High schoolers can’t write

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

See, this is where I get confused! I already spend at least 15 minutes helping them with their homework. Are you talking about an extra 15 minutes beyond that? That's really all that is needed? How do you condense all the subjects into 15 minutes?

The homework is a joke in elementary in less you got a good teacher. We did a variety of workbooks to supplement. Either one subject a day or mix it up. Even a few pages is better than nothing.

Are you saying they should skip the school homeowrk for outside workbooks? What are the good workbooks? There are so many. I don't want to pick one that isn't helpful. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a Mathnasium for writing. You can get your kid extra help in math--but unless you shell out big bucks for a tutor, it's harder for writing.

Try the institute for excellence in writing...it's affordable amd very systematic

Someone keeps suggesting this and it looks like it is a very Christian curriculum. No thank you.

Please fact check yourself. This is their website. https://iew.com/

Please find me a quote that says their curriculum is “very Christian.” They have some Christian themed units if you want to purchase those but the rest/mainstream is secular. News flash… You can be a Christian and write good curriculum. Just like you can be Muslim or Jewish or Atheist and write good curriculum. I did this program in HS and can’t remember anything “Christian” about it. Made me a much better writer. What makes it ok for you to shit on something just because of a founder’s religious belief?? Sounds like hate to me. What if someone said… nope, that writer is a Muslin… Boy you would be canceled so fast..

It may be a good curriculum if you share the beliefs but you should be able to understand why a Jewish or Muslim family would not want that as their curriculum.

I’m a conservadox jew. During the pandemic, I enrolled both kids in IEW courses. The methodology for writing was very methodical and scaffolded. Each week grew just a little bit and asked the student to do a little more. I added in the grammar module as well. There was a thesaurus of more interesting words and adjectives.

There are multiple texts that you could select. We used Fairy Tales and Fables, an older robotics text, and modern world history for my older child. I choose not to use the Narnia texts. Nothing in the texts we used was offensive to me as a Jewish family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a Mathnasium for writing. You can get your kid extra help in math--but unless you shell out big bucks for a tutor, it's harder for writing.

Try the institute for excellence in writing...it's affordable amd very systematic

Someone keeps suggesting this and it looks like it is a very Christian curriculum. No thank you.

Please fact check yourself. This is their website. https://iew.com/

Please find me a quote that says their curriculum is “very Christian.” They have some Christian themed units if you want to purchase those but the rest/mainstream is secular. News flash… You can be a Christian and write good curriculum. Just like you can be Muslim or Jewish or Atheist and write good curriculum. I did this program in HS and can’t remember anything “Christian” about it. Made me a much better writer. What makes it ok for you to shit on something just because of a founder’s religious belief?? Sounds like hate to me. What if someone said… nope, that writer is a Muslin… Boy you would be canceled so fast..

It may be a good curriculum if you share the beliefs but you should be able to understand why a Jewish or Muslim family would not want that as their curriculum.

What are some alternative non-religious writing curricula? Surely there is a middle ground between the crud MCPS provides and super religious options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When would they have time to provide feedback? 120+ students and one planning period per day. They have to prioritize planning so grading is done on their own time. They are required to use the rubric so that's what they use.

Well, they have to read the essay. They could add a sentence of feedback. It's really not asking that much. And to say you get 2.5/3 on this part of the rubric is not helpful - where did the student miss the mark? And when a student asks for feedback and is told no, the teacher is not performing his or her job at a basic level.

Seriously. When I was in public school in the 90s, I always got feedback on my writing. My teachers had the same number of kids in their classes as MCPS teachers do.

We need to stop making excuses or acting like teachers are dealing with situations that have never ever happened before.

Ask teachers what else they have to do in their planning time that teachers weren't doing when you went to school. Ask them how many of their students need specific accommodations and modifications for every single thing because they have IEPs, 504 plans, EL plans. Ask them how many planning periods they spend in parent meetings or data meetings of whatever BS meeting admin comes up with to justify their positions. My mom was a teacher when you were in school. She had a teacher' guide, textbook, and workbook for every subject she taught in ES. She didn't write lesson plans. That's what the teacher's guide was for. She didn't need to accommodate anyone. She walked in the door 10 minutes before her students and left 15 after. The only grading was weekly spelling tests (I usually graded them because it was fun) and an occasional math or science test. She rarely met with parents. She never had data meetings. She just taught.

Your mom didn’t have to accommodate anyone? She had zero special needs kids in her classes? I call BS. Kids in the 90s had ADHD and dyslexia, for one.

But at the end of the day, it’s patently ridiculous to pretend teachers have zero time to teach grammar or give feedback on student writing.

In the 90’s the many special needs kids were put in their own, separate class and taught by a sped teacher.

The kids with more minor needs like ADHD stayed in regular classrooms and were basically treated like non disabled kids …maybe given extra testing time but that’s easy for a teacher to implement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

Ahh yes. All of those Spanish speaking immigrant mothers should be responsible for proof reading their kids’ English papers.

Again, what exactly do you think the role of the *school* should be in terms of educating children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

I have a friend who is an MCPS teacher in lower elementary. She hates the new ELA curriculum. She told me the way they’re now forced to teach phonics makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a Mathnasium for writing. You can get your kid extra help in math--but unless you shell out big bucks for a tutor, it's harder for writing.

Try the institute for excellence in writing...it's affordable amd very systematic

Someone keeps suggesting this and it looks like it is a very Christian curriculum. No thank you.

Please fact check yourself. This is their website. https://iew.com/

Please find me a quote that says their curriculum is “very Christian.” They have some Christian themed units if you want to purchase those but the rest/mainstream is secular. News flash… You can be a Christian and write good curriculum. Just like you can be Muslim or Jewish or Atheist and write good curriculum. I did this program in HS and can’t remember anything “Christian” about it. Made me a much better writer. What makes it ok for you to shit on something just because of a founder’s religious belief?? Sounds like hate to me. What if someone said… nope, that writer is a Muslin… Boy you would be canceled so fast..

It may be a good curriculum if you share the beliefs but you should be able to understand why a Jewish or Muslim family would not want that as their curriculum.

Here are two secular options (at least secular to the best of my knowledge...)

Writing with Skill by Susan Wise Bauer/Well Trained Mind Press is very good. It's a complete writing curriculum and is very popular with homeschooling families (as are some things previously noted, e.g. Writing and Rhetoric, IEW).

https://welltrainedmind.com/c/series/writing-with-skill/

I also like many of the work-texts by Donald Killgallon.

https://www.heinemann.com/authors/837.aspx



What are some alternative non-religious writing curricula? Surely there is a middle ground between the crud MCPS provides and super religious options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When would they have time to provide feedback? 120+ students and one planning period per day. They have to prioritize planning so grading is done on their own time. They are required to use the rubric so that's what they use.

Well, they have to read the essay. They could add a sentence of feedback. It's really not asking that much. And to say you get 2.5/3 on this part of the rubric is not helpful - where did the student miss the mark? And when a student asks for feedback and is told no, the teacher is not performing his or her job at a basic level.

Seriously. When I was in public school in the 90s, I always got feedback on my writing. My teachers had the same number of kids in their classes as MCPS teachers do.

We need to stop making excuses or acting like teachers are dealing with situations that have never ever happened before.

Exactly! Stop making excuses for these teachers. If the teacher is already reading the child's assignment, why not provide constructive feedback.

If it's not for the magnet programs and IB programs, I wouldn't send my worst enemy to the regular program at MCPS. TOTAL JOKE! Kids are just being handed out As

Hate to break it to you, but my kid who did one of the non test in IB programs just failed his college freshman English class. He didn't learn how to write even in an IB program.

Troll.
College just started, how can he just failed his freshman English class?
You can't even troll properly, and hopefully, he's not as dumb as you.

He failed last semester, dumb ass.

When was last semester?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

I have a friend who is an MCPS teacher in lower elementary. She hates the new ELA curriculum. She told me the way they’re now forced to teach phonics makes no sense.

To clarify:

Does she think that teaching phonics is the way that doesn’t make sense?

or

Does she think the methods the new curriculum uses to teach phonics won’t be effective at teaching phonics?

Ed schools have denigrated phonics for generations, so a lot of the educational establishment, including teachers, still don’t believe that using phonics to teach reading makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish there was a Mathnasium for writing. You can get your kid extra help in math--but unless you shell out big bucks for a tutor, it's harder for writing.

Try the institute for excellence in writing...it's affordable amd very systematic

Someone keeps suggesting this and it looks like it is a very Christian curriculum. No thank you.

Boo Hoo .. you become a great writer but then you may end up in heaven when you die.

Aww man just spit out my tea and look like a crazy person sitting in Starbucks laughing out loud at my phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

I have a friend who is an MCPS teacher in lower elementary. She hates the new ELA curriculum. She told me the way they’re now forced to teach phonics makes no sense.

Can you briefly explain what it is/how it’s bad? We were planning to transfer to MCPS next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

I have a friend who is an MCPS teacher in lower elementary. She hates the new ELA curriculum. She told me the way they’re now forced to teach phonics makes no sense.

To clarify:

Does she think that teaching phonics is the way that doesn’t make sense?

or

Does she think the methods the new curriculum uses to teach phonics won’t be effective at teaching phonics?

Ed schools have denigrated phonics for generations, so a lot of the educational establishment, including teachers, still don’t believe that using phonics to teach reading makes sense.

No, she thinks the curriculum tackles phonics in a way that makes no sense.

She agrees phonics is critical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have been working with them at home OP. Everyone knows that.

Parents shouldn’t be the primary instructor for foundational skills like writing.

Yes they should. If you refuse to stop complaining. It’s part of parenting.

Are you a trained educator? What are you specifically doing with your kids at home to teach them to write properly?

You don’t need to be an educator to teach your kid the basics.

The problem is that this refrain comes up for everything- phonics, spelling, writing, history, math, etc. "You should have been working with your child at home." WTF are they doing all day at school if we're expected to do this much supplementing at night in addition to their assigned homework? If they're not even getting "the basics" at school than what is the point.

Exactly! I'm a prosecutor. I'm protecting you all from criminals committing crimes in your neighborhoods. Then I should also teach all school subjects when I get home? Do the teachers prosecute crimes when they get off of work? GTFOH.

I think you should be a parent and part of being a parent is education. It is your job to help educate your kids and ensure they get what they mean. If you are too busy to spend even 15 minutes a day you have no business having kids.

DP but if you think you can teach your kids all their subjects in even 15 minutes a day you have no business in this conversation.

As a PP said, if parents are expected to provide the education, WTF is the point of sending the kids to school all day?

In preschool and Es we heavily supplemented. If your kids are not strong in a subject and you will not help, stop complaining. We still help out older kids and proof read their papers.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question- but if your child is receiving mostly As and the teacher says they're doing great, how do you know what they aren't strong at? We supplemented our older DC with phonics before MCPS introduced RGR because the 3-cueing method wasn't working for him. But that was an obvious hole. As he gets older it is less clear to me what he needs- everyone says the curriculum is bad. I don't want to get to high school and find they can't write, but if they are already meeting MCPS grade-level benchmarks what benchmarks should I be using instead to identify the deficiencies?

Again, I'm really sorry if this is a dumb question. I did not grow up in an American educational system, where I went to school teachers were highly respected and did the teaching. My parents were not expected to do all this extra teaching at home....

The new ELA curriculum being implemented this year is very good. It was the one they retired at the end of last year that was bad.

I have a friend who is an MCPS teacher in lower elementary. She hates the new ELA curriculum. She told me the way they’re now forced to teach phonics makes no sense.

Can you briefly explain what it is/how it’s bad? We were planning to transfer to MCPS next year.

She told me that the way the curriculum presents groups of phonics concepts is haphazard and includes little explanation about why various digraphs and blends, for example, operate the way they do in English. She said the kids are expected to just spit out phonetic patterns without really understanding the concepts.

She said the accompanying texts the kids are supposed to read for the lesson include phonics concepts the kids haven’t learned yet, so they aren’t equipped to be able to read the text.

This is for 2nd grade, so they’re very much still in the process of learning to read.

[Anonymous]

Refer back to the "Is MCPS losing its edge?" thread.