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[quote=Anonymous]I am the parent of a current Potomac 1st grader.  He entered in K, and our 1+ years have been fantastic.  My son is truly excited every morning about going to school -- that's what I hoped for.  I'll try to answer your specific questions.

1.  The teachers in K and 1 do a great job of keeping all children engaged in reading.  Reading/ writing is the main academic focus of these two years.  The teachers use the Lucy Calkins method for writing -- I encourage you to read her book for parents (available on Amazon).  It's fascinating.  Most teachers have attended special seminars at Columbia Teachers College focused on these methods.  What that means in K and 1 is that all children write in a daily journal -- the Ks who are not yet writing by themselves label their pictures with letters.  I was amazed at the progress my son made -- writing pages by the end of the year.  These actitivities are really what propelled him forward in reading.  The teachers got the kids so excited about the writing process that my son often wrote all sorts of creative things at home.  The teachers really work hard together to come up with very interesting and fun things to keep the children engaged and not feeling like they are having a "reading lesson."  There are three reading specialists in addition to the classroom teachers -- one for K, one for K/1, and one for 2/3.  In K, each child spent time with the reading specialists.  I know that a small group of very advanced readers (fluently reading more complicated chapter books to themselves) were pulled out for a one a week special session.  Likewise, a group of Ks who entered with lower abilities were pulled out to work with a reading specialist much more frequently.  In 1st grade, the children have reading groups and spend time reading with another child/ children at their same ability level.  I've been told these groups are very fluid and change as children make leaps forward.  That being said, Potomac is also big on keeping the lower school a very happy learning environment and not having students be competitive with each other, so the teachers do a great job of making it seem like all the class is basically doing the same thing.  I can honestly say that, while I know where my son falls comparatively in reading level (per discussions at parent/ teacher conference), he has no idea that some students are in a "higher" or "lower" group.

2.  Potomac uses the Everday Math curriculum in Lower School.  There's a lot of information both pro and con on the internet about this program.  I think it all comes down to how good the teachers are who are using it.  Sarah Coste, the Math Specialist, is amazing.  She is passionate about teaching math to the kids and really loves what tshe does.[/quote]

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