-curriculum 2.0, it was a disaster. All the acceleration stopped cold. So, kids who were accelerated the year before were suddenly placed "on grade level" -- which in my DC's case, meant doing work he had done 2-3 years prior. No differentiation meant the 1 teacher teaching 1 level of math had to attend the the vastly different needs of the 30 kids. Oh, and for good measure, the tests and quizzes never came home (it was like pulling teeth to get any info about the work or progress of any kind). Talking to the (also-frustrated) teacher was like talking to a wall b/c despite the teacher-frustrations, they had to toe the party line and talk about things like "creating number sense" and other BS.

Well, in our case, we moved my child to the HGC -- that was a god-send! Much more rigor and challenge. The MCPS line is that the HGC math is the same as everywhere else, but that's not the case. The kids are all high achieving and they push each other -- and the teachers are amazing. And, now, we moved out of the county and are at a private school. What they've done to the curriculum in MCPS is shameful. Sadly, we learned, it is impossible to fight MCPS as a parent (or even as a large group of parents).

Wish I had something better to suggest, but maybe consider leaving the system. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"This is why we need smaller class sizes in k-2. Until that happens there cannot be more meaningful change. Research the candidates and vote for less testing and smaller class size in early elementary."

That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue here. Dc is in a focus school with at most 20 kids in k - 2 classes. The problem is the lack of differentiation. FCPS may not be awesome at it for non- AAP kids but at least they do SOMETHING. MCPS is just refusing to do anything to let kids differentiate in math before 4th.

They used to differentiate. The easy math that is taught in 1st was taught in K and then by 1st, they were all separated into math classes based on ability. Enrichment, grade level, below grade level. By 5th there was 4 different levels offered. But when you have more and more poor minorities that speak little English coming into your district and falling behind, you must dumb it down. So MCPS claimed the smart kids were overwhelmed which was BS. They took away the pathway for the brightest kids so they could help (teach) the bottom kids. That is why they are in mixed classes and exceleration is no longer allowed. Just 5+ years ago kids could move to the next grade for math if there wasn't enough in their class. They also split classes. In 5th grade there was 6th and 7th grade advanced math in one class. My DC is in Algebra 2/Trig Honors in 9th grade at her private school. That pathway is now closed off in MCPS. But all of her friends that took this pathway in ES and then moved onto public or private are excelling in math, they aren't overwhelmed. Most are in IB, Magnet,or private at this point. And to think my youngest does not that opportunity in public ES really bothers me. She is just as smart,if not smarter, and she will be held back for the next 4 years.

A teacher's job is no longer to teach her class. It is to pass standardized testing to show that 2.0 is working. They hate the curriculum as much as you do. I highly recommend private.

This is exactly where taking the compacted math track in 4th grade would put a 9th grader in MCPS today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: No differentiation meant the 1 teacher teaching 1 level of math had to attend the the vastly different needs of the 30 kids.

That is how it worked when I was in elementary school in the 1970s. We had math groups, just like we had reading groups. This is not some novel idea unique to Curriculum 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"This is why we need smaller class sizes in k-2. Until that happens there cannot be more meaningful change. Research the candidates and vote for less testing and smaller class size in early elementary."

That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue here. Dc is in a focus school with at most 20 kids in k - 2 classes. The problem is the lack of differentiation. FCPS may not be awesome at it for non- AAP kids but at least they do SOMETHING. MCPS is just refusing to do anything to let kids differentiate in math before 4th.

They used to differentiate. The easy math that is taught in 1st was taught in K and then by 1st, they were all separated into math classes based on ability. Enrichment, grade level, below grade level. By 5th there was 4 different levels offered. But when you have more and more poor minorities that speak little English coming into your district and falling behind, you must dumb it down. So MCPS claimed the smart kids were overwhelmed which was BS. They took away the pathway for the brightest kids so they could help (teach) the bottom kids. That is why they are in mixed classes and exceleration is no longer allowed. Just 5+ years ago kids could move to the next grade for math if there wasn't enough in their class. They also split classes. In 5th grade there was 6th and 7th grade advanced math in one class. My DC is in Algebra 2/Trig Honors in 9th grade at her private school. That pathway is now closed off in MCPS. But all of her friends that took this pathway in ES and then moved onto public or private are excelling in math, they aren't overwhelmed. Most are in IB, Magnet,or private at this point. And to think my youngest does not that opportunity in public ES really bothers me. She is just as smart,if not smarter, and she will be held back for the next 4 years.

A teacher's job is no longer to teach her class. It is to pass standardized testing to show that 2.0 is working. They hate the curriculum as much as you do. I highly recommend private.

This is exactly where taking the compacted math track in 4th grade would put a 9th grader in MCPS today.

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

+1 And if you talk to upper grade math teachers, they will tell you that too many kids were skipped too quickly pre 2.0. There are some older threads on here where parents were complaining about the same thing. What a parent thinks about their kids' math ability is not always the same as what a teacher thinks about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

+1 And if you talk to upper grade math teachers, they will tell you that too many kids were skipped too quickly pre 2.0. There are some older threads on here where parents were complaining about the same thing. What a parent thinks about their kids' math ability is not always the same as what a teacher thinks about it.

There is also acceleration possible if they enter the magnet. The test doesn't require anything beyond knowledge of Algebra and students will be accelerated into a Math Analysis/Pre Calc or higher when they enter in 9th. So for those few who are truly ahead in understanding there will be options. Being ahead in course count is not being ahead in understanding. Ages ago, I failed Algebra I in eighth grade after always being very good at math. That worked out wonderfully for me, I re-took it in summer school solidified my knowledge but ended up on a track that emphasized trig, and never made it Calc in HS. But every placement test from there on required a solid understanding of algebra and trig which I had. I placed into honors calc in college and majored in math/physics without issue. These days there are no shortage of opportunities to take advanced classes in HS but most really are taught better in college. AP is great for avoiding a large survey class outside ones major, but for something the student truly cares about it's better to go a little slower and learn it college where instruction is more nuanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

+1 And if you talk to upper grade math teachers, they will tell you that too many kids were skipped too quickly pre 2.0. There are some older threads on here where parents were complaining about the same thing. What a parent thinks about their kids' math ability is not always the same as what a teacher thinks about it.

Then the teacher fails them and they repeat instead of move on. Simple

[Anonymous]

Get a grip. Your child is in a public elementary school. If you think that the curriculum is too easy for her, you can homeschool school her. There are plenty of math workbooks that she can use at home if she wants to challenge herself (I like Saxon Math -- but it is old school, not new math).

If you think that the teacher can give every child in the class the same amount of attention you expect for your daughter, you are seriously underestimating the workload of a classroom teacher.

Humility is a great thing to learn.

[Anonymous]

Someone is feeling cheated because their children can't take Algebra 1 in 6th grade?!

The standard in Montgomery County is now Algebra 1 in 8th grade. But don't blame Common Core! Oh no, according to Common Core standards, Algebra 1 is a high school class: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/HSA/introduction/

So MoCo is ahead of the national standard, and in fact allows students to advance one year earlier to 7th grade with compacted math. I really think this is fine. If you don't, send your kid to CTY or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip. Your child is in a public elementary school. If you think that the curriculum is too easy for her, you can homeschool school her. There are plenty of math workbooks that she can use at home if she wants to challenge herself (I like Saxon Math -- but it is old school, not new math).

If you think that the teacher can give every child in the class the same amount of attention you expect for your daughter, you are seriously underestimating the workload of a classroom teacher.

Humility is a great thing to learn.

Which is why most people recommend private school for advanced kids. Public teachers have 30 kids and you are lucky if 20 of them speak English.

[Anonymous]

I had a child that was tested in K and moved to 2nd grade math in 1st. Then in 3rd, he moved to 5th grade math. By 5th he was in 7th grade/IM and he stayed in his ES the entire time. We refused HGC because the commute was way too long.

Even if you want want you wait out the boring lower school math to compacted math, you have to be bussed to a middle school. Just another thing the smarter kids get dissed on. They have to get bussed to HGC if they want to do that. And now if they want to take a math class above the norm, they have to get bussed to a middle school in the morning before school even starts. I much preferred the way prior to 2.0. They teach to the masses now and make it very hard to even want to advance.