Specials at your elementary school?

[Anonymous]

this helps me get got grades

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone tell me what specials and how often your child attends them is like at your elementary schools?

Music twice a week or once and the other day is band/chorus/strings
Art twice a week
History every day
Science every day
PE twice a week
Recess one SHORT recess each day
Language every day

and if the school has any extras like drama, student council, sports?

Ours has:
FLES is offered once a week (and thus useless and should be abolished imo, but you didn't ask for that)
SCA (student council)
chorus
strings
band
and a variety of other clubs: jump rope, zumba, chess, garden, coding, running club, etc. Those are all pay to play

[Anonymous]

All below are 35 minutes each:
Music 2x a week
PE 3x a week
Art 3x a week
Library 1x a week
In class centers 1x a week

Recess is every day for 20 minutes. We're in an immersion school so the core subjects are split between languages.

[Anonymous]

Y'all know this thread is SEVEN years old, right?

[Anonymous]

3rd and 6th grade both have specials scheduled on certain days, A-F. Each (music, art, and PE) meet 2 days on the scheduled letter day. They also have Strategies and Library that meet roughly every 2 weeks. Recess is every day for 25 mins. If you are in orchestra, band, or chorus, one of your music days is for these activities. There is Student Counsel and Green Team (its a designated Green School). No sports.

[Anonymous]

1x week: STEAM, Art, Library, Band, FLES
2X week: Music, P.E.

FCPS—Grade 4

[Anonymous]

This can vary school by school depending on how principals use their discretionary funds or if it is a specific program or option school. For those schools with multiple specials teachers per subject and/or those receiving music or art more than once a week, I’d ask what is being compromised for that. Less reading specialists or math coaches? Less sped assistants? Etc.

-VA teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This can vary school by school depending on how principals use their discretionary funds or if it is a specific program or option school. For those schools with multiple specials teachers per subject and/or those receiving music or art more than once a week, I’d ask what is being compromised for that. Less reading specialists or math coaches? Less sped assistants? Etc.

-VA teacher

Be careful not to jump to conclusions. We have two music teachers and two art teachers, but they aren’t paid for with discretionary funds. Also, students might have music two or three times a week, but only for 30 minutes at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All below are 35 minutes each:
Music 2x a week
PE 3x a week
Art 3x a week
Library 1x a week
In class centers 1x a week

Recess is every day for 20 minutes. We're in an immersion school so the core subjects are split between languages.

Which district? Sounds like you might be short on recess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This can vary school by school depending on how principals use their discretionary funds or if it is a specific program or option school. For those schools with multiple specials teachers per subject and/or those receiving music or art more than once a week, I’d ask what is being compromised for that. Less reading specialists or math coaches? Less sped assistants? Etc.

-VA teacher

The number of specials teachers is linked to the number of students in the school. Larger schools have more teachers. Principals can use discretionary funds to fund additional anything- not just specials teachers. I worked in a school where the principal decided that the school needed fewer PE teachers and used the money for something else. Halfway through the year they realized the mistake and had to hire subs a few days a week for the remainder of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This can vary school by school depending on how principals use their discretionary funds or if it is a specific program or option school. For those schools with multiple specials teachers per subject and/or those receiving music or art more than once a week, I’d ask what is being compromised for that. Less reading specialists or math coaches? Less sped assistants? Etc.

-VA teacher

The number of specials teachers is linked to the number of students in the school. Larger schools have more teachers. Principals can use discretionary funds to fund additional anything- not just specials teachers. I worked in a school where the principal decided that the school needed fewer PE teachers and used the money for something else. Halfway through the year they realized the mistake and had to hire subs a few days a week for the remainder of the year.

Right. That’s why one shouldn’t just assume something is being compromised if there are more than one specials teachers per subject.

[Anonymous]

So why do they have "Specials"? Why not have the students have longer times in their core classes? What do the "Specials" classes accomplish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So why do they have "Specials"? Why not have the students have longer times in their core classes? What do the "Specials" classes accomplish?

Because children can and should learn lots of things to be educated people.

You know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So why do they have "Specials"? Why not have the students have longer times in their core classes? What do the "Specials" classes accomplish?

Do you also believe the humanities in college accomplish nothing? Fine arts matter. Physical movement matters. Goodness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, that is the plan to have FLES in all schools. They just need the money. After seeing how little time the children have for recess and core subjects, you might end up preferring they keep foreign language after school instead.

Foreign language lessons in elementary school are a waste of time.

Meeting 30-45 minutes/1x week does nothing for language instruction.

One kid had Spanish at his elementary center.

The other had no language at the base school.

They both ended up with the same rudimentary level Spanish (almost none) by the end of elementary school.

It's a waste of time if it's only once a week. I had it every day in elementary school and learned a good amount. Once a week is pointless. I also had music and/or art every day, so it's sad to see it only 3x a week total here.