4th grader sucks at math, goes to lackadaisical DCPS, what should we do about middle school?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Probably because the school isn't very good-- that part of OP's story is completely credible. Schools sometimes avoid identifying special needs because then they'd have to provide services. It's just a bit rich to send your child to a school you're unhappy with, refuse to talk with the teachers at all, and accuse the *school* of being lackadaisical and the *child* of being lazy. OP needs to see her role in this. |
Anonymous
The kid is not disruptive, not (yet) failing by DCPS standards, and the parent is too nice to make a fuss. Why would anyone make a referral? Like OP, I was once so frustrated and bewildered by my fourth grader’s apparent inability to do math, in stark contrast to the effortless ease experienced by siblings and other family members, that I could have written an ill-advised, intemperate screed about it on DCUM. You know what didn’t help at all? Drilling math facts. You know what did help? Diagnosis and understanding. How could I not suggest that OP look into this possibility? |
Anonymous
+1. Our Title 1 has math, ELA, and Spanish intervention specialists and is taking post-COVID learning loss VERY seriously, particularly for OP’s grades who missed K-2. There’s a small cohort of high achieving kids, and a very large cohort of kids that are really struggling. But not all schools are the same and I don’t doubt that OP’s school may let things slide if OP has never raised her concerns. Particularly for current fourth graders that did foundational years virtually, parents have to advocate and participate in getting their kids caught up. If OP’s school culture discourages that, it’s a bad school. Not because it’s a Title 1 or because OP’s kid is behind, because it’s a school more concerned with taking the easy way out and letting kids fail. |
Anonymous
| At my gs 9/10 very low farms rate school my kid was not reading at an advanced level which I knew he was capable of. He needed phonics and they don’t teach enough of it in their curriculum. I bought the phonics workbooks and we spent 20 min a day at home on it. Once he caught on we stopped. I think that’s just part of parenting that you have to see where your kid is struggling and add support for them. I don’t expect any public or private school to be able to do it all without parental support. |
Anonymous
|
Last year at Latin Cooper, many of the fifth graders were behind in math (according to my kid, take that fwiw). It is possible that either there is a disability or they didn't get the right education (math skills suffered most during COVID, you should have been doing SOMETHING with them, to be honest).
Like others said, you should not wait until middle school, if you possibly can. (If you do, I guess you can try your lack with Latin, as they have a smaller student body, and expect to be playing catch-up in fifth grade; however, I can't really say whether they are doing a decent job of that, plus it's hard to get a spot.) I'm seriously wondering why you don't want to help your kid at home. You don't have to hire a tutor, you can practice math together either via an online program (Kumon, IXL, Prodigy) or get worksheets. Your school may have an online program account already, that your child can use at home. The key with math is, a gap in K or first grade can often mean that the kid cannot build on their math skills. You need to figure out where your kid's gaps are. If you sign up for IXL, you start with a diagnostic test that will show you what they know and don't know. (I believe there is even a free trial?) |
Anonymous
| With Prodigy, it gives parents a report so you can see what skills are missing. |
Anonymous
Maybe they did and she wasn’t open to hearing it. That happens a lot. |
Anonymous
| My DD, now 5th grade, was the same with the finger counting, no math facts, etc. I do blame the loss of learning during COVID because she was just too young to learn on an app. However, because she is still middle of the pack, teachers dismissed my concerns. And iReady scores are showing the same. I think unless your child is actually in the bottom quarter of the class, no school is going to do anything to help get your kid where it sounds like you want them. I decided to double down on math facts and got Kumon books for the grade level below and it has made a big difference. Still thinking about Mathnasium but my award system so far gets the worksheets done for way less time and money. If it is true that DCPS is buying into fact fluency that would be great. Our school is slow to roll that out and I have seen how my older child (in middle school now) really could not get the work he needs to do done without knowing math facts. |
Anonymous
|
If you wait until middle school to address this issue, your child will be crushed. Middle school is already a big transition for most 6th graders. Their standards are higher, workload is increased, and social situations more complex. Get this sorted out before sending your child to middle school.
I would hire a math tutor to work one-on-one with my child until they gain some confidence in basic math concepts. If you don't have them, I would buy copies of 2nd and 3rd grade Eureka books and have your child re-review the modules and practice the problems. Make sure they have a solid foundation before jumping into multiplication and division. It is essential for them to know the basics solidly. |
Anonymous
| I could have written OP’s post about my 4th grader and their school 5 years ago. We had no idea whether they had a learning disability or were just not receiving a good education. We enrolled in outside math and learned it was the latter. Kid is now one of school’s top performers. So, sorry folks, it was the teaching and the curriculum, not the kid. But if you want your kid to do well, regardless of MS, he needs to test into advanced math which means you need to figure this out now. |
Anonymous
| I would look into this https://www.understood.org/en/articles/what-is-dyscalculia |
Anonymous
| I will observe that a shocking number of kids at my child’s previous ES had been diagnosed with learning challenges. After leaving that school for another, and seeing how my own child responded to outside instruction (rigorous instruction not geared towards kids with issues) I am confident that their earlier math delays were entirely due to the school and I wonder if that was true for others too. Iow, I wonder if there would have been fewer diagnoses if academics had been approached differently. |
Anonymous
This. OP, if you have tried to teach your kid times tables yourself (as most parents do), and they don't get it, then it is at least worth considering whether your child needs extra support. I would talk to the teachers and ask what they are observing and get on a wait list for a private evaluation. Research dyscalculia: https://www.dyslexia.uk.net/specific-learning-difficulties/dyscalculia/the-signs-of-dyscalculia/ |
Anonymous
Because the way OP describes herself and husband, one would expect they've been including math instruction throughout the child's life in the daily routine like most parents do: counting things, measuring while cooking, playing games that include math skills, singing the multiplication songs, etc. Most of that gets kids through 3rd grade math no matter what they do in school. |
Anonymous
You PP are one of the reasons why DCPS sucks and won’t get better because you make stupid excuses for why kids can’t do better. So all kids in the city scoring 1 and 2 from elementary on have special needs, difficult home life, or have trauma. Really?? That high. The reality is that the kids who need support don’t get it from DCPS, then they are socially promoted to the next grade and so forth. This all starts early in k/1st. This sets up the kids to fall further and further behind each year especially in math, because it’s a building block. If you don’t get the foundation, you won’t get the next level. Then the majority of kids are behind and the curriculum is dumb down to that bottom. Let’s not make failing schools or DCPS accountable. Yep, all these kids who are way below grade level. So 80% or more of the whole schools population are due to these reasons alone. it’s entirely 100% due to special needs or difficult home life. It’s unbelievable how some people just have their head in the sand. Carry on. |