Thinking of Moving to MoCo for schools - please advise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience so far, with two kids in the system, all the teachers have been excellent, which I suspect is more important than the curriculum. On the latter, I am reserving judgement.

One thing I will say is that the new report cards are just meaningless drivel, which does concern me somewhat.

Do you think so? I don't think that they convey any less information than the previous report cards, for most kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think there are two parts to the current situation. The county is implementing a new curriculum which has a learning curve for the teachers and not surprisingly needs some tweaking. Part II: Parents hate change.

Excellent analysis.

(Except that people, in general, hate change -- not just parents.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience so far, with two kids in the system, all the teachers have been excellent, which I suspect is more important than the curriculum. On the latter, I am reserving judgement.

One thing I will say is that the new report cards are just meaningless drivel, which does concern me somewhat.

Do you think so? I don't think that they convey any less information than the previous report cards, for most kids.

Metacognition? For a five year old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience so far, with two kids in the system, all the teachers have been excellent, which I suspect is more important than the curriculum. On the latter, I am reserving judgement.

One thing I will say is that the new report cards are just meaningless drivel, which does concern me somewhat.

Do you think so? I don't think that they convey any less information than the previous report cards, for most kids.

Metacognition? For a five year old?

Metacognition is about knowing how you know something. Do you think that is beyond the ability of a five-year-old? It's not beyond the ability of five-year-olds I've known.

Example:

Q: Do you think that Toad is happy that he lost his button?
A: No.
Q: Why do you think that?
A: Because he jumps up and down and screams.

[Anonymous]

I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

How is her metacognition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my experience so far, with two kids in the system, all the teachers have been excellent, which I suspect is more important than the curriculum. On the latter, I am reserving judgement.

One thing I will say is that the new report cards are just meaningless drivel, which does concern me somewhat.

Do you think so? I don't think that they convey any less information than the previous report cards, for most kids.

Metacognition? For a five year old?

Metacognition is about knowing how you know something. Do you think that is beyond the ability of a five-year-old? It's not beyond the ability of five-year-olds I've known.

Example:

Q: Do you think that Toad is happy that he lost his button?
A: No.
Q: Why do you think that?
A: Because he jumps up and down and screams.

I understand what it is trying to capture.

But my point is this:

Sending parents a report card that says things like:

Metacognition: P

is meaningless drivel. You really think the teachers assess each of the 30 kids' metacognition? Of course not. Best case scenario they know whether they are keeping up with class discussions, and how they are doing on reading, math, and writing. That is what report cards should tell parents. How are parents supposed to react if their kids metacognition is not up to standard, for example? How many parents do you think even understand the word metacognition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

I don't know if the letter scales are different, but in my child's kindergarten class there is a group reading at level A/B/C, a group reading around level D-G, and a group that is reading at H and later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I understand what it is trying to capture.

But my point is this:

Sending parents a report card that says things like:

Metacognition: P

is meaningless drivel. You really think the teachers assess each of the 30 kids' metacognition? Of course not. Best case scenario they know whether they are keeping up with class discussions, and how they are doing on reading, math, and writing. That is what report cards should tell parents. How are parents supposed to react if their kids metacognition is not up to standard, for example? How many parents do you think even understand the word metacognition?

The report card does not give P/I/N for metacognition. There is no grade-level standard for metacognition ability. The report card gives DEM/PRG/N for metacognition -- demonstrating/progressing/not yet evident.

Do I think that a good teacher is able to distinguish accurately between demonstrating/progressing/not yet evident for metacognition for the kids in their class? Yes, I do.

If you think that the report card should only say whether they are keeping up with class discussions and how they are doing on reading, math, and writing, then I assume that you didn't like the old report cards either. Parents are supposed to react if their kids aren't showing age-appropriate metacognition ability the same way they should react if their kids aren't showing age-appropriate anything else. And if a parent doesn't know what metacognition is, and really wants to find out (as opposed to complaining that they don't know what metacognition is), it's not hard to get an answer.

(Also, if most elementary school classes have 30 kids in them, that's news to me.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

I don't know if the letter scales are different, but in my child's kindergarten class there is a group reading at level A/B/C, a group reading around level D-G, and a group that is reading at H and later.

We moved from DC to MoCo for the schools. To the OP (with respect): get out of DC. I agree with the pp directly above, there are K kids in MoCo that are reading at an D-H (and some above). Your child sounds great - studious, quiet and sweet. In DC, these kids are all but ignored b/c they are considered "fine." Your child would most likely be reading at a higher level in MoCo b/c the teachers will want her to thrive. Also, the services for your younger child will be more robust in Moco. I'm glad we moved and I think you will be too. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda is an easy commute to your husband's work locale. It is probably a 20 minute commute with no traffic and about 40 with traffic. It will vary depending upon the time he leaves for work. Lots of Cap. hill families have made yhe move to Bethesda and have no regrets. The schools are so much better here. You are doing right by your kids. Good for you.

Bahahahha--20 min from Bethesda to SW DC?? On what route is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - you really should drive the commute a few times in rush hour, in the rain, and the time you would be commuting. I lived in DC for years and then moved to Maryland. Maryland people are crazy in their perception of time and in complete denial when they report commute times. I keep wondering if at some point it will happen to me too

They choose to report on the one time they drove in at 2 am with no traffic, hit all green traffic lights in a row, didn't really count the time getting our of their neighborhood or once they hit the district line and then subtract another 15 minutes.

Yup. It's like people who only count the time they are on the highway, or the time they are on River/Mass etc. I live in friendship heights. No traffic, it takes at least 30 min to drive down to gallery place/judiciary square area. That's NO Traffic. On metro, it takes 40-45 min. OP do the drive you yourself during rush hour--don't listen to these fantasy land posters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

I don't know if the letter scales are different, but in my child's kindergarten class there is a group reading at level A/B/C, a group reading around level D-G, and a group that is reading at H and later.

We moved from DC to MoCo for the schools. To the OP (with respect): get out of DC. I agree with the pp directly above, there are K kids in MoCo that are reading at an D-H (and some above). Your child sounds great - studious, quiet and sweet. In DC, these kids are all but ignored b/c they are considered "fine." Your child would most likely be reading at a higher level in MoCo b/c the teachers will want her to thrive. Also, the services for your younger child will be more robust in Moco. I'm glad we moved and I think you will be too. Good luck.

OP, just be aware that this can happen in MoCo to. It depends on the school and the rest of the kids in the class. We know people whose child was identified as a "high flier" along with a few others. They were given books during reading time and left to their own while teacher worked with kids who were not yet up to speed. It's not bad teaching, just a matter of time. There are only so many hours in the day and the teachers just have to prioritize. May not happen everywhere but it can happen and it may be something to look for if you tour a school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the Op. My rising first grader is studious and shy. She is reading and writing in K. In DC they report reading ability by letter, not sure if it is the same in MoCo? She is reading at level C which is above grade. She is a quiet teacher's pet type. Her younger sister is only 4, it's hard to say. She is less shy, however. Younger one is receiving speech therapy for a phonological delay. I assume (but do not know) that these services are available in MoCo? As far as environment - heck, kids are threatening each other with knives at our inbound ES on the hill (see thread "dump the cluster" under DC public school forum). I guess my standards are fairly low?

I don't know if the letter scales are different, but in my child's kindergarten class there is a group reading at level A/B/C, a group reading around level D-G, and a group that is reading at H and later.

We moved from DC to MoCo for the schools. To the OP (with respect): get out of DC. I agree with the pp directly above, there are K kids in MoCo that are reading at an D-H (and some above). Your child sounds great - studious, quiet and sweet. In DC, these kids are all but ignored b/c they are considered "fine." Your child would most likely be reading at a higher level in MoCo b/c the teachers will want her to thrive. Also, the services for your younger child will be more robust in Moco. I'm glad we moved and I think you will be too. Good luck.

Agreed. We also left DC and came to MoCo for the schools. Our oldest was also an early and voracious reader -- I don't remember the letter, but chapter books at 4, finished all of Harry Potter at 6. In DC we were in a well-regarded charter, but they didn't know what to do with her, and she ended up sitting alone in a corner with books much of the time. We asked for and got an IEP, but they ultimately could not meet her needs -- it would have been unreasonable for us to expect it given that some kids through 1st grade were still learning their letters. In MoCo (W Cluster ES), she was again in the highest reading group in 2nd grade, but she was with a few other kids, which made a huge difference all by itself. For the first time, she could learn how to comprehend, appreciate, critique what she was reading, and have grade-level peers to help her in that process. Our second was also a very early reader, but is shy, and for a time was not in the top reading group. His teacher that year (kindergarten) recognized that he was capable of more, so she pulled him aside to work on comprehension and other skills, so that he could join the top reading group. We loved our kids' school in DC, but given the wide gulf in reading skills in the early years, this kind of attention could never have been given to the kids already reading at a high level.

We didn't know it when we moved here, but MoCo also has a second level of GT programming -- there is a GT program in each school, and a county-level GT program (highly gifted center or HGC) that kids can test into -- takes the top 2-3% of the kids. So whereas in DC, our kids struggled to find grade-level academic peers, they had them in spades in MoCo (both tested into HGC), which has given them challenges they were missing. We miss many things about our community in DC (for one, diversity was much better), but for our kids, academically, it was the right thing to do. We have been very pleased with our kids' experience overall. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I am deeply curious. Are ther GT programs generally available in MoCo ESs? This is one thing we have been asking for on Cap Hill. Have been told it is imposdible (ven laughable to ask) in all of DCPS. We have been told that "differentiation" is the norm, but I have my doubts.