Reply to HGC 4th grade this year

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Both my kids are in hgc and magnet. They are bright, respectful, focused, social, normal kids. The reason they are in these programs are because as an East Indian parent I find the curriculum in mcps severely lacking as compared to that offered in private schools in India. Hgc and magnets in mcps actually does a semi decent job in my opinion.

So if mcps decides to implement the hgc and magnet standards and curriculum to the entire student population and close hgc and magnets, I won't object.   I think that will still not be the bench mark as compared to other nations, but it will be in the respectable range.

[/quote]

I am also Indian with a kid in a hgc and a middle school magnet.  I agree with your comments about the regular MCPS curriculum (including their "advanced" MS offerings).  However, I disagree with your comments about the HGC and especially the MS magnets.  My child is reading books and doing projects that require a lot of critical thinking, in depth research and advanced writing skills.  I do not recollect doing work at this level when I was in my (excellent) private school (comparing our experiences for the same grade).  
I agree with a PP who thought that if the curriculum was introduced in the regular middle schools (even for advanced learners) it would get watered down.  I also think most children (and their parents) would chafe under the work load - it is not unusual to have a research paper, a couple of presentations, a video project and a couple of tests all due in a single week and this is on top of your regular homework.  The kids at the middle and High school magnets are selected because they need the enriched curriculum and thrive under the atmosphere of high expectations.  The peer group is another reason why it is hard to reproduce the magnet experience in a regular school - the peer group just can't be reproduced.  I used to wish my children could stay in their home schools and just get the HGC/magnet curriculum but once your child attends the programs you understand why it just would not be the same.  The peer group makes a huge difference.  It allows the teachers to move quickly, to dig deeper and make connections across disciplines.  It makes it possible for a class of 25 children to spend half an hour discussing one paragraph in Fahrenheit 451 as dc's class did last year in sixth grade.  
I am very impressed by and grateful for the magnet programs MCPS offers and more than a little nervous about the impact of Common Core.  [/quote]

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