math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My charter K has math every day but they have been working on shapes and counting to ten for three weeks. It's frustrating for my kid.

It’s not just about your kid.

I'm pretty sure I didn't say it was. I was answering a question and commenting on our experience. And 90 minutes of screen time 4 times a week plus daily assignments and an asynchronous lesson for three weeks has been a lot of repetition without variety. I imagine this would not be the same in person.

I understand curriculum and I understand the limits of distance learning. But but I do think I'm allowed to have opinions about it.

“It’s frustrating for my kid.” There are other kids in your snowflakes class kids who may find this level of math just right.

It is frustrating for my kid and has unfortunately become a behavioral issue for us. That is a statement of fact about our experience of math DL for K, which is the topic of this thread. I'm sure it isn't a universal experience, so that's why I didn't characterize it as such.

My kids in Prek4 was asked to count or clap to 4 last week. He chose to run away from the screen, because he was counting up to 100 last year. It's frustrating to see as a parent, and i'm also not expecting teachers to teach math 20 different ways to different students. I'm not sure what the solution is though, and i'm hoping they can differentiate in person more than they can in DL.

[Anonymous]

In my kid's K, kids keep interrupting the teacher to read the words on the screen when she's busy having them repeat rhymes ("don't worry about reading the words, i'll tell you what they say" "they say X, Y, Z" "ooh, if it started with a M then it would still rhyme and say whatever" "no, no, just repeat the rhymes i'm telling you") or to explain that the shaded 2 balls out of 5 balls don't just show that the "secret parts" of 5 are 2 and 3, but also is showing 2/5ths of the balls. It's very frustrating to watch as a parent, because the teachers responses are so rote and the kids so clearly want to actually learn and she's killing that spark. Also, it shows it's not so much differentiation as no one in the class needs to learn how to count to 5 again...

[Anonymous]

If they are still using Eureka Math you can go onto the Eureka website and see exactly what the are learning. It sounds like what the curriculum requires. Remember CCSS. Have to teach them! Teachers can't go all willy nilly you know.

Anonymous wrote:We are also at a Capitol Hill DCPS and I could have written almost this exact post. Math the first two weeks had them differentiating between socks (like “one has stripes and one doesn’t”); almost exactly what my PK3er is doing at the same school. We tried Zearn and my kid was bored in minutes. 5 exercises in a row of counting to 5? No initial assessment at all? I emailed the teacher and she bumped us to the last K unit, which is 1-20 (as opposed to 1-5). It’s all still remedial, but not bad for fluency so I’m having my kid race through it as quickly as possible like it’s a game. I am hopeful things might improve once we reach 1st grade. We’ve done an hour over 3 days and she’s about half way through this unit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my kid's K, kids keep interrupting the teacher to read the words on the screen when she's busy having them repeat rhymes ("don't worry about reading the words, i'll tell you what they say" "they say X, Y, Z" "ooh, if it started with a M then it would still rhyme and say whatever" "no, no, just repeat the rhymes i'm telling you") or to explain that the shaded 2 balls out of 5 balls don't just show that the "secret parts" of 5 are 2 and 3, but also is showing 2/5ths of the balls. It's very frustrating to watch as a parent, because the teachers responses are so rote and the kids so clearly want to actually learn and she's killing that spark. Also, it shows it's not so much differentiation as no one in the class needs to learn how to count to 5 again...

Scripted curriculum. That's what happens when you have administrators who insist that teachers just stick to the script.

[Anonymous]

Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why there can’t be a Lexia equivalent for math. Way more engaging in terms of interface, builds in choice, levels with different themes, and an assessment to start! So much better!

DreamBox and Prodigy are similar approaches for math, with assessments and a progression through curriculum. DreamBox does more direct teaching, but my daughter likes the Prodigy story and game elements better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always feel bad for kindergarten parents. They’re unfamiliar with math education. Math will run 1-2 years behind where you feel it should...until your kid gets to pre-algebra. And along the way, you won’t even recognize the math they DO do!

Seriously?!?

I’ve been so frustrated with what my kindergartener is doing. I think she did more in preschool as a 3 year old than she’s done this past month. I’ve been thinking of homeschooling and my husband has had to talk me down. I was seriously hoping it was just because of distance learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

Students were giving manipulatives from what I understand. Besides everything is a manipulative. When I was a kid I used buttons and pennies. They are no different than the counters kids use in school. Use what you have at home. We counted snacks at snack time. Get creative and stop complaining about what the teacher is not doing. This was directed towards you specifically PP. It was just a general rant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

Students were giving manipulatives from what I understand. Besides everything is a manipulative. When I was a kid I used buttons and pennies. They are no different than the counters kids use in school. Use what you have at home. We counted snacks at snack time. Get creative and stop complaining about what the teacher is not doing. This was directed towards you specifically PP. It was just a general rant

When you say students were given manipulables, what kids do you mean? My PK3 and K DCPSers were not. It’s not that I couldn’t give them things to use, it’s that the teacher can’t — or at least doesn’t — do the same kind of exercises with them virtually. DL for this age group is idiotic. My kids are learning nothing except how to use Teams from DL. And they don’t even really mind it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why there can’t be a Lexia equivalent for math. Way more engaging in terms of interface, builds in choice, levels with different themes, and an assessment to start! So much better!

DreamBox and Prodigy are similar approaches for math, with assessments and a progression through curriculum. DreamBox does more direct teaching, but my daughter likes the Prodigy story and game elements better.

Are these available through DCPS?

[Anonymous]

I've heard several people say (teachers and parents) that their school has provided EVERYTHING including phonics materials. Perhaps it is just your school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

Students were giving manipulatives from what I understand. Besides everything is a manipulative. When I was a kid I used buttons and pennies. They are no different than the counters kids use in school. Use what you have at home. We counted snacks at snack time. Get creative and stop complaining about what the teacher is not doing. This was directed towards you specifically PP. It was just a general rant

When you say students were given manipulables, what kids do you mean? My PK3 and K DCPSers were not. It’s not that I couldn’t give them things to use, it’s that the teacher can’t — or at least doesn’t — do the same kind of exercises with them virtually. DL for this age group is idiotic. My kids are learning nothing except how to use Teams from DL. And they don’t even really mind it.

[Anonymous]

This is why the US as a whole is super behind in math! We are underballing our kids, starting them off so slowly and then wonder why we are so behind...

[Anonymous]

OK. Right!

Anonymous wrote:This is why the US as a whole is super behind in math! We are underballing our kids, starting them off so slowly and then wonder why we are so behind...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard several people say (teachers and parents) that their school has provided EVERYTHING including phonics materials. Perhaps it is just your school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

Students were giving manipulatives from what I understand. Besides everything is a manipulative. When I was a kid I used buttons and pennies. They are no different than the counters kids use in school. Use what you have at home. We counted snacks at snack time. Get creative and stop complaining about what the teacher is not doing. This was directed towards you specifically PP. It was just a general rant

When you say students were given manipulables, what kids do you mean? My PK3 and K DCPSers were not. It’s not that I couldn’t give them things to use, it’s that the teacher can’t — or at least doesn’t — do the same kind of exercises with them virtually. DL for this age group is idiotic. My kids are learning nothing except how to use Teams from DL. And they don’t even really mind it.

Our DCPS gave them math cubes and they use them in virtual classes often. Our school is also big on small groups -- that helped a LOT. My son doodles throughout the large group math class, but small group is actually challenging

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard several people say (teachers and parents) that their school has provided EVERYTHING including phonics materials. Perhaps it is just your school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math is now so dependent on manipuables in early elementary. I can see how this would be hard to transfer to Zoom.

Students were giving manipulatives from what I understand. Besides everything is a manipulative. When I was a kid I used buttons and pennies. They are no different than the counters kids use in school. Use what you have at home. We counted snacks at snack time. Get creative and stop complaining about what the teacher is not doing. This was directed towards you specifically PP. It was just a general rant

When you say students were given manipulables, what kids do you mean? My PK3 and K DCPSers were not. It’s not that I couldn’t give them things to use, it’s that the teacher can’t — or at least doesn’t — do the same kind of exercises with them virtually. DL for this age group is idiotic. My kids are learning nothing except how to use Teams from DL. And they don’t even really mind it.

Not mine either. I mean, we got a bag of random school supplies, but no manipulables...