Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

My kids entered kindergarten reading fluently and one was very good at math. For example, the summer before kindergarten (5 years and 3 months), I could ask for the sum of 2 or 3 three digit numbers aloud and he could give the correct answer. If I said, “What’s 923 + 365?” Or same thing but adding a third three digit number, one of my kids could give the correct number. The same kid sat non-bored in FCPS kindergarten counting out pumpkin seeds. I volunteered that day and saw him counting them out by 2s, then 3s, then 5s and then 10s. I am guessing your kid will be ahead of some and on par with a few and behind some, too.

I think this is a great point. We saw something similar. Gifted/advanced kids aren't necessarily going to be bored, they're going to find ways to make connections and extend what they are doing.

The fact that your child is well-mannered and content with being underserved by the school is not cause for celebration. Your child is wonderful, and deserves better.

I think you are overlooking the importance of learning many other things in school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

My kids entered kindergarten reading fluently and one was very good at math. For example, the summer before kindergarten (5 years and 3 months), I could ask for the sum of 2 or 3 three digit numbers aloud and he could give the correct answer. If I said, “What’s 923 + 365?” Or same thing but adding a third three digit number, one of my kids could give the correct number. The same kid sat non-bored in FCPS kindergarten counting out pumpkin seeds. I volunteered that day and saw him counting them out by 2s, then 3s, then 5s and then 10s. I am guessing your kid will be ahead of some and on par with a few and behind some, too.

I think this is a great point. We saw something similar. Gifted/advanced kids aren't necessarily going to be bored, they're going to find ways to make connections and extend what they are doing.

The fact that your child is well-mannered and content with being underserved by the school is not cause for celebration. Your child is wonderful, and deserves better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

My kids entered kindergarten reading fluently and one was very good at math. For example, the summer before kindergarten (5 years and 3 months), I could ask for the sum of 2 or 3 three digit numbers aloud and he could give the correct answer. If I said, “What’s 923 + 365?” Or same thing but adding a third three digit number, one of my kids could give the correct number. The same kid sat non-bored in FCPS kindergarten counting out pumpkin seeds. I volunteered that day and saw him counting them out by 2s, then 3s, then 5s and then 10s. I am guessing your kid will be ahead of some and on par with a few and behind some, too.

I think this is a great point. We saw something similar. Gifted/advanced kids aren't necessarily going to be bored, they're going to find ways to make connections and extend what they are doing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

My kids entered kindergarten reading fluently and one was very good at math. For example, the summer before kindergarten (5 years and 3 months), I could ask for the sum of 2 or 3 three digit numbers aloud and he could give the correct answer. If I said, “What’s 923 + 365?” Or same thing but adding a third three digit number, one of my kids could give the correct number. The same kid sat non-bored in FCPS kindergarten counting out pumpkin seeds. I volunteered that day and saw him counting them out by 2s, then 3s, then 5s and then 10s. I am guessing your kid will be ahead of some and on par with a few and behind some, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

Is that a yes to my question?

Anonymous wrote:Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

OP. My child is at home with me this year for various reasons but I plan to enroll said kid in school in fall of next year or possibly in spring. I taught my child to read when 3y during the pandemic and it was a great gift bc now reading fluently at 6y and enjoys it very much. Finding that while at home it's almost impossible not to accelerate past peers when just doing 2-3 hrs a day of focused, traditional academic activities. My concern is that when said child goes to "real" school, learning will actually slow down bc is too far ahead and also less time per day devoted to actually academic work.

Agree with the poster that it is a golden age of strivers. We are not putting any pressure on our kid. It's just a core value of ours that if a child can learn, they should learn and achieve their potential rather than be idle so as not to get too far ahead.

Are you asking about how parents supplement their FCPS aap child (3rd grade plus), and your child is four or less?

Depends on the student, the student's needs, and the outside load. And as Pettifogger says, during the school year there's a lot less time. We did thirty minutes to an hour most weekdays, not counting the classic-lit-and-history bedtime reading, then one to two hours during the weekend. Summers were more hardcore. Yes, the math textbooks came to the beach house with us.

Eventually we gave up and went private, partially because managing all of the supplementation became a chore as the number of kids we had in FCPS increased. Now we do very little supplementation, and mostly either fun stuff or special needs-oriented, because we trust the private school's curriculum & instructional methodology.

As to how many parents are following that route -- I think only a relative few have entirely written off public school as a source of instruction, but in my neighborhood, there's now a tutoring center in every strip mall.

Anonymous wrote:How many here are essentially teaching their kids math, reading and writing at home and then viewing school as supplementary or like "social time"? My child is not yet in FCPS but given what I hear, I don't have high expectations. I just wondering how I'll keep my child learning if they are spending so much time at school.

It is much more difficult trying to do this during the school year as they're spending 7+ hours in school and need a break at home. If schools taught things efficiently, students could come home after 4-5 hours max.

Summer is usually the best time for them to learn, as they're less distracted and stressed out with lots of activities. Sometimes they can learn a year or more of math during a summer and still have lots of fun and relax with their friends. My kid mentions that they only learn about 1, maaybe 2 hours max worth of material during a school day in elementary school. Yet because of the amount of time spent in class, they will be tired after school. It's an unfortunate dilemma to have to balance out their need for downtime while at the same time realizing that they are capable of learning so much more.

We’ve been pleased with AAP most years. My older DC is consistently outperforming other students who participate in supplemental coursework outside of school.

We do. Public schools everywhere are pretty terrible at meeting the needs/challenging kids that are above average.

It doesn’t take all that much time. Kids doing actual “homeschool” full time for all subjects are only spending about 2 hours (maybe 3 max) on school work. We focus on math, reading and writing and it takes maybe an hour tops daily. I work science and history into reading and writing work

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many here are essentially teaching their kids math, reading and writing at home and then viewing school as supplementary or like "social time"? My child is not yet in FCPS but given what I hear, I don't have high expectations. I just wondering how I'll keep my child learning if they are spending so much time at school.

Good point, especially if you have them involved in a lot of extracurriculars once they do get home. Our kids made great strides in reading and math during the pandemic, being taught at home. FCPS fills in some of the gaps that we might have overlooked since we weren't following a bona fide home school curriculum (just doing our best when virtual school was failing them). And they do enjoy the structure and being with other kids. I look at what we do at home as supplementing and will continue to do so as time allows.

It really is the golden age for strivers.

Whether or not striving translates into future college admissions results remains to be seen as many schools are heavy into considering other factors beyond scores/grades. But providing your child with more knowledge and greater skills than what the schools continue remediate will provide an educational foundation for life that will always set your child apart from their peers. Even if that isn't the goal, it's a good bonus.

Some people will end up naturally smarter or in better positions in life no matter what you do, but you can know that you didn't leave it up to the whims of the political objectives of school board members and activists.

Anonymous wrote:How many here are essentially teaching their kids math, reading and writing at home and then viewing school as supplementary or like "social time"? My child is not yet in FCPS but given what I hear, I don't have high expectations. I just wondering how I'll keep my child learning if they are spending so much time at school.

Good point, especially if you have them involved in a lot of extracurriculars once they do get home. Our kids made great strides in reading and math during the pandemic, being taught at home. FCPS fills in some of the gaps that we might have overlooked since we weren't following a bona fide home school curriculum (just doing our best when virtual school was failing them). And they do enjoy the structure and being with other kids. I look at what we do at home as supplementing and will continue to do so as time allows.

It would be very helpful to receive homework on a daily basis. Instead you find yourself in the dark on what is being taught and how to help your child if they are struggling in any areas.

How many here are essentially teaching their kids math, reading and writing at home and then viewing school as supplementary or like "social time"? My child is not yet in FCPS but given what I hear, I don't have high expectations. I just wondering how I'll keep my child learning if they are spending so much time at school.