Reply to Extended unexcused absence in APS

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "Extended unexcused absence in APS"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Public elementary schools don’t separate kids by ability anymore, so the bright ones just hang out while all the others are caught up. If your kid is doing well, who cares if they miss a few weeks? They’re probably ahead because you read to them at home anyway. It’s not that hard to figure out how to keep things going while you’re away.[/quote]

I am the poster who keeps talking about Core Knowledge and I am sorry to keep talking about it, but i have to say that this is no longer the case. ELA in elementary school isn't just about "reading skills" anymore, and schools now have a real social studies component. It isn't hard to learn the material, but there is material to be learned. Kids have to write things about things like Ancient Rome and astronomy and Treasure Island, in a way that they can't do without knowing the material. For the first time in a long time, a bright kid who misses a lot of school will actually be a tad behind. I won't pretend that APS is some kind of bastion of quality education but it has improved in terms of cirricula in elementary school.

And one of the reasons I loved core knowledge so much is that *I* learned a lot. I had so much fun learning the material along with my son, and I think a lot of other parents would feel the same way. If OP is going to be keeping her kid away from school this long (which she should because the trip sounds awesome) and is going to read to her child anyway, she might as well choose things her child would have been reading at school. Assuming her child is into it. [/quote]

History, geography, literature, science, etc can be taught in many ways — not just Core Knowledge. While I think the CK curriculum is an improvement over what was previously used (meaning, no curriculum at all), it isn’t perfect. An elderly white man has chosen what IS and is NOT included in the sequence. That’s not entirely positive.

I didn’t mean the child should just read fun books. [b]But reading and writing instruction isn’t really that hard to provide[/b] — whether you use CK or not.[/quote]

I disagree. It is hard to provide, at least if you're talking about *good* reading and writing instruction. I won't get into everything it takes, but just look at how often it is done poorly, even by intelligent and well-resourced individuals and organizations. And we did have a curriculum before, it just sucked, even though people tried hard to make it work.

But the main reason I think that OP should choose core knowledge if she is going to read something academic with her kid is that her child is doing it in school already. Again, her child will be behind when she comes back if she chooses different topics. Perhaps OP doesn't want to read about Mesopotamia and Egypt with her daughter because of lack of interest or a dislike of Ed Hirsch, in which case she should pick something else. But all else being equal, I would just do what the kid will be missing in class.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics