Anonymous wrote:If he didn’t have to write essays, it’s not a rigorous school. Which is good news! They will be much more willing to work with you.

Do rigorous schools have student essays for Middle School admissions? I thought that started in HS admissions.

Anonymous wrote:First stop would be your child's teachers, the resource teachers and possibly the school psychologist (Does he want to be there? Is he struggling socially, as well? Stress outside of school?).

It sounds like he will need some basic tutoring with a writing and English teacher. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations. Hopefully the school does. Good luck.

Agree with this. I’m surprised that a kid in AAP is this far behind in ELA, but there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Most of what you mentioned is fixable in a short period of time with a little effort. Phonics and grammar lessons will get him spelling and using basic punctuation. The writing will take more effort but can be done in a way that can incorporate basic research skills into the process. The school resource teacher can likely help with note taking and studying for test.

Invest in a english/writing. If you want to invest the time yourself there are plenty of workbooks and programs that can help you. The WellTrainedMind forum has lots of reviews on curriculum you can utilize at. Some key ones that might be helpful for you:

- Evan Moore Skill Sharpeners
- All about Spelling
- IEW
- Wordly wise

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's our first year in a private, 8th grade. However, our son was completely unprepared and is failing everything. Apparently his "world class" education from FCPS was somewhat lacking. He can't write a paragraph, spell three-syllable words, use basic punctuation and capitalization, do enough research to write a short report, take notes, or efficiently study for tests. The school has given us a learning specialist, a counselor, and an accommodation plan (although the only "disability" he has is a public school education and a missing year where he had "virtual"). He was a good student before - A's and B's only. They have called us into a meeting next week to talk about his lack of progress. Should I be worried?

How is he doing in math/science? Most of what you're mentioning is fixable-- but if he's behind in math, you might need to consider whether he needs to repeat a grade. Also, my DS is a freshman at a private school-- eighth grade was hard. His grades weren't great, but he did eventually pull it together for HS and is doing well now. Don't underestimate eighth grade-- it was harder at DS's school than ninth.

No, he's fine in math. He has always been good at that. His problems are more with study skills and writing than any actual content. He is failing things because he cannot keep up with the grading requirements - it's very structured and intense in terms of turning things in on time and preparing for tests at least once a week. Plus, note-taking is very important, and if he doesn't write something down then he can't learn it for the test.

Anonymous wrote:Is he in the advanced track at the school?

There is no advanced track. I'm getting the impression it isn't nearly as rigorous as some of the other schools. It's very small.

Is he in the advanced track at the school?

Anonymous wrote:It's our first year in a private, 8th grade. However, our son was completely unprepared and is failing everything. Apparently his "world class" education from FCPS was somewhat lacking. He can't write a paragraph, spell three-syllable words, use basic punctuation and capitalization, do enough research to write a short report, take notes, or efficiently study for tests. The school has given us a learning specialist, a counselor, and an accommodation plan (although the only "disability" he has is a public school education and a missing year where he had "virtual"). He was a good student before - A's and B's only. They have called us into a meeting next week to talk about his lack of progress. Should I be worried?

How is he doing in math/science? Most of what you're mentioning is fixable-- but if he's behind in math, you might need to consider whether he needs to repeat a grade. Also, my DS is a freshman at a private school-- eighth grade was hard. His grades weren't great, but he did eventually pull it together for HS and is doing well now. Don't underestimate eighth grade-- it was harder at DS's school than ninth.

If he didn’t have to write essays, it’s not a rigorous school. Which is good news! They will be much more willing to work with you.

First stop would be your child's teachers, the resource teachers and possibly the school psychologist (Does he want to be there? Is he struggling socially, as well? Stress outside of school?).

It sounds like he will need some basic tutoring with a writing and English teacher. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations. Hopefully the school does. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - there was no admissions test or essay. There were teacher references, which he had. But he was out of school for over a year with a pathetic excuse for "virtual" which included mainly slide shows, youtube, and no real teacher or teaching. He had good grades before that. I was well aware that his skills were poor after a year out of school, but I thought he would be ok since he was always at the top of his class before covid. But the privates weren't out of school at all and are shocked at his levels.

Really don’t think a kid with A’s and B’s is one that was at the top of his class at FCPS..especially if he wasn’t in AAP. Don’t think they’ll counsel you out yet but they’ll lay out a plan and if he doesn’t meet expectations they may want him to repeat or let you know they don’t think it’s a good fit.

OP here - he was in AAP.

FCPS is horrible with English and Language Arts

Tutors, or work with him extensively yourself. If you hop over to a place like the WellTrainedMind forums, they can give you guidance, as -- probably -- can the school.

Would it be possible to drop him down to 7th grade? Seems preferably to maybe needing to repeat 8th. If he's this far behind he may be better off downshifted and building up from there.

Have a neuropsych test perform to evaluate for learning disability. This will tell you if current school a good fit in the long run.

Anonymous wrote:It's our first year in a private, 8th grade. However, our son was completely unprepared and is failing everything. Apparently his "world class" education from FCPS was somewhat lacking. He can't write a paragraph, spell three-syllable words, use basic punctuation and capitalization, do enough research to write a short report, take notes, or efficiently study for tests. The school has given us a learning specialist, a counselor, and an accommodation plan (although the only "disability" he has is a public school education and a missing year where he had "virtual"). He was a good student before - A's and B's only. They have called us into a meeting next week to talk about his lack of progress. Should I be worried?

Get him tutors and meet with the school to get help

Anonymous wrote:I smell a troll.

Subtlety is overwhelming.

You need tutors. Show some commitment to helping him succeed. Also, any chance of undiagnosed mental health issues or LDs or ADHD? That can surface in MS (regardless of public vs private) as expectations ramp up. You might be facing similar issues even if he hadn’t switched schools—Keep that in mind. It’s easy to blame the previous school but it sounds like something else is going on. Does your son like the new school okay? (ie, he’s not trying to get himself kicked out to go back to old friends or something?)