My DD watches videos every day during snack time, and then again during recess if it is inside.

Umm what we did when we were in ES? Go to the gym and play dodge-ball or Red light, green light? And they stay in not just when it's pouring, but when it's chilly.

We stayed in our classrooms for indoor recess. We didn't have movies, but we weren't running around and playing dodgeball.

Agree with 9:12. There are anywhere from 75-150 students out at each recess period depending on the school in MCPS. You cannot fit that many children in the gym (unless they are all just sitting there) even IF the gym weren't being used. The gym is the PE teacher's classroom-it is used throughout the entire day.

OP, is this Bethesda ES?
My son was there in K and 1st. His K teacher was excellent (but left) and his 1st grade teacher struggled - I felt - to maintain control of her class.
A lot depends on the teacher.

My conclusions:
1. you're in this for the long haul, a bad year will not break a student providing you are there to provide enrichment, conversation, etc at home.
2. relax about the videos! Some of them are excellent, such as the Magic Schoolbus series. My son who is highly visual loved them and learnt from them.
3. if you are concerned that your child is seriously under-challenged, consider a WISC test to see if she could be sent to a school for gifted students or a magnet.
4. the MCPS standard is pretty good, taken all around.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The videos used to really bug me too, but AFAIK they weren't every week, much less more than once a week.

I do think that K, especially the first half, is a lot about getting used to school more than achieving specific academic goals.

The videos are every week, sometimes more than that. Whenever recess is canceled for example, which has been happening more and more.

If the videos are in place of recess because they don't go out, then I'm all for it. Teachers lunch breaks, conferences, planning breaks, etc are during lunch and recess. They need that down time.

Teachers may need down time, but kids, especially boys, need running around time. And fresh air.

Great and what do you think they should do when it's pouring down raining out?

Umm what we did when we were in ES? Go to the gym and play dodge-ball or Red light, green light? And they stay in not just when it's pouring, but when it's chilly.

At my DC's ES, there are 6 lunch periods and 6 recess periods. The Gym is being used during both lunch and recess for the classes NOT in lunch or recess. So your suggestion of "Go to the Gym" isn't an option.

On the subject of videos during indoor recess--this a school-based, and perhaps a class-by-class decision. If you don't like it, complain to the principal and/or the PTA. If enough parents dislike it, it's something that CAN be altered. My kids play board games, read, draw, etc during indoor recess. Deciding whether or not to have indoor recess is also a decision made at the school level, so there's room for complaint/change there too.

Videos during the rest of the day, well, what kind of videos are they? Are they something that relates to the material and being used in conjunction with a lesson? I agree that in MS/HS, videos were mainly a time-killer (but not always!), but in elementary school a five-minute video clip of volcanoes erupting and an explanation can be much more useful than looking a picture in a book. If they're just watching Magic School Bus for half an hour while the teacher completes individual assessments, well, then I'd have an issue.

Relax, OP, things will certainly get more vigorous if not this year, than in 1st and 2nd grade. Kindergarten is a catch-all of students on MANY different levels. If she enjoys school, let it be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'd wait until 2nd grade to make up your mind. Kindergarten is too early to make any decisions. Kids at 5 &6 years of age will vary quite a bit developmentally, but by 8 or 9 things even out a lot. Some of the early readers may be no more advanced than some of the kids still learning how to spell CAT.

Yes, this is what I tell myself.

I guess I am worried that she will always float along getting her "P"s and never really being challenged. It does not seem that there is much incentive to challenge the kids, only get them to "proficient" and once there they just kind of tread water and wait for everyone to catch up.

Is this not true in 2nd and 3rd etc. under the new curriculum?

I think there isn't a significant effort to challenge kids unless you become one of "those" parents.

If you think your daughter is bored by school, then I would think about switching. If she's just cruising along but not bored, then it might be okay to wait.

Thanks everyone, and yes, thank you for holding back the snark.

I'll go take my chill pill now.

I have three kids -- one in college, one in HS and one in MS. We've experienced a range of educational environments, public and private. What I can tell you is this -- few parents are 100% happy with the education their child receives. We thought DCs' private was excellent, but was it 30k better than what we've gotten at MCPS? Probably not. My biggest gripe with MCPS is the bureaucracy and the insane emphasis on teaching to the test. Then again, we entered the system with kids in much later grades. As someone already said, I'm nostalgic about Kindergarten. Don't worry, the challenges will come. I have a junior in HS overloaded with AP classes and studying for the SAT's as we speak! You will get there, and so will your DD.

To answer your original question, yes it does get better after K. Its not perfect, and the more advanced kids do not seem to be challenged as much as they could be, but its better than K.

Op, I think you are expecting too much from K. My oldest is in third grade and I look back on kindergarten with nostalgia. I think the main purpose of K is to acclimate the kids to the routines and expectations and social requirements of elementary school. Many kids (both the most and least privileged segments) may never have experienced any kind of organized education before, and even for kids like mine who went to FT daycares or preschool prior to K, there are just huge changes and much more individual responsibility (no one supervises routine bathroom trips, navigating a paying cafeteria, adjusting to classroom norms and procedures...) Just save your academic expectations for first grade, and stop worrying about whether your 5yo is being adequately challenged. And yes, MCPS does provide challenges for all range of smart kids.

I'm trying hard to avoid snark here, especially since you are self-aware enough to mock your angst in your post title (I think that's what you meant, right?)! Really there is so much research that suggests there are little or no real benefits from pushing academics too early (read the red shirting threads on how they start elementary at 7yo in Finkand or something like that) - you should be glad her K year is going well, that she is not learning to hate school (like my active boy did) and that the testing mania hasn't yet begin. If she's reading chapter books and has parents who are engaged in her educational development, your daughter is going to be just fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'd wait until 2nd grade to make up your mind. Kindergarten is too early to make any decisions. Kids at 5 &6 years of age will vary quite a bit developmentally, but by 8 or 9 things even out a lot. Some of the early readers may be no more advanced than some of the kids still learning how to spell CAT.

Yes, this is what I tell myself.

I guess I am worried that she will always float along getting her "P"s and never really being challenged. It does not seem that there is much incentive to challenge the kids, only get them to "proficient" and once there they just kind of tread water and wait for everyone to catch up.

Is this not true in 2nd and 3rd etc. under the new curriculum?

Parent of a 3rd grader here. My DD is being challenged at school on how to get an ES. "For a P, you need to show you can do everything correctly. For the ES, you have to do everything correctly and then solve (some other problem) using a different approach."

And, plenty of 3rd graders are not "Straight P students." A whole worksheet of 25 problems done correctly is P for my DD, but the same worksheet with 24 of 25 problems correct is I. I think this new grading scheme is very random with regard to a P definition. Because I really do believe that 24 of 25 is pretty darn Proficient.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The videos used to really bug me too, but AFAIK they weren't every week, much less more than once a week.

I do think that K, especially the first half, is a lot about getting used to school more than achieving specific academic goals.

The videos are every week, sometimes more than that. Whenever recess is canceled for example, which has been happening more and more.

If the videos are in place of recess because they don't go out, then I'm all for it. Teachers lunch breaks, conferences, planning breaks, etc are during lunch and recess. They need that down time.

Teachers may need down time, but kids, especially boys, need running around time. And fresh air.

Great and what do you think they should do when it's pouring down raining out?

Umm what we did when we were in ES? Go to the gym and play dodge-ball or Red light, green light? And they stay in not just when it's pouring, but when it's chilly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The videos used to really bug me too, but AFAIK they weren't every week, much less more than once a week.

I do think that K, especially the first half, is a lot about getting used to school more than achieving specific academic goals.

The videos are every week, sometimes more than that. Whenever recess is canceled for example, which has been happening more and more.

If the videos are in place of recess because they don't go out, then I'm all for it. Teachers lunch breaks, conferences, planning breaks, etc are during lunch and recess. They need that down time.

Teachers may need down time, but kids, especially boys, need running around time. And fresh air.

Great and what do you think they should do when it's pouring down raining out?

Anonymous wrote:

I guess I am worried that she will always float along getting her "P"s and never really being challenged. It does not seem that there is much incentive to challenge the kids, only get them to "proficient" and once there they just kind of tread water and wait for everyone to catch up.

Cheer up OP, it could be worse. We experienced exactly as you describe above in K-3 (so far), and we paid ~$30,000 a year for the privilege at a local private school! Even with a (much) better teacher to student ratio, the teacherS, plural, still aim for that middle-of-the-pack for 85% of the day. That's true in Ward 3 too, I am told.

10 minutes of "pull out reading" differentiation all by yourself and an extra math packet to do by yourself is not so customized. And then, as I said, the other 85% of the day is mass produced.

Sorry, I don't have an answer. Other than to say, the grass 'tis not greener over here, so don't go thinking you're missing something big by skipping the vaunted Private Lower School

Thanks. You made me chuckle.