Reply to TJ parents - would your kid do it again? Best tips for success for a positive experience?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Another family who would not do it again. We did not let younger sibling even apply to TJ (even though sibling was in precalc in 8th grade). Stuck with base school and couldn’t be happier.

TJ is for the quirky kids but it also attracts lots of quirky teachers. We struggled with a lot of the teachers. Assumed kids were smart and could teach themselves. One math teacher only demonstrated about 6 math problems for a whole quarter. No thanks - don’t need to feed into the “prestige” of TJ while paying $$$ for tutors to actually teach the kids.[/quote]

I think you are exaggerating a bit there.. [b]what do you think students do for the whole math period if the teacher doesn't teach, as you claim? [/b]Many motivated high schoolers (certainly TJ attendees), are definitely capable of teaching themselves, by reading the assigned book material or course notes, looking things up online, or asking teachers for help when stuck. These are some of the most important skills for students to learn well before heading to college.

If you had to pay $$$ for tutors for your older child, it might mean that they may not have been ready to learn at a TJ/college pace. Or maybe they were pushed too far ahead, too quickly. Your younger sibling seems to be very accelerated if they're doing precalc in 8th grade. If I see this level of acceleration as a parent, I would definitely want to make sure that they have learned the material well without gaps. Here's another question: If your younger sibling took precalc in 8th, what math classes will they take and what will they learn at their base high school?[/quote]

+1000

It is complete nonsense when people say math teachers dont teach at TJ. It is the exact opposite. They are incredible teachers because they encourage students to discover mathematical concepts by themselves by asking questions instead of showing them how to solve a problem. That is precisely the strength of TJ.

This takes a lot of effort on the teachers part. Many are used to the Curie style of giving an example problem first and then asking students to do variations on that problem. Which teaches speed and accuracy but little actual understanding.

That is why so many parents who put their child at Curie complain "they dont teach math". It is a near certainty that the parent above put their child in Curie. This is so predictable.

[/quote]

I am the PP who made the comment about the TJ math teacher only teaching 6 math problems a quarter.

I absolutely did NOT put my child in Curie and I resent the accusation. [b]We did no prep for TJ[/b] (yes, it was when admissions was based on a test).

DC loved math and excelled at it until he got to TJ. He is bright, but not the type to pick up Linear Algebra by himself without some instruction. And let’s not forget these are HS students, not college students who need to teach themselves or camp outside of a professors office for office hours.

Our solution was to take math classes at NOVA DE vs taking them at TJ with their crappy math teachers. Shocker - DC loved math again, is doing great so far in his 3 university math classes at a university that does proof based math. Glad to be rid of TJ.

For the PP who’s DCs math teacher has not entered grades in grade book. There is a FCPS regulation that TJ teachers seem to think they’re exempt from requiring grades being entered into grade book in a timely manner. I’ve had this conversation with math dept before. [/quote]

I am not referring to prep for TJ exam at all. I am referring to the teaching style that is followed by Curie and others like them.

The way they teach is exact copy of how they teach in India. It is diametrically opposite to how it should be taught and taught at TJ. I was on a meeting with TJ principal and about 100 or so parents and this same concern you mentioned was asked again and again.

[b]In math you should always give the student a first shot at solving the problem by themselves without even teaching them the theory. The student discovers the theory by themselves. A very tough ask of the student AND the teacher, because the teacher should only try to get the student to the answer by asking them questions, not giving them tips or show steps in solving the problem.

If you do this way, you have less need for repetition and students understand the material better.

Curie does the opposite. It starts with 3-4 examples then the students see the pattern and imitate those steps to solve the problem. The students understanding is shaky at best in this case. The moment you give them a twist on the problem, they say "we were never taught this material in class."[/b]

I see this with every single kid who was at Curie or similar type of class.
[/quote]

DP. 
This is the dumbest thing I have read in a while.[/quote]

I mean, all they're saying is that one method teaches kids how to do problems while the other method encourages them to figure out how to solve them on their own.

[b]Curie's methods are why you had reports of kids crying on their way out of the exam in the first year that FCPS used the Quant-Q.[/b]

There's very limited value in producing a large volume of students who only have the ability to do work that they've already been shown how to do.[/quote]
Your obsession with Curie and fake narratives![/quote]

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