It’s so hard to figure things out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is ginormous, as said, so many things are not consistent.

Plus some of us went through school in a better school system. Yes it happens. The good thing about being vocal is: every institution is made better by the community keeping their feet to the fire. FCPS needs to be on their guard and not rely too much on just their own good PR. This is a highly educated area - if FCPS can't do a good job with the students they are given - heaven help them. So Op, you will hear complaints.

You vaaaaastly overestimate your own power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yikes, sounds like the answer to why some parents are happy is because they invest a lot of time and energy at home. This sounds like a lot of pressure to put on parents compared to a generation ago, and this is on top of longer work hours and commutes. Is it any wonder that everyone is stressed out and has no time to build a real community? When I went to school (graduated 16 years ago), my parents were not involved except for providing an environment conducive to studying and some “fun” supplementing like museums, travel, and of course SAT prep books. I still did extremely well. I am now feeling stressed out that I will have to spend hours teaching my children at home to fill in the gaps from their school education. It will be stressful for me to take on a second job as private tutor, and stressful for the children because they will get very little break from academics. Even if I were to invest in a private tutor, it would give me a break but not the children.

OP, it looks like you’re one of the problems. If you consider helping your kid with homework a “second job” then you’ll be unhappy and stressed. It called parenting - and involves helping with school work.

*thunderous applause*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FCPS is still considered one of the best school systems in the country.

I liked the late start for ES because my kids weren't early risers.

Different strokes for different folks.

Good lord, some people are gullible. FCPS is NOT one of the best districts in the country, except according to FCPS.

+1
It *USED* to be - but not for a couple of decades, maybe more. They are definitely resting on their laurels by continuing to tout their "excellence."

Sorry, but no. Rankings exist whether they correlate with your feelings or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP who wrote the diatribe about how FCPS was a utopia when she attended, but is now terrible due to the late-start elementary schools, forgot to mention that the ES’s had late starts back then, too.

The difference is, back then when FCPS was actually decent, we were challenged...time at school wasn't a waste so we didn't need to get supplemental education from our parents or a tutor after school. We were free to go out and play instead.

I would put solid money on the fact that while you were out playing other kids were supplementing. I know that the schools I attended in the 1980's were considered excellent and my parents supplemented and provided tutors. My older brothers received supplementation because the school was not able to meet their needs, they were ahead and there was not a solid program for gifted kids. My younger brother and I had tutoring because we had learning issues and the school resources did not meet all of our needs.

I know that this was an issue in FCPS because we were at Mosby Woods for 3 years. Then we moved to a different state and ended up with the same arrangement. We moved again when I was in high school, same deal. And my younger brother was moved into private schools because the excellent public school was not able to meet his needs due to his learning issues. The Parochial school he ended attending was able to.

Feel free to pretend the supplementing and tutoring is a new thing but it has always existed, regardless of how strong the school system is. Public schools have always had to provide education for everyone. How they went about doing it might have been different, ie classes for the "slow" kids, "average" kids, and "smart" kids, but the Public schools have always had the mission of teaching all. This is hard to do and has lead to some parents needing to find tutors for their kids or enrichment for their kids because what they were getting at school wasn't a great fit.

And it is not just Public School kids. There are kids in Private School in the same situation. I would guess that there is a very small percentage of the population that there is a perfect fit in Public or Private and parents don't see that there is a need for some type of help or enhancement. There is probably a larger group of parents who see the need and just don't feel it is pressing enough to provide it. There is enough of a presence in this area that some of those families that probably wouldn't do anything outside of schools start to feel like they need to because other people are doing it.

But this is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP who wrote the diatribe about how FCPS was a utopia when she attended, but is now terrible due to the late-start elementary schools, forgot to mention that the ES’s had late starts back then, too.

The difference is, back then when FCPS was actually decent, we were challenged...time at school wasn't a waste so we didn't need to get supplemental education from our parents or a tutor after school. We were free to go out and play instead.

I would put solid money on the fact that while you were out playing other kids were supplementing. I know that the schools I attended in the 1980's were considered excellent and my parents supplemented and provided tutors. My older brothers received supplementation because the school was not able to meet their needs, they were ahead and there was not a solid program for gifted kids. My younger brother and I had tutoring because we had learning issues and the school resources did not meet all of our needs.

I know that this was an issue in FCPS because we were at Mosby Woods for 3 years. Then we moved to a different state and ended up with the same arrangement. We moved again when I was in high school, same deal. And my younger brother was moved into private schools because the excellent public school was not able to meet his needs due to his learning issues. The Parochial school he ended attending was able to.

Feel free to pretend the supplementing and tutoring is a new thing but it has always existed, regardless of how strong the school system is. Public schools have always had to provide education for everyone. How they went about doing it might have been different, ie classes for the "slow" kids, "average" kids, and "smart" kids, but the Public schools have always had the mission of teaching all. This is hard to do and has lead to some parents needing to find tutors for their kids or enrichment for their kids because what they were getting at school wasn't a great fit.

And it is not just Public School kids. There are kids in Private School in the same situation. I would guess that there is a very small percentage of the population that there is a perfect fit in Public or Private and parents don't see that there is a need for some type of help or enhancement. There is probably a larger group of parents who see the need and just don't feel it is pressing enough to provide it. There is enough of a presence in this area that some of those families that probably wouldn't do anything outside of schools start to feel like they need to because other people are doing it.

But this is nothing new.

I went to FCPS in the 80s and wasn’t challenged. Straight As and did my homework on the 15 min bus ride everyday. My sister has dyslexia and my parents supplemented because SPED barely existed back then, compared to now. They told my family, “we don’t help with that, try private”. Many posters look at the past with rose-colored glasses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yikes, sounds like the answer to why some parents are happy is because they invest a lot of time and energy at home. This sounds like a lot of pressure to put on parents compared to a generation ago, and this is on top of longer work hours and commutes. Is it any wonder that everyone is stressed out and has no time to build a real community? When I went to school (graduated 16 years ago), my parents were not involved except for providing an environment conducive to studying and some “fun” supplementing like museums, travel, and of course SAT prep books. I still did extremely well. I am now feeling stressed out that I will have to spend hours teaching my children at home to fill in the gaps from their school education. It will be stressful for me to take on a second job as private tutor, and stressful for the children because they will get very little break from academics. Even if I were to invest in a private tutor, it would give me a break but not the children.

You are in Fairfax County. Yes, it is a lot of pressure to be in the rat race in this area. If your kid is a high achiever, the "gaps" you fill are the ones that get your kid ahead. Have to do a little bit of everything-- revamp your household schedule to prioritize things for your kids. If you don't want to be in that rat race, you can totally opt out. But I'll tell ya, once you hear that Larla is doing ballet and piano, and taekwondo and kumon, you're going to feel that you aren't doing enough for your kids if they aren't overscheduled like everyone else.

Yes it is stressful. Been there. And it doesn't really end when your kids get out of FCPS-- ha, go take a look at the college forum!

This poster nailed it. My daughter is now a surgeon. She went through Haycock, Longfellow, and McLean HS. She received a pretty solid education, but what pushed her to excel was a lot of parent help at home (writing help) and paid work with a tutor (mastering chem, calculus, etc). It was exhausting and expensive. The extra work wasn't necessary, but realize (in the classroom) that the squeaky wheels get the grease. The kids who are struggling get the teachers' (extremely limited) time. Average kids and above just float on by, maybe grasping the material, maybe not.

OP here. I am a cardiologist and could have chosen surgery. I didn’t need any parent or tutor help at home. My HS English teachers taught excellent writing skills and provided a lot of feedback on essays etc. My HS science and math teachers had plenty of time to pay attention to me. That’s exactly my point.

Do you want a cookie? You sound like my miserable, lonely mother. "Nobody ever helped me in life - why should I help anybody else?"