Reply to Is your principal allowing math acceleration and grouping?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]whether you call it algebra or not, my second grader is doing things in math that I never did in second grade.[/quote]

Not to be snarky but did you grow up in Appalachia? This stuff is very, very easy. I doubt that my children will become scientists or math experts when they grow up so it matters less to us but it is pretty bad.

I've volunteered in the classrooms and the kids are bored with this stuff.  Unless its a game that they can keep playing, most kids finish their work without any real effort and are just bored. Some go back to writing work they didn't finish, some do a few extra "enrichment problems" that are not different, and some just do nothing.

My son had never taken more than 5 minutes to finish his math homework all year. His perspective on math is that its easy and boring. I would like to see the school give them something that warrants at least 30 seconds of thought or gets them to actually think about how they can use these strategies or solve a problem. MCPS really messed up on math.

[/quote]
No Ms. I'll Pretend I am Not Being Snarky, When Really I am, I grew up in Westchester County, NY. And when I was in second grade I was not being given problems like this:
There are 37 students on the playground. Some students left. Now there are 15 students. Compose and solve an equation showing how many kids left the playground.
I was not shown a drawing of an irregular shape cut into four unequal parts and asked - Is this divided into fourths? Explain why or why not

Was I asked what is 37-15 in second grade? Yes. But it was not posed to me in a way that required understanding word problems or composing my own equations. My child does not find it difficult to do those problems, but they are still more challenging than what i learned in second grade, and they introduce concepts that were not introduced in second grade, which was my point in posting. And second graders shouldn't be spending more than 20 minutes on all homework - math facts, spelling review, and any worksheets. So, 5 minutes on the math homework sounds fine. It is not developmentally appropriate to give second graders homework that takes a long time to complete. Cuz ya know what? It is  still only second grade. They don't need to be doing trigonometry when they are 8.

And if the entire class is finishing the work so quickly, and the are all as bored as you say, that is a teacher or implementation issue, not a curriculum issue. If the whole class finds it so boring and easy, the whole class should be getting enrichment or acceleration. Are they? 
I have heard parents make this math is too easy complaint, and when I ask if their child is getting the enrichment instruction, they ask me "what's that? How would I know?" 
A lot of people bitch and moan about the curriculum when their real complaint is about the teacher or school implementation of the curriculum.[/quote]

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