Anonymous wrote:I am finally thrilled this year (4th grade). The teacher is very old school and experienced, and happens to have been an English major. All the basic fundamentals are finally being covered. Grammar, spelling, reading comprehension, proof reading...

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

I don’t understand posts like this. I believe you, but my question is how it’s possible? And how do students suddenly catch up or keep up in 10th or 11th, while also prepping for SATs and writing college apps? Because I’m assuming at least SOME kids are receiving some kind of writing instruction earlier than that (through tutors, better school curriculum, etc), wouldn’t they have a huge leg up?

I don't get it either. If students aren't writing, and they're not reading books, what do they actually do all day?

I know what they do (screens, group "work," SEL, "skills based work and assessments"), but I want to know how does this lead to top high school and college students? My area touts the public high schools as among the top 1000 public high schools in the country, but how can this be true if the kids are on Chromebooks for much of the day and not actually reading full books or writing essays until 10th grade?

what school is this? Our kids had to write paragraphs and essays since first grade and onward due to the stupid Calkins writing workshop. Our kids also have to read chapter books in book groups since fourth grade. They also read the boring 2 page passages with SOL questions afterward. So they do get reading and writing, but the writing instruction didn’t become structured and formal until 7th grade. And, they missed learning formal grammar so were not taught parts of speech and sentence diagramming. It’s a hodge podge and poorly taught English. —FCPS parent who has supplemented for a decade

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

I don’t understand posts like this. I believe you, but my question is how it’s possible? And how do students suddenly catch up or keep up in 10th or 11th, while also prepping for SATs and writing college apps? Because I’m assuming at least SOME kids are receiving some kind of writing instruction earlier than that (through tutors, better school curriculum, etc), wouldn’t they have a huge leg up?

I don't get it either. If students aren't writing, and they're not reading books, what do they actually do all day?

Anonymous wrote:I am finally thrilled this year (4th grade). The teacher is very old school and experienced, and happens to have been an English major. All the basic fundamentals are finally being covered. Grammar, spelling, reading comprehension, proof reading...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public elementary - was not happy, except with the first grade teacher who of her own initiative taught herself how to teach phonics. She was awesome. Other than that, the kids were given sub-standard, non-evidence based language arts instruction.

Private elementary - much happier. The official curriculum is in some ways not much better than public (there's still too much Lucy Calkins influence), but it includes explicit teaching of spelling, grammar, and how to structure a paragraph. There are whole class novels. There are five paragraph essays.

Private middle - quite happy, backfilled a lot of gaps created in public elementary.

But this is the stereotype about public v. private these days, of course. Private will teach your kid to read and write. Public won't. But public high school will generally have better STEM education simply by having higher numbers of kids who are prepared for it, except when compared to the most high achieving, hard-to-get-into privates.

How important is it to have top notch STEM though? I keep hearing AI and international talents are filling in the tech and science sectors. Isn’t it better going forward to have kids competent in Calc level math and Biology/Chem/Physics and be able to write and think critically, versus not being able to read full books or write well but able to code a game or build a robot?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

I don’t understand posts like this. I believe you, but my question is how it’s possible? And how do students suddenly catch up or keep up in 10th or 11th, while also prepping for SATs and writing college apps? Because I’m assuming at least SOME kids are receiving some kind of writing instruction earlier than that (through tutors, better school curriculum, etc), wouldn’t they have a huge leg up?

I don't get it either. If students aren't writing, and they're not reading books, what do they actually do all day?

I know what they do (screens, group "work," SEL, "skills based work and assessments"), but I want to know how does this lead to top high school and college students? My area touts the public high schools as among the top 1000 public high schools in the country, but how can this be true if the kids are on Chromebooks for much of the day and not actually reading full books or writing essays until 10th grade?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

I don’t understand posts like this. I believe you, but my question is how it’s possible? And how do students suddenly catch up or keep up in 10th or 11th, while also prepping for SATs and writing college apps? Because I’m assuming at least SOME kids are receiving some kind of writing instruction earlier than that (through tutors, better school curriculum, etc), wouldn’t they have a huge leg up?

I don't get it either. If students aren't writing, and they're not reading books, what do they actually do all day?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

I don’t understand posts like this. I believe you, but my question is how it’s possible? And how do students suddenly catch up or keep up in 10th or 11th, while also prepping for SATs and writing college apps? Because I’m assuming at least SOME kids are receiving some kind of writing instruction earlier than that (through tutors, better school curriculum, etc), wouldn’t they have a huge leg up?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter, in advanced 7th grade English, was told to make an Instagram post about a book she read. NOT HAPPY. Too many powerpoint presentations, not enough essays.

Yikes!

Anonymous wrote:Public elementary - was not happy, except with the first grade teacher who of her own initiative taught herself how to teach phonics. She was awesome. Other than that, the kids were given sub-standard, non-evidence based language arts instruction.

Private elementary - much happier. The official curriculum is in some ways not much better than public (there's still too much Lucy Calkins influence), but it includes explicit teaching of spelling, grammar, and how to structure a paragraph. There are whole class novels. There are five paragraph essays.

Private middle - quite happy, backfilled a lot of gaps created in public elementary.

But this is the stereotype about public v. private these days, of course. Private will teach your kid to read and write. Public won't. But public high school will generally have better STEM education simply by having higher numbers of kids who are prepared for it, except when compared to the most high achieving, hard-to-get-into privates.

Anonymous wrote:I have a middle school and high schooler, public school. Yes, instruction in writing is practically non existent until AP English.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Upper elementary, looking at middle schools. My kid is doing well. I just am concerned with the writing instruction and the movement to read fewer full books. Looking to see what our options are for moving somewhere else where the public schools do it better or switching to private.