4th grader sucks at math, goes to lackadaisical DCPS, what should we do about middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP have you done a conference with the math teacher to get their impression? I would schedule one now and ask about whether special needs might be an issue this sounds like it is beyond what would happen with a crappy curriculum.

Why does everyone think OP’s kid has special needs?? Seriously, have you seen the PARCC math scores for poorly performing schools where majority of kids are scoring 1 and 2’s? They are way, way below grade level.

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.

Get out of your bubble. Parents are busy working, juggling kid and schedules, etc…. Many middle class parents are not doing these things at all or maybe once in a while and multiplication does not come to a kid from doing everyday things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were in a similar situation with our 4th grader 2 years ago, OP. Twice a week to cheery Mathnasium has sorted her out. She didn’t have special needs. she had weak DCPS math instruction during the pandemic. We got out of DCPS in the nick of time.

Yes! I am a teacher is DCPS. Your kid doesn’t have special needs. They are at a crap school. Get a tutor through kuon, etc.

[Anonymous]

NP. We tried a math tutor and Kumon but Mathnasium has worked much better, partly because the local center is near our house. Kid gets herself there. She likes their system of having one tutor work with a few kids who are doing their own work, so she isn't always on the spot. She also likes the prizes they give for achievement. She didn't learn 4th grade math at her DCPS, so did 4th, 5th and half of 6th grade math in one year at Mathnasium. She went from being more than a year behind at the end of 4th grade to qualifying for pre-algebra in 6th. Can't say enough good things about Mathnasium. Not cheap but worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. We tried a math tutor and Kumon but Mathnasium has worked much better, partly because the local center is near our house. Kid gets herself there. She likes their system of having one tutor work with a few kids who are doing their own work, so she isn't always on the spot. She also likes the prizes they give for achievement. She didn't learn 4th grade math at her DCPS, so did 4th, 5th and half of 6th grade math in one year at Mathnasium. She went from being more than a year behind at the end of 4th grade to qualifying for pre-algebra in 6th. Can't say enough good things about Mathnasium. Not cheap but worth it.

What did you pay for Mathnasium? Not seeing any prices on their website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. We tried a math tutor and Kumon but Mathnasium has worked much better, partly because the local center is near our house. Kid gets herself there. She likes their system of having one tutor work with a few kids who are doing their own work, so she isn't always on the spot. She also likes the prizes they give for achievement. She didn't learn 4th grade math at her DCPS, so did 4th, 5th and half of 6th grade math in one year at Mathnasium. She went from being more than a year behind at the end of 4th grade to qualifying for pre-algebra in 6th. Can't say enough good things about Mathnasium. Not cheap but worth it.

What did you pay for Mathnasium? Not seeing any prices on their website.

Following. Anything out there like Mathnasium for Reading?

[Anonymous]

The Mathnasium in Cathedral Heights is pricey. It costs about ~$400-500/month depending on how many months you commit to.

[Anonymous]

I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

[Anonymous]

Move to Bethesda. You won’t find it in DCPS.

I have a similar kid and background. We are ar our mediocre MS but that’s due to a variety of other factors that made it the best choice. I’m getting pretty freaked out about crime (second kid shot on his way home from DCPS this month) so I will probably move to Bethesda for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

OP says it's Ward 4, and there is no elementary school in Ward 4 where all the kids are doing that bad. And OP said her other kids did fine there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

OP says it's Ward 4, and there is no elementary school in Ward 4 where all the kids are doing that bad. And OP said her other kids did fine there.

But this kid is the exact age to have big gaps due to the pandemic and changing norms with respect to tests and homework. Kids do vary in skills and it’s possible this kid is just “bad at math.” But the first thing to do is get tutoring and see how quickly he learns when properly instructed. If he doesn’t respond then testing for learning disabilities may be warranted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

OP says it's Ward 4, and there is no elementary school in Ward 4 where all the kids are doing that bad. And OP said her other kids did fine there.

No she did not say her other kid did fine at the same school. She said that parents/siblings/other kids did fine at varied schools, not the same school as this child.

She says she is at a title 1 DCPS school in ward 4. So yes, if greater than 50% of the kids are not scoring a 4 on PARCC at a school in ward 4 and scoring 1 and 2 then yes majority of kids are that bad. Guess you have not seen the data from DC how the lowest performers have declined dramatically in abilities since COVID.

Get out of your denial. PP is like you and why her kid is now in the position he is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

OP says it's Ward 4, and there is no elementary school in Ward 4 where all the kids are doing that bad. And OP said her other kids did fine there.

No she did not say her other kid did fine at the same school. She said that parents/siblings/other kids did fine at varied schools, not the same school as this child.

She says she is at a title 1 DCPS school in ward 4. So yes, if greater than 50% of the kids are not scoring a 4 on PARCC at a school in ward 4 and scoring 1 and 2 then yes majority of kids are that bad. Guess you have not seen the data from DC how the lowest performers have declined dramatically in abilities since COVID.

Get out of your denial. PP is like you and why her kid is now in the position he is.

Typo OP not PP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I strongly agree with others encouraging OP to research dyscalculia and look into testing for that specific math learning disability. I wish we’d done it sooner. Our child exhibited very similar math difficulties around 4th/5th grade. They got worse in middle school and of course were compounded by the pandemic. Fast forward to high school and we finally got a diagnosis of dyscalculia after a disastrous algebra experience.

Dyscalculia is under-diagnosed and still not well understood but there are some tell-tale signs. Good luck!

OK but sounds like many have not carefully read what OP wrote. She said many or most of the kids in the class are doing the same or worst. Her child is not an outlier. She does not think it’s a developmental delay but under-education because "well, everybody else in this DCPS Title I elementary is doing this bad so shrug."

OP says it's Ward 4, and there is no elementary school in Ward 4 where all the kids are doing that bad. And OP said her other kids did fine there.

No she did not say her other kid did fine at the same school. She said that parents/siblings/other kids did fine at varied schools, not the same school as this child.

She says she is at a title 1 DCPS school in ward 4. So yes, if greater than 50% of the kids are not scoring a 4 on PARCC at a school in ward 4 and scoring 1 and 2 then yes majority of kids are that bad. Guess you have not seen the data from DC how the lowest performers have declined dramatically in abilities since COVID.

Get out of your denial. PP is like you and why her kid is now in the position he is.

Ok, OP actually said "many or most" of the kids are doing the same or worse. Assuming that means scoring a 1 or a 2, there are a few DCPS elementary schools in Ward 4 performing that low, but not all. Depending on how you define "many", I suppose.

OP also said the schools her kids have gone to have varied a lot. Could that be playing a role? If the kid has been exposed to many different math curricula without enough time in any one program, that could make learning more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was kind in same boat, coming from a family of high achievers, always being among first in class, very good at both math of humanities and so on (my spouse more relaxed thankfully) and had great expectations for my kids. well, first one was a desaster, due also to impact of health issues starting elementary school and ADHD. fast forward end of HS: she always sucked at math, like always taking just the basic classes with kids two grades behind and so on, just waiting for the last day of HS when she would kiss goodby to numbers hopefully for the rest of her life. however, in elementary school after the first two years when she was behind in everything, she became a great reader, developed a love for history, joined Model UN clubin middle school, the WIS academy at JR, took all humanities-history-government and so on classes, taking basic math, physics and chemistry only as long as forced (took As in those classes but they were basics and it took a lot of helicoptering) . she graduated well and just started college in a very good insitution. my sister sucked at math and she is a successful in house counsel for a major corporation. I love math and science but some people just dont and still have great interests and a successful life.

I'm sorry but you can't claim to be high achieving then write this spelling / grammatical disaster. Also, all you did was brag about your family. How does this help OP?

OP - I'm curious why you said you didn't want the recs for tutors, etc? The tutor is the way to go. We got a tutor for our kid in 5th and it proved to be $100/week SO WELL SPENT!! With DCPS, unless you have a naturally high achieving kid, you're just going to have to supplement somehow. Pay a tutor or help them yourself, but they have to get some assistance if they don't get it. Don't wait two years to address this either. Middle school scores dive down in most areas in DC, it's only going to get worse, not better.