Learning Pod, how to join one?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a great idea, how can we join one? Is there a listing somewhere?

[Anonymous]

You have to make friends who would trust your family around their kid, and have enough money to help you afford a quality tutor. If you don't know any people like this, prepare to be left out.

[Anonymous]

ugh, I actually want to just hire a tutor, but am hitting a wall here.
DC is entering 6th grade, so does he need one tutor per subject? So confusing, it doesnt help that as an immigrant, I didnt go through american school system so I dont know what to expect from MS.
I tried his 5th grade teacher, but she said she cant tutor within her pyramid. I checked Nexdoor for my area and no teachers there. I guess i'll keep looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh, I actually want to just hire a tutor, but am hitting a wall here.
DC is entering 6th grade, so does he need one tutor per subject? So confusing, it doesnt help that as an immigrant, I didnt go through american school system so I dont know what to expect from MS.
I tried his 5th grade teacher, but she said she cant tutor within her pyramid. I checked Nexdoor for my area and no teachers there. I guess i'll keep looking.

You could just give your child the opportunity to achieve on his own like a normal person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh, I actually want to just hire a tutor, but am hitting a wall here.
DC is entering 6th grade, so does he need one tutor per subject? So confusing, it doesnt help that as an immigrant, I didnt go through american school system so I dont know what to expect from MS.
I tried his 5th grade teacher, but she said she cant tutor within her pyramid. I checked Nexdoor for my area and no teachers there. I guess i'll keep looking.

Find your local moms group and post there as well as NextDoor that you are looking for a tutor for a rising 6th grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh, I actually want to just hire a tutor, but am hitting a wall here.
DC is entering 6th grade, so does he need one tutor per subject? So confusing, it doesnt help that as an immigrant, I didnt go through american school system so I dont know what to expect from MS.
I tried his 5th grade teacher, but she said she cant tutor within her pyramid. I checked Nexdoor for my area and no teachers there. I guess i'll keep looking.

Are you looking for a tutor for enrichment or to help with weaknesses or both?

For example, I'm confident my 7th grader will do well in math without outside assistance. We did sign up for ixl.com in the spring for extra work. So we don't feel like we need to pay for a tutor there.
However, with English and writing assignments, he needs assistance. We already have a writing tutor who can broadly help in in that arena. Over this summer she's giving him enrichment activities to work on and we might go up to 2x a week with her this fall.

I would focus on specific needs as opposed to trying to cover everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh, I actually want to just hire a tutor, but am hitting a wall here.
DC is entering 6th grade, so does he need one tutor per subject? So confusing, it doesnt help that as an immigrant, I didnt go through american school system so I dont know what to expect from MS.
I tried his 5th grade teacher, but she said she cant tutor within her pyramid. I checked Nexdoor for my area and no teachers there. I guess i'll keep looking.

Teacher here who tutors middle school students in MCPS. Your fifth grade teacher is incorrect. In MCPS she 100 can tutor students in the same cluster so long as there isn't a chance of the student attending the school where your child attends. So a fifth grade teacher could tutor an older student, but a high school teacher could not tutor a younger student. I wouldn't hire one tutor per subject. That would get very expensive quickly. If I were you, I would identify what specific aspects of education you want a tutor to focus on. Organization, executive functioning, written comprehension, frontloading math content, etc. Could also try the department heads at the middle school to see if they have any specific recommendations for tutors.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thank you everyone for amazing ideas!
I didnt want to press our 5th grade teacher on the issue (heard the same thing as stated above), just in case she was using this as an "out" for not teaching my particular child (you never know)
DC needs more help in math than anything else, but I think I am also anxious because MS is uncharted territory in terms of expectations, organization and actual teaching (like I have no clue what Science is? We were taught Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Geography separately).
Thank you for department head suggestion!

[Anonymous]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/22/huge-problem-with-education-pandemic-pods-suddenly-popping-up/

[Anonymous]

https://www.cognitoforms.com/CnOfGermantown/BACKTOSCHOOLMCPSVIRTUALLEARNINGPARENTNEEDSSURVEY

got this from code ninjas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you everyone for amazing ideas!
I didnt want to press our 5th grade teacher on the issue (heard the same thing as stated above), just in case she was using this as an "out" for not teaching my particular child (you never know)
DC needs more help in math than anything else, but I think I am also anxious because MS is uncharted territory in terms of expectations, organization and actual teaching (like I have no clue what Science is? We were taught Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Geography separately).
Thank you for department head suggestion!

Honestly, nothing in ES is that important other than math and an ability to read. So, hire a math tutor and make sure your DC reads a lot during the school year and can talk about the books he/she is reading (whether or not they are assigned by school). As long as an ES kid can read and derive meaning from text, then they are getting what is important.

If you're really concerned about history, try and find some historical fiction to read. But, again, nothing you learn in ES history is critical to doing well in later years.

[Anonymous]

OP, also consider Aristotle Circle to find a tutor. I have used them in the past for Algebra and Spanish (middle school). Also, call the math department (or English, science, etc) at any of the local universities and ask how you can connect with a undergrad or grad student to tutor. Most college students can tutor (reinforce content, help with homework) on most 6th grade subjects. This will be less expensive than hiring a MCPS teacher, which I would only do for ES or if you want someone to teach new content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you everyone for amazing ideas!
I didnt want to press our 5th grade teacher on the issue (heard the same thing as stated above), just in case she was using this as an "out" for not teaching my particular child (you never know)
DC needs more help in math than anything else, but I think I am also anxious because MS is uncharted territory in terms of expectations, organization and actual teaching (like I have no clue what Science is? We were taught Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Geography separately).
Thank you for department head suggestion!

You don't need to hire a tutor to find out what the 6th grade science curriculum is

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, DC is entering MS. If he was still in ES, I wouldnt really worry, but MS actually matters.
Thank you for other suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thank you everyone for amazing ideas!
I didnt want to press our 5th grade teacher on the issue (heard the same thing as stated above), just in case she was using this as an "out" for not teaching my particular child (you never know)
DC needs more help in math than anything else, but I think I am also anxious because MS is uncharted territory in terms of expectations, organization and actual teaching (like I have no clue what Science is? We were taught Physics/Biology/Chemistry/Geography separately).
Thank you for department head suggestion!

Honestly, nothing in ES is that important other than math and an ability to read. So, hire a math tutor and make sure your DC reads a lot during the school year and can talk about the books he/she is reading (whether or not they are assigned by school). As long as an ES kid can read and derive meaning from text, then they are getting what is important.

If you're really concerned about history, try and find some historical fiction to read. But, again, nothing you learn in ES history is critical to doing well in later years.

Honestly, the reason people should be looking for pods is not so that they can complete MCPS homework, it is so they can see other kids (not to mention do things that are neglected by MCPS (cursive, spelling, grammar, history, science, FL, memorize poetry, etc.). Please don't listen to the PP and waste your child's time or their desire to learn while they do the bare minimum expected by MCPS.