Hardest school year in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

NP here.

My child's currently breezing through second grade, but PPs have made me worry. When does the school expect your child to have learned multiplication tables?
Do they even assign multiplication/division homework to practice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP here.

My child's currently breezing through second grade, but PPs have made me worry. When does the school expect your child to have learned multiplication tables?
Do they even assign multiplication/division homework to practice?

In our school, they begin it 4th Q 2nd grade and are completely done by end of 2ndQ 3rd.

They do it really late IMO but by the end of 2nd grade a bunch of kids in DD's class seriously couldn't add 17+8. They have to wait for the bottom to catch up.

[Anonymous]

I think for younger boys in the year, the hardest grade is 1st. Its a huge leap from K in terms of what is expected in terms of handwriting, reading, math concepts. Its a steep learning curve.

Yes, the classes get progressively harder in 3rd and 5th but in terms of contrast, its definitely between K and 1st.

[Anonymous]

5th and 6th for sure. Just the volume of work alone made them hands down the hardest for my DC.

[Anonymous]

I’ll tell you my thought on each school year. Kindergarten was playful and social. 1st grade was more sit still and listen. 2nd grade was fun. 3rd grade was a huge jump up year . 4th grade was laid back and fun. 5th grade the hardest year because I had so much homework Ex, I would start from when I got home to 8 o’clock at night not only that but when I got something wrong my old teacher would yell at me at the top of her lungs, It was retarded. Then there was 6th grade, one of the easiest school years. It was like you got punched in the face with sweet relief. 7th grade was a mess not school wise but I was in a cast a lot of tragedy’s happened in 7th grade. 8th grade was a lot of responsibility but fun at the same time. I’m currently a Freshmen and so far it’s going great.

[Anonymous]

I think the full day kindergarten is hard on children. My daughter was exhausted and grouchy the first year.

First grade is when most kids learn to read, which is a phenomenal undertaking/ achievement. Yes, some kids spontaneously teach themselves, but for most it takes a lot of work.

I've heard third grade described as the year kids go from learning to read to reading to learn.

Fifth grade is when schools step up expectations to prepare students for the higher expectations of middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll tell you my thought on each school year. Kindergarten was playful and social. 1st grade was more sit still and listen. 2nd grade was fun. 3rd grade was a huge jump up year . 4th grade was laid back and fun. 5th grade the hardest year because I had so much homework Ex, I would start from when I got home to 8 o’clock at night not only that but when I got something wrong my old teacher would yell at me at the top of her lungs, It was retarded. Then there was 6th grade, one of the easiest school years. It was like you got punched in the face with sweet relief. 7th grade was a mess not school wise but I was in a cast a lot of tragedy’s happened in 7th grade. 8th grade was a lot of responsibility but fun at the same time. I’m currently a Freshmen and so far it’s going great.

Mom of a sixth grade boy and this post reflects my son's experience so far. The only difference is third and fifth were equally bad, if not third being slightly worse. Sounds like you had a horrible teacher in fifth and that made your experience worse. My son had a tough teacher in fifth, but she was understanding and kind.

[Anonymous]

1st & 3rd. Particularly 1st.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you with kids in 3rd, what are they working on that's so much harder than what they did in 2nd grade? (I'm the mom of a 2nd grader)

A big jump in math skills with multiplication. Work on it this summer and get a leg up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First and third. Second and fourth build on concepts introduced the previous years, but first and third introduce tons of new concepts.

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I think fourth because fourth grade (for me) was learning NEW things and anywhere before tht was easy for me

[Anonymous]

5th

[Anonymous]

Both of my academically advanced kids found 2nd grade to be the worst. For both of them, the material was just not very interesting, there wasn't much differentiation to challenge the top students, and they were given tons of busywork, like word searches or coloring pages. Maybe the teacher for 2nd was awful, but both kids were bored and miserable in 2nd.

Strong math students enjoy the pace of 3rd grade AAP/advanced math, because they're finally being somewhat challenged. Strong readers enjoy the transition from "learn-to-read" to "read-to-learn" that happens in 3rd. FCPS science and social studies topics become much more interesting in 3rd grade than they were in 2nd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both of my academically advanced kids found 2nd grade to be the worst. For both of them, the material was just not very interesting, there wasn't much differentiation to challenge the top students, and they were given tons of busywork, like word searches or coloring pages. Maybe the teacher for 2nd was awful, but both kids were bored and miserable in 2nd.

Strong math students enjoy the pace of 3rd grade AAP/advanced math, because they're finally being somewhat challenged. Strong readers enjoy the transition from "learn-to-read" to "read-to-learn" that happens in 3rd. FCPS science and social studies topics become much more interesting in 3rd grade than they were in 2nd.

We're only in the second quarter, but so far this is true for my 3rd grader. Second grade seemed interminable.

[Anonymous]

5th grade (this year). DS cruised until now and he has to actual put effort and practice into algebra.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:4th - that's when DS's ADHD caught up with him and he started failing. We had to evaluated him and get him treatment .

I have 3 kids - the oldest is in 4th grade. He has ADHD - was evaluated when he was in 2nd grade. So far, I find 4th to be a little more challenging for him than 3rd and I would say the most challenging grade to date, but I don't have 5th & 6th to compare to yet! It seems he has more responsibility this year in terms of knowing when things are due, when tests are, etc. It seemed like in 3rd grade it was checked / enforced more that everyone wrote down and packed what they were supposed to in their backpack.

He still does fine for tests when he studies, but I feel like he does have to study as opposed to winging it now.