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[quote=Anonymous][quote]No, they do not have a reading/writing journal. Well they have a writing journal, but it is never checked and only comes home if I ask my child to bring it home. The reading program in FCPS is very odd. Every child reads a different book and then they discuss all the different books at the same time with the teacher or they each talk a bit about their own book. There is never anything that comes home after the child reads and discusses. It makes no sense to me. The writing program is also very haphazard although every so often a story comes home during the year. We don't see the progress though from one activity to the next like we do with math. This same experience has happened over five teachers.[/quote]

Wow.  I am surprised that FCPS does not have a better model considering all the people at Gatehouse and Fairfax Ridge involved in curriculum!

My son has been out of FCPS for a while, but he had to read at home and write something at home once a week.  He got feedback in the journal that we could see each week.  He did get to choose his own book for that.

I do agree that the writing program in FCPS needs to be better.  There was just not enough writing in general (both creative and expository).  It is lacking for sure.

That said, I don't think multiple choice eCart tests are going to help with writing.  The only way to improve writing is to  . . . write!  And get feedback on your writing.  eCart is very limited in its diagnostic properties.  It can tell you that your child got things wrong, but it can only tell you about specific items tested and lots of things are not covered on those tests.  It also can't tell you WHY your child got those things wrong or whether the items missed are indicative of more categorical weakness or not.  It cannot see or describe what the teacher can see by working with your child.

Of course, with many students in the classroom, it is hard for the teacher to pay enough attention to each child.  This is the big problem and computerized instruction and eCarts can only go so far in addressing that problem.  The teacher is and will always be the best observer of student needs.

Parents need to rally to stop increases in student teacher ratios so that more attention can be given to each student and their parents. [/quote]

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