I've never heard of interim reports at MCPS elementary schools. Does the school actually send home a piece of paper with interim grades on it or is there some online system where you can see them?

Thanks.

I know that the value of the program has debated on this forum in the past but this is a slightly different question.

I'm trying to make a point with my child's (MCPS) teachers that she is quite capable of learning to write well. At this point she consistently gets I's in writing and I'd like her to get some explicit instruction that takes into account her history of learning problems and language disorder.

She qualifies for gifted writers programs at CTY based on last spring's SCAT test results. I interpret this to mean that CTY "thinks" she should be capable of writing well.

I don't think the CTY program is nearly as exclusive as they would like parents to believe but I would like to better understand if the SCAT results have any meaning for her teachers. If it is the case that pretty much every child in her class would pass the CTY cut score then it isn't meaningful. (This is a low FARMS, W feeder type school.)

Thank you.

p.s. - I have no intention of signing her up for a CTY writing program. She took the test because I thought she might enjoy a different summer camp at Sandy Spring. She ended not attending any CTY camps because none of her friends were interested in going.

DCUM has come through for a number of posters lately looking for specific items so hopefully someone has seen this sharpener.

The only place I can find it online is Alibaba and the vendor listed doesn't respond to my requests.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/little-foot-pencil-sharpener_108854466/showimage.html

I bought some several years ago from an online store. It really is a nice to have sharpener for young kids as it sharpens to a rounded point so the pencil tip doesn't break if you press too hard. DD is fixated on getting as she lost one and our backup spare is broken. This would make a great "prize" for her to encourage a few specific behavior changes - but only if I can find a place to buy it.

Thanks!

MCPS feels out who they can bully

This has been our experience as well. Unfortunately it's too easy to make DD uncomfortable while still technically not violating any policy/rule. e.g. a teacher can express sentiments with tone of voice, facial expressions etc that make DD feel singled out out or otherwise uncomfortable.

If it was just between adults, I could just lawyer up to get what the law says I should have. When my child is involved I have to prioritize and with the teacher last year that meant minimizing any requests from parents.

I know another parent who is a very well spoken attorney and she doesn't get pushed around nearly as much. Of course it helps that her child is much less sensitive too.

In Rockville you want to go to Quince Orchard Veterinary hospital and see Dr Felrice. (301) 208-1111

Last year I needed to find care for a sick class hamster and called all around. I got an appt w Dr Felrice but went with Bradley Hills because they had earlier availability. if I had to do it again I probably would have still gone to Bradley Hills to get the antibiotics as soon as possible but then followed up w Dr Felrice at 1st available date. In this case I firmly believe the Bradley Hills vet mis-calculated the dosage - so the lesson is just because they say they see exotic pets doesn't mean they know hamsters.

We had another class pet hamster spend the night at Quince Orchard and the total bill was under $125. so I think $125 exam fee is high.

Has anyone been successful doing this?

OP Here: My experience is that while technically I might have a legal right to something, teachers and administrators can easily make it a battle I don't want to fight by making my child uncomfortable. DD is very sensitive and it doesn't take much in the way of teacher comments or attitude to make it where she is begging me to stop trying to talk to the teacher because it only makes things worse. As introvert, non-confrontational type parents it is also no fun when simple requests like clarify what papers child should have brought home result in us being called to talk to (be talked at by) principal & asst principal about how the request is insulting to the teacher.

I was Googling around and saw a link on the Clarksburg ES http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/clarksburges/staff/staffresources.aspx website for online gradebook access. I clicked on it and got a message saying it's not available during the summer.

Is this something where parents can view their child's grades? I would *love* to have access to this. I tried asking the math teacher to periodically send me information on assignments/assessments because I suspected my child wasn't bringing home all the graded material. (It turned out that the teachers were being very slow at getting papers turned around to go home and I still think some never did make it home.)

When my child does bring home a graded paper there are times I can't figure out what subject is being graded much less what the basis for grading as I or P is. It would also be helpful to know how many items were included to make up a grade on a report card. For example, if a report card "In Process" grade is based on just 2 items then as a parent I wouldn't give that as much weight as one that had more.

Do other elementary schools do a better job of a child's gradebook information with interested parents?

TIA.

IMHO:Teeth in metal comb are not near fine enough for most kid hair. You need to go over it with your thumb nail a small section at a time. If you are looking for evidence, look behind the ears - that seemed to be a "hot" spot for DC's infestations.

OP here - thanks for all the prompt replies. It looks like $35. for 30 min lesson is appropriate.

There's a new head coach for our pool's swim team this summer and she's a bit older/more experienced than the college student coaches I've worked with in the past. I asked her about scheduling private lessons with her for our 9 year old daughter. She said yes she would do it but didn't seem to have a fixed price in mind. I told her that last year we paid $30/30 minute lesson with the head coach but that I recognized she had more experience.

So - what is the appropriate rate to offer/pay?

n.b. we are in the Rockville area in one of the lowest MCSL divisions if it matters.

tia

Darts are part of what makes great fitting adult clothes but sometimes it isn't obvious where/how to put them in. This http://www.ikatbag.com/2010/09/drafting-part-xi-princess-seams-and.html is a resource I find myself going back to regularly.

For something flat and square like shams, bring the pillow (or, even better, an existing sham that fits the pillow) and tell the person at the cutting table what you are trying to do. For flat things like that you can actually lay it down on the fabric to see whats needed.

Regarding #'s 6 & 8:

What sort of help are parents looking for? At our school the parents get the paper work several weeks earlier and so most have it completed and it's usually just a matter of turning it in and having some documents photocopied. (I'm the PTA parent helping with kindergarten orientation and wondering if there's something else we should be doing.)

Regarding #8 - I think parents would be interested in seeing work samples but I'm wondering how this would work with FERPA and other privacy concerns. Are these representative samples pulled by the teacher with identifying information blacked out or did they ask parents in they would be willing to share samples of their child's work?

TIA

p.s. I appreciate the suggestions and welcome other ideas of what would improve the process, particularly things the PTA could do.

DD is 8 and has some developmental challenges including slow processing speed. I've noticed several postings recently suggesting slow processing speed is an indicator for getting checked for attention deficit. She isn't hyper active and I don't think she is overly distracted but she does have a big problem with getting hung up on things like poorly laid out worksheets and poorly written questions where it isn't immediately clear what she is supposed to do. I have been attributing this to her anxiety and problems with rigid thinking. When I googled attention deficit inattentive I got http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2943531/ and the final sentence, "characterized by poor cognitive interference control and slow processing or output speed" is pretty descriptive of DD.

What sort of professional diagnoses attention deficit?Is this something the psychologist that worked with her for psycho-educational testing could do? Slow processing speed is mentioned in the psycho-educational report done last year but there is no mention of attention problems. I don't think we mentioned "cognitive interference control" as a concern but maybe we should have.

I don't know that we'd do anything different if she had the diagnosis but I hear attention deficit a lot in association with schools and her school *really* doesn't "get" her so maybe it would help if she had a diagnosis they are more familiar with.

TIA

I just logged on to post a very similar message. We are paying $104.99 plus taxes (so ~$120.) a month for 15/15 FIOS internet plus land line. We do not have reliable cell phone reception at home so use the landline. I am not opposed to switching to Google Voice or other phone option but there doesn't seem to be a price break with Verizon for dropping phone.

We are in Rockville so cable could be an option but given that we don't want TV there doesn't seem to be a price advantage there.

I called Verizon and they are offering to up our speed to 50/50 for the same price if we sign a 2 year contract. (We are month to month now.) We don't need faster service.

I tried to explore my options with the sales rep and she was not helpful at all. Verizon's new customer rates are significantly lower so I asked about cancelling service and then signing up as a new customer. She said we would have to be without Verizon service for 30 days to get the new customer rate.

We have friends that split their internet bill by sharing wi-fi signal with their next door neighbour. Is that the only way to cut internet costs?

Not MS but sending sympathies your way. Our ES uses "special" planners the PTA helps fund. It's nice that they have lines to write on but the pages are cluttered will all sorts of extra trivia facts and stuff. I think most kids in the class like the fancier ones (as opposed to standard MCPS issue ones) but for *some* kids a design without all the distractions would work so much better. Ugh.