Advice Needed - 1st Grader in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip. Your child is in a public elementary school. If you think that the curriculum is too easy for her, you can homeschool school her. There are plenty of math workbooks that she can use at home if she wants to challenge herself (I like Saxon Math -- but it is old school, not new math).

If you think that the teacher can give every child in the class the same amount of attention you expect for your daughter, you are seriously underestimating the workload of a classroom teacher.

Humility is a great thing to learn.

Which is why most people recommend private school for advanced kids. Public teachers have 30 kids and you are lucky if 20 of them speak English.

All 27 kids in both of my kids' classes speak English just fine. No, we are not in a W cluster. And not all private schools provide that much acceleration in math. If your kid is very advanced in math, you are actually better off at a public magnet school like TPMS/Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a grip. Your child is in a public elementary school. If you think that the curriculum is too easy for her, you can homeschool school her. There are plenty of math workbooks that she can use at home if she wants to challenge herself (I like Saxon Math -- but it is old school, not new math).

If you think that the teacher can give every child in the class the same amount of attention you expect for your daughter, you are seriously underestimating the workload of a classroom teacher.

Humility is a great thing to learn.

Which is why most people recommend private school for advanced kids. Public teachers have 30 kids and you are lucky if 20 of them speak English.

All 27 kids in both of my kids' classes speak English just fine. No, we are not in a W cluster. And not all private schools provide that much acceleration in math. If your kid is very advanced in math, you are actually better off at a public magnet school like TPMS/Blair.

The religious schools may not but the college prep privates, they sure do.

[Anonymous]

" The religious schools may not but the college prep privates, they sure do. "

If you can afford that, why would you do public school to start with? It's much more realistic to assume that many families (ok - maybe not in Bethesda/CC but elsewhere) that try public would be looking at religious schools as the alternative to that since while those are expensive they are not insanely priced as the other privates are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:" The religious schools may not but the college prep privates, they sure do. "

If you can afford that, why would you do public school to start with? It's much more realistic to assume that many families (ok - maybe not in Bethesda/CC but elsewhere) that try public would be looking at religious schools as the alternative to that since while those are expensive they are not insanely priced as the other privates are.

Because those schools have huge endowments and if your child is bright and vested, they will pay 30-95% of your tuition depending on your need.

[Anonymous]

^ just because a family cannot afford $30K a year times 2 kids does not mean they are poor enough to likely win financial aid though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Which is why most people recommend private school for advanced kids. Public teachers have 30 kids and you are lucky if 20 of them speak English.

Who are these "most people"?

Also, it's simply absurd to say that >1/3 of the students in every class in MCPS don't speak English.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

Really? My standard math track put me with calculus b/c in 12th grade--and that was in the 80's on a crappy backwater school district.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from high school in the 90s and only the advanced kids took Algebra in 9th grade.

The on track kids now take it in 8th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Which is why most people recommend private school for advanced kids. Public teachers have 30 kids and you are lucky if 20 of them speak English.

Who are these "most people"?

Also, it's simply absurd to say that >1/3 of the students in every class in MCPS don't speak English.

In my child's K class in MCPS there are 13 kids in ESOL and more than half have limited English and 5 that came into school never speaking English. How they can allow that is beyond me. The teacher is so overwhelmed and most of the kid basically get ignored. Volunteering for 1 hour is stressful. She must drink a bottle of wine a night to keep coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

In my child's K class in MCPS there are 13 kids in ESOL and more than half have limited English and 5 that came into school never speaking English. How they can allow that is beyond me. The teacher is so overwhelmed and most of the kid basically get ignored. Volunteering for 1 hour is stressful. She must drink a bottle of wine a night to keep coming back.

How can they allow what? I sure hope you're not making a racist remark because it sure sounds like that.
All children have a right to a proper education. Children at that age soak up new languages and they'll all be bilingual before you know it. It'll be your child at a disadvantage because she only knows one language.

[Anonymous]

Ask the teacher if your DC finishes a math assignment quickly if he can be allowed to read a book, or help others who are struggling. In later years he will be able to accelerate in math. Believe me every child, not matter, how gifted, can learn a lot in first grade -- concentrate on his/her weaknesses not her strengths at home For example, if the child is interested, but has to yet had lessons, now would be a great time to start music lessons or a foreign language. Both these activities stimulate brain development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

In my child's K class in MCPS there are 13 kids in ESOL and more than half have limited English and 5 that came into school never speaking English. How they can allow that is beyond me. The teacher is so overwhelmed and most of the kid basically get ignored. Volunteering for 1 hour is stressful. She must drink a bottle of wine a night to keep coming back.

How can they allow what? I sure hope you're not making a racist remark because it sure sounds like that.
All children have a right to a proper education. Children at that age soak up new languages and they'll all be bilingual before you know it. It'll be your child at a disadvantage because she only knows one language.

The fact that you are so proud that our school district spends billions (3x as much in the past 10 years) on a free ESOL program (and cut many other teachers/paraeducators/programs in the process) instead of teaching Americans a 2nd language in elementary school, is strange. That you are happy that immigrants will have the advantage over everyone else - speaks volumes about yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have two kids that took Algebra 1 in 6th, Geometry in 7th, Algebra 2 in 8th. Kids are unable to do that now. It totally sucks.

Yes, cruel dumbing-down MCPS now forces children to delay -- DELAY, I TELL YOU! -- to Algebra I in 7th, Geometry in 8th, Algebra II in 9th, and Calculus A/B in 11th. Which is still a full year ahead of the advanced track when I was in high school.

There surely are some kids who are ready for multivariable calculus in 12th grade. But I don't think that there are very many.

Really? My standard math track put me with calculus b/c in 12th grade--and that was in the 80's on a crappy backwater school district.

Same here. Also crappy backwater, and also standard track to b/c calc in 12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^ just because a family cannot afford $30K a year times 2 kids does not mean they are poor enough to likely win financial aid though.

It is actually a common misconception that you need to be poor to get financial aid. Most financial aid goes to middle class families since they can still drive their kids, pay for uniforms, etc... We get 70% financial aid. But then again, you need to get accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ just because a family cannot afford $30K a year times 2 kids does not mean they are poor enough to likely win financial aid though.

It is actually a common misconception that you need to be poor to get financial aid. Most financial aid goes to middle class families since they can still drive their kids, pay for uniforms, etc... We get 70% financial aid. But then again, you need to get accepted.

What's your hhi then? What's your definition of middle class?