s/o Are these standards to hard for Kindergarten students?

[Anonymous]

"Perhaps the greatest crime is that they are succeeding in making children hate school, and by extension learning, at an even earlier age than ever. Until this year, I've never had former students return to tell me they hate kindergarten. For the first time, when parents ask for my opinion, I'm reluctant to recommend our local public school."

http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/this-is-child-abuse.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Facebook group:

Common Core Children Hate School



AND

http://eagnews.org/common-cores-impact-the-first-picture-of-my-daughter-i-ever-hated/

Common Core’s impact: The first picture of my daughter I ever hated


. My kindergartner and my 4th grader were already finished with their homework and had left the table. I had brought my camera in to work on my white balance skills while shooting in low light as I had a session the next morning to prep for.

After checking her work, I had found 2 math problems were incorrect. I tried to help her understand where she went wrong through her process but I don’t understand it myself and was not much help.

I told her to forget about it and we’d try again tomorrow but she became very upset that she could not get the answer and kept trying and trying to fix it. She is hard on herself as she very much wants to excel in school and not be pulled for extra help all of the time. I was talking to her and clicking my camera as I changed settings … it’s something that is very common in our household … and that is when I caught this image.

My daughter is incredibly strong. My daughter is a 4-year cancer survivor. She is a fighter with a resilient spirit. It crushes me to see her cry; to see her struggle. My daughter deserves a happy childhood.

Please know that 5 minutes later I had convinced her to leave the homework behind and go snuggle with her dad on the couch and watch some Olympics coverage. She is not neglected. She was not abused or left alone to cry. And this photo was not staged.

And your point? Some people are unhappy. Everyone is not going to be happy. Again, they are unhappy with CURRICULUM - I.e. the methods and content used to teach kids to reach the standards. That does not mean there is anything wrong with the standards themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you recommending that a Kindergartner who cannot count be given the same work as the kid who can add?

No. The kindergartener who can't count should be given extra help, intensive help, to help him meet the grade level standard. In some cases, it may be appropriate to retain him.

[Anonymous]

in response to 21:10:

That letter from the K teacher is so sad. I taught K years ago. I had a very diverse group of kids who came I on many different levels. This was a half day K. I was allowed to use my own judgment, experience, and creativity to teach these kids . Mostly I taught through games, music, play, and I read aloud lots and lots of books. We wrote stories together in a group. The kids all painted at an easel at least once a week. I taught measuring and math with very simple “recipes”. I think the kids had fun. And, by the end of the year, all of them (except one who had a learning disability) could read basic sight words and sound out simple words. They could all count to 100 and most could add to ten.
Had there been the pressure to test, I’m not sure I would have been allowed to teach in this way. These kids did not know how to fill in a bubble. And, I did not teach them that “skill”.
Is this what we have lost? It’s a shame. I strongly believe we are creating a nation of robots. The Common Core supporters claim that we are teaching them to think critically. I think you learn a lot more critical thinking outside of a bubble test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
http://eagnews.org/common-cores-impact-the-first-picture-of-my-daughter-i-ever-hated/

Common Core’s impact: The first picture of my daughter I ever hated


. My kindergartner and my 4th grader were already finished with their homework and had left the table. I had brought my camera in to work on my white balance skills while shooting in low light as I had a session the next morning to prep for.

After checking her work, I had found 2 math problems were incorrect. I tried to help her understand where she went wrong through her process but I don’t understand it myself and was not much help.

I told her to forget about it and we’d try again tomorrow but she became very upset that she could not get the answer and kept trying and trying to fix it. She is hard on herself as she very much wants to excel in school and not be pulled for extra help all of the time. I was talking to her and clicking my camera as I changed settings … it’s something that is very common in our household … and that is when I caught this image.

My daughter is incredibly strong. My daughter is a 4-year cancer survivor. She is a fighter with a resilient spirit. It crushes me to see her cry; to see her struggle. My daughter deserves a happy childhood.

Please know that 5 minutes later I had convinced her to leave the homework behind and go snuggle with her dad on the couch and watch some Olympics coverage. She is not neglected. She was not abused or left alone to cry. And this photo was not staged.

Very sad story.

Also please note -- New York. There is something horrible going on in New York. It's not Common Core.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in response to 21:10:

That letter from the K teacher is so sad. I taught K years ago. I had a very diverse group of kids who came I on many different levels. This was a half day K. I was allowed to use my own judgment, experience, and creativity to teach these kids . Mostly I taught through games, music, play, and I read aloud lots and lots of books. We wrote stories together in a group. The kids all painted at an easel at least once a week. I taught measuring and math with very simple “recipes”. I think the kids had fun. And, by the end of the year, all of them (except one who had a learning disability) could read basic sight words and sound out simple words. They could all count to 100 and most could add to ten.
Had there been the pressure to test, I’m not sure I would have been allowed to teach in this way. These kids did not know how to fill in a bubble. And, I did not teach them that “skill”.
Is this what we have lost? It’s a shame. I strongly believe we are creating a nation of robots. The Common Core supporters claim that we are teaching them to think critically. I think you learn a lot more critical thinking outside of a bubble test.

If you could teach this way, and yet meet most of the standards expected at the end of K (and sounds like your kids did) then what's the problem?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“(My son) began to absolutely hate school, he hated math and he became very discouraged,” she said. “He started having anxiety issues. He refused to get out of my car when I dropped him off. He would have stomach aches, frequent headaches and he would ask me, ‘Mom, do I have to go to school today?’ In kindergarten.”

http://examiner-enterprise.com/news/local-news/citizens-speak-out-against-common-core-town-hall-meeting#sthash.6C0QvLvB.dpuf

I do feel sorry for this kid if this is a true story. But my K doesn't have this problem. What % of K feel this way vs the way my DC feels? I don't know the answer. But just because some kids are not able to keep up, it doesn't mean that we should dumb the curriculum down. There will always be some % of kids that cannot keep up. I'm not saying we should just give up on these kids. We should do as much as we can. But setting low expectations is not the way to approach any kind of achievement gap.

[Anonymous]

OP here

I started this thread as a spin off of the Common Core thread because I really wanted feedback on the K standards.

I don't think they are inappropriate at all. It sounds like most people don't except for a few people who think that there are just too many of them to teach in a year? And that little kids can't learn words like "author" and "illustrator"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: 90 minutes of reading, 75 minutes of math, and 75 minutes of science. We have 20 minutes scheduled for writing and 20 minutes for social studies, but I rarely get to those two subject areas because our reading time takes up the whole morning. We are using a guided reading with rotating centers.

Our school days is 9-3:45. Our snack time is 15 minutes long in the afternoon. The 15 minutes that we use for snack is actually part of our science time. We use FOSS (Full Option Science System) for science.

Nowhere in the Common Core State Standards are teachers told how long they must have for math and reading and science.

Those rules come from the State Board of Education.

I think it is high time that the State Boards step back from micromanaging teachers and class schedules with a set time period for instruction.

That was necessary perhaps back when teachers weren't being evaluated in part by student test scores, and when teachers didn't have to follow Common Core Standards. But if we teachers are expected to bring our students up to meet the standards, we need to have the freedom to choose how to spend our time best, doing that.

Eliminate State interference in the class schedule! That's what people should be up in arms about.

Amen, PP! That's what I've been saying. Most state boards are made up of highly partisan political appointees who don't know a damned thing about how to educate kids, but know a lot about bureaucracy and their sanctimonious "beliefs.". I am going private, they are adopting the standards, and I expect all to be well because they don't have some political hacks telling them how to teach all day. I realize not everyone can go private, but those who are in public are misidentifying the problem. Common Core is just what they've all heard about from equally ignorant and inflammatory radio and TV commentators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
http://eagnews.org/common-cores-impact-the-first-picture-of-my-daughter-i-ever-hated/

Common Core’s impact: The first picture of my daughter I ever hated


. My kindergartner and my 4th grader were already finished with their homework and had left the table. I had brought my camera in to work on my white balance skills while shooting in low light as I had a session the next morning to prep for.

After checking her work, I had found 2 math problems were incorrect. I tried to help her understand where she went wrong through her process but I don’t understand it myself and was not much help.

I told her to forget about it and we’d try again tomorrow but she became very upset that she could not get the answer and kept trying and trying to fix it. She is hard on herself as she very much wants to excel in school and not be pulled for extra help all of the time. I was talking to her and clicking my camera as I changed settings … it’s something that is very common in our household … and that is when I caught this image.

My daughter is incredibly strong. My daughter is a 4-year cancer survivor. She is a fighter with a resilient spirit. It crushes me to see her cry; to see her struggle. My daughter deserves a happy childhood.

Please know that 5 minutes later I had convinced her to leave the homework behind and go snuggle with her dad on the couch and watch some Olympics coverage. She is not neglected. She was not abused or left alone to cry. And this photo was not staged.

Very sad story.

Also please note -- New York. There is something horrible going on in New York. It's not Common Core.

This is so SAD. Kids should not be crying doing homework.

[Anonymous]

The hardest standards, I think, are the ones that say by the end of the year K students should be able to know a sound for each letter.

Do you think that is too hard, for your average kindergarten student, by the end of the year? Assume perhaps that they can make a few mistakes... and that this won't be tested on a bubble in standardized test but is a goal for the end of K. Not that they are sounding out words, yet, but that they at least have a basic understanding that "t" says /t/ and "m" says /m/... do you think most kindergarten kids should be able to do that?

I teach low SES ESOL kids,and out of all my 10 K kids, 8 know their basic letter sounds (including some short vowels but not all). Of those 8, 2 of them are letter perfect and can sound out simple CVC words; and 6 of them have the basic idea and most but not all sounds. (w/y confusion etc.)

Of the 2 who really don't have all their sounds, they have about 1/4 of them. One child is being held back a year and will repeat K again (most likely), and one is being referred for LD evaluation.

So if my ESOL kids can mostly master this standard, I think it should be pretty appropriate for English speaking kids as well. But what do you think?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: 90 minutes of reading, 75 minutes of math, and 75 minutes of science. We have 20 minutes scheduled for writing and 20 minutes for social studies, but I rarely get to those two subject areas because our reading time takes up the whole morning. We are using a guided reading with rotating centers.

Our school days is 9-3:45. Our snack time is 15 minutes long in the afternoon. The 15 minutes that we use for snack is actually part of our science time. We use FOSS (Full Option Science System) for science.

Nowhere in the Common Core State Standards are teachers told how long they must have for math and reading and science.

Those rules come from the State Board of Education.

I think it is high time that the State Boards step back from micromanaging teachers and class schedules with a set time period for instruction.

That was necessary perhaps back when teachers weren't being evaluated in part by student test scores, and when teachers didn't have to follow Common Core Standards. But if we teachers are expected to bring our students up to meet the standards, we need to have the freedom to choose how to spend our time best, doing that.

Eliminate State interference in the class schedule! That's what people should be up in arms about.

Amen, PP! That's what I've been saying. Most state boards are made up of highly partisan political appointees who don't know a damned thing about how to educate kids, but know a lot about bureaucracy and their sanctimonious "beliefs.". I am going private, they are adopting the standards, and I expect all to be well because they don't have some political hacks telling them how to teach all day. I realize not everyone can go private, but those who are in public are misidentifying the problem. Common Core is just what they've all heard about from equally ignorant and inflammatory radio and TV commentators.

How many classroom teachers were involved in the State Board of Education decision to make reading 90 minutes and only 10 minutes for recess? Where's the transparency there??

I wish all these people up in arms against Common Core would be up in arms against mandatory scheduling from the state dept.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But I thought standardized testing didn't start until 3rd grade. Is it in kindergarden now?

Oh. So the standards don't matter until they are in third? And, then they have to work,work, work?

This was in response to the PP who said

"Great! Can we test him on the 90 standards then, for hours and hours? Hold him back if he doesn't pass? Cancel his art and music and gym? Force him to go to summer school?"

which implied to me that these tests are occurring in kindergarden. SOrry for the misunderstanding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: 90 minutes of reading, 75 minutes of math, and 75 minutes of science. We have 20 minutes scheduled for writing and 20 minutes for social studies, but I rarely get to those two subject areas because our reading time takes up the whole morning. We are using a guided reading with rotating centers.

Our school days is 9-3:45. Our snack time is 15 minutes long in the afternoon. The 15 minutes that we use for snack is actually part of our science time. We use FOSS (Full Option Science System) for science.

Nowhere in the Common Core State Standards are teachers told how long they must have for math and reading and science.

Those rules come from the State Board of Education.

I think it is high time that the State Boards step back from micromanaging teachers and class schedules with a set time period for instruction.

That was necessary perhaps back when teachers weren't being evaluated in part by student test scores, and when teachers didn't have to follow Common Core Standards. But if we teachers are expected to bring our students up to meet the standards, we need to have the freedom to choose how to spend our time best, doing that.

Eliminate State interference in the class schedule! That's what people should be up in arms about.

Amen, PP! That's what I've been saying. Most state boards are made up of highly partisan political appointees who don't know a damned thing about how to educate kids, but know a lot about bureaucracy and their sanctimonious "beliefs.". I am going private, they are adopting the standards, and I expect all to be well because they don't have some political hacks telling them how to teach all day. I realize not everyone can go private, but those who are in public are misidentifying the problem. Common Core is just what they've all heard about from equally ignorant and inflammatory radio and TV commentators.

How many classroom teachers were involved in the State Board of Education decision to make reading 90 minutes and only 10 minutes for recess? Where's the transparency there??

I wish all these people up in arms against Common Core would be up in arms against mandatory scheduling from the state dept.

seems to me each school does it differently. My DCs get 30min of recess, not 10. I think part of the problem is that school hours are too short in some districts. A lot of schools are making their school hours longer. Not a bad idea. Doesn't MoCo have one of the shortest school hours per day in MD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

But I thought standardized testing didn't start until 3rd grade. Is it in kindergarden now?

Oh. So the standards don't matter until they are in third? And, then they have to work,work, work?

This was in response to the PP who said

"Great! Can we test him on the 90 standards then, for hours and hours? Hold him back if he doesn't pass? Cancel his art and music and gym? Force him to go to summer school?"

which implied to me that these tests are occurring in kindergarden. SOrry for the misunderstanding.

You mean Miss Sarcastic, Hyperventilating Hyperbole? Don't fall for her trap.