Time for a mutiny yet? MCPS = crummy math, no grammar, poor writing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't view education as being confined to school. You just can't. Or your kids will suffer. I get that there are things you want to improve in the County schools. But I think you need to let go of not supplementing.

Op here.

Here's the thing: I went to private school (Catholic), and I received an excellent education. My parents didn't supplement...because they didn't need to.

We all know that 2.0 is crummy. The thread on former mcps students being so far behind when they move to other districts is appalling. The 2.0 defenders say that moving slowly and forcing kids to jump through multiple steps is better for them, but that simply isn't true. When will they admit their investment in 2.0 was a mistake?

The fact that parents must supplement is proof positive that mcps is subpar.

You can't compare how you were educated with the way kids should be educated today. It's an entirely different world. Tech heavy, spell check on every word processing software, heck even google will fix your errors when searching.

When I was in school in the 70's/80's, we learned by rote. That won't fly today. Kids need to focus on critical thinking skills, not diagramming sentences or learning math by rote.

Our kids are smart. They can and should learn both.

I don't think that anyone SHOULD learn to diagram a sentence. You can, if you want. Just like you can learn to needlepoint or whittle if you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid in MCPS is asking for a tutor - he wants to learn about grammar, science and a foreign language. How do you supplement these subject areas? Is there such a thing as a home tutor who teaches across a variety of subjects?

Grammar- Kumon
Science- Saturday school is running a 6 week stem program
Language- language stars or communikids

[Anonymous]

OP, you went to a private school. I don’t understand how you can expect public and private to be the same and also be unwilling to supplement due to your unreasonable expectation that you’ll get a private school education at a public school.

[Anonymous]

Small classes make all the different. I’ve attended and taught at private schools and seen struggling teachers still manage to do a decent job because they are working with 15-18 students per class, rather than 22-30. When you have less students it’s not just about less work. It’s about being able to address things you didn’t anticipate or know about that pop up involving students and the curriculum. You have flexibility and a lot of support too, in many cases.

[Anonymous]

All the difference*

[Anonymous]

The irony is that the focus schools that DCUM is terrified of (but actual parents using them love) have small class sizes. So you can get that. You just can’t get that and also have low farms unless you go private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't view education as being confined to school. You just can't. Or your kids will suffer. I get that there are things you want to improve in the County schools. But I think you need to let go of not supplementing.

Op here.

Here's the thing: I went to private school (Catholic), and I received an excellent education. My parents didn't supplement...because they didn't need to.

We all know that 2.0 is crummy. The thread on former mcps students being so far behind when they move to other districts is appalling. The 2.0 defenders say that moving slowly and forcing kids to jump through multiple steps is better for them, but that simply isn't true. When will they admit their investment in 2.0 was a mistake?

The fact that parents must supplement is proof positive that mcps is subpar.

You can't compare how you were educated with the way kids should be educated today. It's an entirely different world. Tech heavy, spell check on every word processing software, heck even google will fix your errors when searching.

When I was in school in the 70's/80's, we learned by rote. That won't fly today. Kids need to focus on critical thinking skills, not diagramming sentences or learning math by rote.

Yes, that's the line they're feeding us. But is it true? Is the new way actually better?

Kids need to learn how to spell. They should not rely on spell check. Kids need to learn grammar. Grammar is the critical foundation for oral and written expression.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yes, that's the line they're feeding us. But is it true? Is the new way actually better?

Kids need to learn how to spell. They should not rely on spell check. Kids need to learn grammar. Grammar is the critical foundation for oral and written expression.

Yes. Definitely for math.

At work I deal with a situation where members of the public think they're correctly following the directions on how to calculate a number, but they end up with a mathematically nonsensical result. Probably most of them were taught math as I was -- you do steps 1, 2, and 3, you get the answer, you're done. In contrast, my C2.0 kid in elementary school got a lot of emphasis on "does this answer make sense?".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So when shall we rise up and launch a mutiny? None of us were subjected to a subpar education, so why are we politely going along with the mcps crazy train to mediocrity instead of demanding change?

We shouldn't have to supplement. The schools should be able to equip students for success.

When you have this many poor illegal immigrants, you teach to the lowest common denominator.

Really naive, ignorant, uneducated, and hateful comment.

But..... the truth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can't view education as being confined to school. You just can't. Or your kids will suffer. I get that there are things you want to improve in the County schools. But I think you need to let go of not supplementing.

Op here.

Here's the thing: I went to private school (Catholic), and I received an excellent education. My parents didn't supplement...because they didn't need to.

We all know that 2.0 is crummy. The thread on former mcps students being so far behind when they move to other districts is appalling. The 2.0 defenders say that moving slowly and forcing kids to jump through multiple steps is better for them, but that simply isn't true. When will they admit their investment in 2.0 was a mistake?

The fact that parents must supplement is proof positive that mcps is subpar.

You can't compare how you were educated with the way kids should be educated today. It's an entirely different world. Tech heavy, spell check on every word processing software, heck even google will fix your errors when searching.

When I was in school in the 70's/80's, we learned by rote. That won't fly today. Kids need to focus on critical thinking skills, not diagramming sentences or learning math by rote.

Yes, that's the line they're feeding us. But is it true? Is the new way actually better?

Kids need to learn how to spell. They should not rely on spell check. Kids need to learn grammar. Grammar is the critical foundation for oral and written expression.

It is true to some degree. When I was going to school, the vocational track was an option, and not many kids were going off to college. There were more manufacturing jobs, secretarial jobs, etc.. Not the case anymore.

Grammar is important, I agree, but not so much spelling. That doesn't mean diagramming sentences is the best way to learn grammar.

[Anonymous]

With all the crummy curriculum, how is it that so many kids seem to do so well on the SAT's?

[Anonymous]

MCPS and US education has improved from 10 years ago.

However, the world has shrunk. Global economies demand very highly skilled workers. Other countries are more competitive and have ramped up on education, Math, Science etc. We have not been able to catch up.

Having a large number of students that need basic skills and are not in grade level - because of illegal immigration - has also taxed the county's ability.

Both things are going hand in hand. Perhaps MCPS should ask for a modest fees from all its students - maybe $100 - $200 a month?

[Anonymous]

Diagramming sentences explains how the sentence is structured, which is exactly what grammar is about. PP who says diagramming is not important, what other suggestions do you have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Diagramming sentences explains how the sentence is structured, which is exactly what grammar is about. PP who says diagramming is not important, what other suggestions do you have?

Diagramming sentences is an American thing. What do they do in other countries?

[Anonymous]

http://thefederalist.com/2017/10/25/bill-gates-tacitly-admits-common-core-experiment-failure/

Interesting.