Anonymous wrote:My kids are liking SOAR. One hasn't used her computer at all. THey have been doing a decent amount of independent reading which I'm not sure about since my DD is ADHD and tends to check out. Hopefully she is reading and not staring at the birds out the window. She has mentioned doing MAth games that are not computer games which is good for her. She is a rising 4th grader. My youngest rising 2nd grader has used it a bit but I Know her teacher well and it seems that use it while the teacher has a small group and then they switch. Really hard to get information especially since came at the same school drops off and picks up for me.

the school day is only about 2.5 hours long. using that time for independent reading seems ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:I thought the ES summer school was meant to be more fun learning so that the kids shored up skills and did not regress as opposed to learning new material. We have had friends send their kids and tell us that their kids really enjoyed SOAR and that it was fun.

And I do know people who use it as summer camp, my friends who stay at home send their kids because it is free and it gives them 4 hours of down time. It breaks up the summer for their kids and they have the afternoon to go to the pool or hang out at home.

But I don't think SOAR is suppose to be super intensive or anything like a regular school day.

That's ESY-summer school for kids with IEPs

SOAR-summer school for kids in general ed, usually the ones who flunked their SOLs. They are absolutely supposed to be teaching information--the information that they didn't learn during the school year. Why they are wasting what few instructional hours they have on laptops, I have no idea.

My kids are liking SOAR. One hasn't used her computer at all. THey have been doing a decent amount of independent reading which I'm not sure about since my DD is ADHD and tends to check out. Hopefully she is reading and not staring at the birds out the window. She has mentioned doing MAth games that are not computer games which is good for her. She is a rising 4th grader. My youngest rising 2nd grader has used it a bit but I Know her teacher well and it seems that use it while the teacher has a small group and then they switch. Really hard to get information especially since came at the same school drops off and picks up for me.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?

Why so defensive?

Because she knows, you know, and I know that kids learn nothing from ST Math or Imagine NotReading or typing in google slideshows. But, it keeps the kids occupied and gives the appearance of doing something. So they schedule that time in as a break for themselves and then they don't have to actually teach. That's why teachers are never forthcoming about the amount of screen time the kids are getting in class.

DS doesn't like ST Math, mainly because the graphics take forever so it takes him forever to knock out his work. But it is good review of skills for him and there were some days that the work was a bit more challenging. I think it works fine if the Teacher sets the level properly and allows kids to really work at their pace. I have friends who have been happy with ST Math because it forces their kid to pay attention and not make stupid mistakes in order to advance. The kid gets annoyed when he knows the concept but makes a mistake and has to redo the level. His parents remind him if he slowed down and took his time he would be less likely to make that stupid mistake. I am not a huge fan of the program but I suspect that it works better then I give it credit for.

I thought the ES summer school was meant to be more fun learning so that the kids shored up skills and did not regress as opposed to learning new material. We have had friends send their kids and tell us that their kids really enjoyed SOAR and that it was fun.

And I do know people who use it as summer camp, my friends who stay at home send their kids because it is free and it gives them 4 hours of down time. It breaks up the summer for their kids and they have the afternoon to go to the pool or hang out at home.

But I don't think SOAR is suppose to be super intensive or anything like a regular school day.

Please keep in mind that teachers have no textbooks or workbooks. If it’s ESY, they may be on all different levels. They need to punt the morning meeting crap and do work.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?

Why so defensive?

Because she knows, you know, and I know that kids learn nothing from ST Math or Imagine NotReading or typing in google slideshows. But, it keeps the kids occupied and gives the appearance of doing something. So they schedule that time in as a break for themselves and then they don't have to actually teach. That's why teachers are never forthcoming about the amount of screen time the kids are getting in class.

NP. One of my kids is good at math and easily understands concepts, the other one doesn't. The non-math kid learned from ST Math during the virtual year. DCUM loves to hate it but it was effective for my kid.

Yes, but ST math is crap. He would have learned more using almost any other method.

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Anonymous wrote:930-arrival
945-1015-morning meeting
1015-12:00 actual time for learning
12-130 (lunch and recess)

so less than two hours a day for academics for two whole weeks of summer school, and they are wasting 30 minutes of it mindlessly clicking on JiiJii?

I’m subbing for summer school tomorrow so we’ll see, but the student hours at this school are 8:55-12:55. Lunch is 30 minutes and recess is 20, not an hour and a half.
Doesn’t FCPS provide summer curriculum?

Regardless, that's still less than three hours of time for academics. 8:55-9:30 would be arrival/morning meeting, 9:30-noon actual school, then lunch and recess. So 2.5 hours of learning, of which 30 is spent doing nothing on a laptop. Seems like a huge chunk of time to me.

I’ll let you know, but I’m pretty sure 12:55 is the start time after arrival. I don’t know how much time will be spent on laptops, but again I’ll report back tomorrow.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?

Why so defensive?

Because she knows, you know, and I know that kids learn nothing from ST Math or Imagine NotReading or typing in google slideshows. But, it keeps the kids occupied and gives the appearance of doing something. So they schedule that time in as a break for themselves and then they don't have to actually teach. That's why teachers are never forthcoming about the amount of screen time the kids are getting in class.

NP. One of my kids is good at math and easily understands concepts, the other one doesn't. The non-math kid learned from ST Math during the virtual year. DCUM loves to hate it but it was effective for my kid.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?

Why so defensive?

Because she knows, you know, and I know that kids learn nothing from ST Math or Imagine NotReading or typing in google slideshows. But, it keeps the kids occupied and gives the appearance of doing something. So they schedule that time in as a break for themselves and then they don't have to actually teach. That's why teachers are never forthcoming about the amount of screen time the kids are getting in class.

No one is using summer school as free camp. The hours are too inconvenient.

The teachers rely on those BS computer programs as time fillers so they don't have to do as much work actually planning, teaching and interacting.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?

Why so defensive?

Anonymous wrote:At least your kids were lucky enough to be invited to summer school. Our school only lets ESL kids in, even if they are high performing.

Sounds like more hassle then its worth. You have to pack a lunch and interrupt your work day for dropping off and picking up, for your kid to sit and stare at an ipad? They could be doing that at home with less effort from you.

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Anonymous wrote:Not at our ES. We have morning meeting, read alouds, small group, projects, recess and more.

So no laptops at all?

No, I didn’t say that. But there’s no way it’s even close to “all day.” Maybe if you added it up across the morning it’s 20-30 minutes.

You certainly didn't list "laptop time" in your list of activities. Why hide it?

Get over it. Kids are going to get screen time at school. If you don't like it, stop taking away the spots from the families who need or want it and put your kids in camp. But you're too cheap for that, aren't you?