Give me constructive advice on how to help my middle schooler in English

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Pp, can you expand on this? Which are really strong here? My kids are actually total rule followers and very respectful of their teachers - if their teachers ask them to do something, they will absolutely follow it to a T and not shirk at all. Virtual school was completely fine for them except the missed social aspect. I'd need something with a live teacher on zoom who somehow enforces accountability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to first ask yourself what constitutes a challenging novel and Why? You clearly have a problem with what they would choose to read, Why? And then what is the purpose of the reading? Are you trying to get them consume information, learn about a specific topic, or read for enjoyment.

Also reading the Lighting Thief and Hunger Games in third or fourth grade doesn’t mean actual literary analysis was done of the novels at that time.

I'd like them to analyze and understand complex plots. I'd like their vocabulary to improve. I'd like their own writing to improve. I'd like for them to think.

My kid hates to read and always has. But he likes current events. So I chose selective news articles for him to read and discuss with me. They are relatively short. But some papers, like Reuters, NYT, Wall Street Journal, write at a fairly high lexile level.

http://cdn.lexile.com/m/cms_page_media/135/Text%20Complexity%20of%20English%20International%20Newspapers_1.pdf

https://ttac.gmu.edu/archive/telegram/article-1

And if they still let you, keep reading to them. Choose some harder texts. Get some audio books. These expose kids to higher-level vocabulary and sentence structure.

Try a subscription to the Week Jr. My kid loves it and provides lots of conversation fodder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Thank you for this.

We do AoPS but hadn’t heard about some of the others. Not the OP, but I’ll look into these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Pp, can you expand on this? Which are really strong here? My kids are actually total rule followers and very respectful of their teachers - if their teachers ask them to do something, they will absolutely follow it to a T and not shirk at all. Virtual school was completely fine for them except the missed social aspect. I'd need something with a live teacher on zoom who somehow enforces accountability.

Which subject(s) do you want? Are they gifted, or advanced in one or more subject(s)? Do you want something supplemental/enrichment or a full course on a school subject complete with all the work and time commitments of a full course or a full course on a topic unlikely to be covered in school? What's your budget? What ages/grades are your children?

[Anonymous]

I share your gripe though we are not in MCPS and for a different reason: often if the kids aren’t assigned classics at school they never read it.
I am afraid there is little one can do. The overall trend is towards contemporary authors (often with an agenda).

[Anonymous]

"which are really strong here?" -> depends on what you mean by "here". Different are strong in different subjects, and of course if you're willing to pay more then, in general, you'll get a better experience. At the top end there's one on one tutoring, where Bloom's two sigma effect comes into play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Thank you for this.

We do AoPS but hadn’t heard about some of the others. Not the OP, but I’ll look into these.

PP here. AoPS is the best in math for most gifted kids if you're looking to go deep rather than accelerate. They have text-based online classes (and a self-paced prealgebra and algebra 1 class) at https://artofproblemsolving.com/school and more expensive live video classes at https://virtual.aopsacademy.org/. If your kid really wants to go deep into math competitions and you're willing to pay, check out AlphaStar and AwesomeMath. If you want acceleration, check out mathacademy.com (self-paced). If you don't like competition math and want something more like higher level math but accessible to a gifted elementary or middle schooler, check out EMF math. If you're worried about time investment and want enrichment that won't exhaust a kid already doing math in school, check out mrmathonline.com (very affordable) and imacs enrichment classes.

[Anonymous]

This thread is about English, not math. MCPS has a variety of levels in math for middle school. Unfortunately, it has only one level for Enlish in most schools (except for the humanities magnets).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is about English, not math. MCPS has a variety of levels in math for middle school. Unfortunately, it has only one level for Enlish in most schools (except for the humanities magnets).

That’s pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Pp, can you expand on this? Which are really strong here? My kids are actually total rule followers and very respectful of their teachers - if their teachers ask them to do something, they will absolutely follow it to a T and not shirk at all. Virtual school was completely fine for them except the missed social aspect. I'd need something with a live teacher on zoom who somehow enforces accountability.

Which subject(s) do you want? Are they gifted, or advanced in one or more subject(s)? Do you want something supplemental/enrichment or a full course on a school subject complete with all the work and time commitments of a full course or a full course on a topic unlikely to be covered in school? What's your budget? What ages/grades are your children?

Op here.. kids going into 6th and 8th. They are both gifted. We opted out of both math/Humanities magnets (which they were both offered seats at) because we didn't want the commute and also they had good friends. Second guessing ourselves on the Humanities front now I guess. We want English and supplemental. Something like a book club with some rigor/analysis on text analysis and writing about the books. Ideally a class once a week (2 hrs) and reading/hw on the side. Fwiw Ms English is so dumb that my older kid routinely knocks out the required assignment in class and then uses the extra time to start her math hw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried CTY? They would be in class with other high performing peers which could get them out of the rut. My poor kid was in the dumbed down curriculum and became catatonic by the end of the school year, producing mediocre work. Being around kids who are at their same level might snap them out of that.

CTY is overpriced. If you're willing to go online and have gifted kids, there are better options like AoPS, NUMATS, Davidson, Athena's Academy, Astra Nova, Cresco Nova, Synthesis, Northwestern GLL, Eclipse Academy, Online G3, Stanford OHS, Lukeion, and CLRC. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/online-gifted-learning-options/

Pp, can you expand on this? Which are really strong here? My kids are actually total rule followers and very respectful of their teachers - if their teachers ask them to do something, they will absolutely follow it to a T and not shirk at all. Virtual school was completely fine for them except the missed social aspect. I'd need something with a live teacher on zoom who somehow enforces accountability.

Which subject(s) do you want? Are they gifted, or advanced in one or more subject(s)? Do you want something supplemental/enrichment or a full course on a school subject complete with all the work and time commitments of a full course or a full course on a topic unlikely to be covered in school? What's your budget? What ages/grades are your children?

Op here.. kids going into 6th and 8th. They are both gifted. We opted out of both math/Humanities magnets (which they were both offered seats at) because we didn't want the commute and also they had good friends. Second guessing ourselves on the Humanities front now I guess. We want English and supplemental. Something like a book club with some rigor/analysis on text analysis and writing about the books. Ideally a class once a week (2 hrs) and reading/hw on the side. Fwiw Ms English is so dumb that my older kid routinely knocks out the required assignment in class and then uses the extra time to start her math hw.

I see this so much. People stick with mediocre public school because they want convenience and like the social aspect.

Well, your kids have friends and you have a short commute, but they can’t write.

I feel sorry for your kids but not you.

[Anonymous]

To the OP- If you want your children to develop thinking skills which will support literary analysis, consider supplementing the Lightning Thief by reading a book of Greek myths (can be after they reread Percy Jackson), and discuss how they thought the author reimagined some of them. Have them anticipate the 2024 Disney Plus series—what details are important for the filmmakers to keep? What makes them say that? Where else have they seen references to myths? What is familiar? Different? Maybe have them watch the Shazaam movie that came out this year and ask if they see any overlap. You do not need a tutor for this. Download audiobooks for the car that the entire family listens to at the same time so you can have informal conversations about the stories. You might find that you and they make and get references to these stories in daily life.

Turn off screens for longer stretches of time. Avoid making disparaging remarks about the books, the schools, and/or their teachers within earshot of your children. Making snide comments will backfire and is akin to shooting them in the foot.

Be mindful of your own vocabulary. The more words and phrases you use, they more they will hear and recognize as they read.

Your children are lucky to have you invested in this way!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to first ask yourself what constitutes a challenging novel and Why? You clearly have a problem with what they would choose to read, Why? And then what is the purpose of the reading? Are you trying to get them consume information, learn about a specific topic, or read for enjoyment.

Also reading the Lighting Thief and Hunger Games in third or fourth grade doesn’t mean actual literary analysis was done of the novels at that time.

I'd like them to analyze and understand complex plots. I'd like their vocabulary to improve. I'd like their own writing to improve. I'd like for them to think.

Sounds like you want a tutor.

NP — you realize that’s what kids are supposed to learn in school, right?

. You realize this is MS and not HS. Also these are preteens/teens and it’s summer. Just because they would rather do other things right now doesn’t mean they are incapable of analyzing a text. Nor does it mean they won’t consume more books and text as adults.

OP is saying her kids aren’t learning these skills in school, not that they simply aren’t interested in reading.

Actually what OP said was the kids don’t have an interest in reading in particular the books she chose. There is no mention of their ability to analyze a text. There is an assumption that because they read a lot as little kids and because the parents read, that her tweens/teens would want to read also. However, this is not always true. Particular at that age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have to first ask yourself what constitutes a challenging novel and Why? You clearly have a problem with what they would choose to read, Why? And then what is the purpose of the reading? Are you trying to get them consume information, learn about a specific topic, or read for enjoyment.

Also reading the Lighting Thief and Hunger Games in third or fourth grade doesn’t mean actual literary analysis was done of the novels at that time.

I'd like them to analyze and understand complex plots. I'd like their vocabulary to improve. I'd like their own writing to improve. I'd like for them to think.

Sounds like you want a tutor.

NP — you realize that’s what kids are supposed to learn in school, right?

. You realize this is MS and not HS. Also these are preteens/teens and it’s summer. Just because they would rather do other things right now doesn’t mean they are incapable of analyzing a text. Nor does it mean they won’t consume more books and text as adults.

OP is saying her kids aren’t learning these skills in school, not that they simply aren’t interested in reading.

Actually what OP said was the kids don’t have an interest in reading in particular the books she chose. There is no mention of their ability to analyze a text. There is an assumption that because they read a lot as little kids and because the parents read, that her tweens/teens would want to read also. However, this is not always true. Particular at that age.

Umm, she says they can’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is about English, not math. MCPS has a variety of levels in math for middle school. Unfortunately, it has only one level for Enlish in most schools (except for the humanities magnets).

That’s pathetic.

Agree. It’s incredibly frustrating. No differentiation in MS. Our non-W middle school puts every kids in Advanced English and the class is simply terrible.