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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm the PP parent of two in Robinson Pyramid.  (And, no,  I'm not associated with FCPS other than as a parent).  But, yes, I'm reasonably impressed by the amount and quality of writing instruction in ES (based on K-2nd grade now, my older child was in different school systems for early ES).

My 2nd grader has had daily writing at Laurel Ridge this year and last.  Combination of: a journal that she's really excited about where she's encouraged to write whatever she wants, stacks of these pages that have a box for an illustration and blank lines on front and back (we literally have several hundred of these from the past two years that she wants to "save"--many of them multiple page long stories), and  regular shorter form writing for science, social studies etc.  She has also had multiple writing projects with different friends (heavily influenced by whatever  book series they have both read) that were supported by her teachers both years. So I know it's not just her who is excited about writing. She also says things like "No authors write perfect the first time" and is encouraged to revise/edit (though not required) by comments/feedback from her teacher. I'm impressed that "edit" and "revise" are part of the my 2nd graders understanding of the writing process even if it's a pretty nascent idea of what that means.

They also do more canned grammar, writing activities/worksheets that seem fairly targeted at skills (e.g., highlighting mistakes in sentences, rewriting correct sentences), but the one time I saw this taught in action (I was there a bit early to see a play she was in) it seemed playful --kids would go up to the SMART board one-by-one quickly and "find another mistake" that they could mark and then they were all searching when it seemed like there were no mistakes left but there were (a new concept that was being taught that day). The teacher spent a few minutes showing them the concept and then they did a 5 or so minute worksheet on it.  Seemed effective and fun-ish to me.

I'm not a complete booster of all things FCPS. I don't think there's enough hands-on science in ES and math instruction has been sometimes spotty. But I would say support for reading/writing/critical thinking/analysis has been solid and their art/music/STEAM/foreign language/extracurriculars are strong.

[/quote]

Sorry, but as a teacher I want to say that the writing instruction you describe is sub-par and outdated.  It may be working for your daughter, but I'm sure there are many in the class, most likely boys, who are dying of boredom and not the least bit interested in journal writing with the same worksheet day after day.  This is why parents are such poor judges of schools - they can't recognize poor instruction when they see it, and only look at their own children and not the effect on the class as a whole.  [/quote]

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