Anonymous
Post 12/09/2013 08:46     Subject: Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

I have a similar problem. DD is LD but accelerated in math and I've always worried that she was accelerated too much. Now she's in Algebra I and struggling a bit -- not horribly, but enough that we want to be on top of it.

I asked for a copy of the curriculum and how it ties in to textbook so that I can possibly get a tutor to help her out.

The teacher said there's NO curriculum for 2nd semester -- it's still being written! -- and the one for the first semester is extremely general. What's more, almost none of it corresponds to the textbook, which she can't even use much anymore. It's all worksheets. So there's no way for us to go over the material with her at home or instruct a tutor on what to review with her, other than to provide the homework/worksheets. No way to see what the methods are that they are teaching.

I am really upset about this -- not at the teacher, who is doing her best, but at the county for throwing kids into this situation before the curriculum is finished.
Anonymous
Post 12/08/2013 22:17     Subject: Re:Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/math/math-resources.aspx

Does this help? Sorry PP here, didn't read entire page of your request. Don't look if it takes too long.
mabodie
Post 12/08/2013 20:29     Subject: Re:Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

OP here - sorry the link didn't come through my formatting attempts correctly.

The link is http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/travilahes/newsletter/parentnewsletter.aspx which is for all grades of the C2.0 newsletters.
Anonymous
Post 12/08/2013 19:22     Subject: Re:Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

Anonymous wrote:http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/elementary/parent-guide-curriculum2.0-grade2-en.pdf

I did not read beyond the first sentence of your request. But this is online. You can get more info about other grades. I put in "curriculum 2.0 Montgomery County Schools grade 2" to get this.


How the HELL does the link you posted help OP reinforce the math her child is doing in school? Do you even know the content of the link you supplied? Point out to us where that link supplies useful information for OP.

OP, I could've written your post, but my dd is 3rd grade. Wish we were friends. I'm trying to figure it out too. Looking at private at this point, hoping for more access or transparency, or different math curriculum altogether. DD struggles with math, has slow processing, APD, anxiety/OCD. School failing to act in timely fashion to help, as she falls behind.

Good luck to you!!!!
Anonymous
Post 12/08/2013 18:38     Subject: Re:Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/elementary/parent-guide-curriculum2.0-grade2-en.pdf

I did not read beyond the first sentence of your request. But this is online. You can get more info about other grades. I put in "curriculum 2.0 Montgomery County Schools grade 2" to get this.
mabodie
Post 12/08/2013 18:23     Subject: Is it possible to get MCPS Curriculum 2.0 instruction in written format?

I'm fairly certain it is a valid accommodation request to get instructional materials in written (i.e. not verbal) format for kids with learning challenges in areas such as receptive language processing and auditory processing. My question is whether anyone actually has this now in a MCPS elementary school and what it looks like. I'm most interested in 2nd grade math but would welcome any input.

Some background: Last year (when DD was in 1st grade) I looked at getting a copy of the curriculum to help better understand what child would be needing to know in the near future. (Pre-teaching and introducing "new" language - e.g. "personal narrative" - at home before she sees it at school helps her anxiety and reduces the impact of her processing problems.) What I learned was that basically no parent was getting it, even if they had attorneys involved, because it didn't exist in any format that could be shared. The curriculum material that did exist was hard for the teachers to use and they were figuring it out as they went.

We are now having a problem in 2nd grade math. The home work comes home with instructions along the line of "solve these problems using the techniques shown in class" which is not sufficient when the child (due to various processing challenges) can't reliably explain to the parents what the teacher did in class and the parents are supposed to help make sure homework is done correctly. I would *love* to have a text book where I could read ahead and see where they were going with a lesson but that isn't going to happen. I've tried googling around and I see the MCPS (http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/travilahes/newsletter/parentnewsletter.aspx] "parent newsletters" ) describing the curriculum but I need more detail than that.

For example, if they were still doing stacked addition, as a parent I would know to emphasis that it is important to keep your numbers neatly aligned vertically because as you start using bigger numbers it makes a difference in being able to regroup effectively. In the case of the base 10 models they use now, if I'd known they would still be using them months later and for even bigger numbers, I would have been fussier about needing to group the little dots used to represent 1s so you can easily see which ones are crossed out and how many remain. We try to review with her the thinking process used but when what we say doesn't match what the teacher actually demonstrated then that makes for even more confusion (i.e. less learning) for DD. If we had the material for what was done in class in written format, then my child could read that on her own and possibly wouldn't even need parent help. (She understands and remembers things she has read way better than things she hears verbally. She also understands and remembers things she has seen in a peaceful setting way better than those things she only sees in the classroom setting.)

At this point, I don't want to go to the effort to get an accommodation if the result is going to be that I stir things up in our relationship with the school and still end up without anything useful. On the other hand, if someone said they had requested something similar and was then able to get some really helpful material, I would make the request.

Thanks in advance.