Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feynman

Haha!

Why haha. I am not the PP but we have neighbors in that school and they love it. We were thinking of going to an open house. Can you tell me why you don't like it or it is not a good fit.

They won't have a real reason. Just don't like Feynman, yet never even looked into the the school themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feynman

Haha!

Why haha. I am not the PP but we have neighbors in that school and they love it. We were thinking of going to an open house. Can you tell me why you don't like it or it is not a good fit.

Anonymous wrote:For fourth and fifth grades, the GT program in MoCo was fabulous.

Oh good god, no it wasn't. It is a manipulative plan to bus smarter kids to poor schools to increase test scores. Most parents use it to get ther own kids out of their home schools. The curriculum is terrible. My daughter went to it and was not even close to prepared for Holton in 6th grade. She was slightly ahead of some kids in math but far behind in grammar, writing, vocabulary, science, and a musical instrument. It was embarrassing and she had to work her butt off to catch up.

I might as well kept her in her home school and supplemented myself.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yes our DC needs to be pushed academically or else he's unhappy and can be a bit wandering - the harder the curriculum and the happier our kid and happier the teacher

GDS isn't a good choice then -- maybe progressive schools generally aren't. They rely on the kid's own drive/curiosity/interests to set the pace to a greater extent than more traditional schools, where the teacher/curriculum dictate how far and how fast students are expected to go. Public school gifted and talented program (if your kid qualifies) sounds like a better fit, given what you're looking for.

Anonymous wrote:Op here - thanks for those chiming in - sounds like hard to tell until third but I'd still like to hear at third since in theory the school we pick for K will be the school we are at for third

Montessori till 3rd, then another private if you like. Try Manor Montessori in Potomac.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

Anonymous wrote:Feynman

Haha!

Anonymous wrote:GDS. Of course.

+1 Many fifth graders go directly to Harvard.

Anonymous wrote:Op here - thanks for those chiming in - sounds like hard to tell until third but I'd still like to hear at third since in theory the school we pick for K will be the school we are at for third

Honestly i think probably sidwell and GDS

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Anonymous wrote:I think maybe the question to ask is "how does the school differentiate?" Are they more into "enriching," which is keeping him on grade level but going wider, or do they accelerate? Our school started out enriching and has finally accelerated our child to the grade above in a couple subjects, which works out better.

+1

Op, look into Feynman. It may have what you are looking for.

Anonymous wrote:I think maybe the question to ask is "how does the school differentiate?" Are they more into "enriching," which is keeping him on grade level but going wider, or do they accelerate? Our school started out enriching and has finally accelerated our child to the grade above in a couple subjects, which works out better.

This. It is not the school but the teacher who will meet with small groups and differentiate instruction. In small classrooms where there's a student teacher, a lot can be achieved.

Op here - thanks for those chiming in - sounds like hard to tell until third but I'd still like to hear at third since in theory the school we pick for K will be the school we are at for third

Anonymous wrote:oh brother - who cares - let your kid be a kid before he/she grows up with a ton of issues.

Not op, but this gets old. Some kids need strong academics. It's not a parent pushing them thing. A good parent tries to find the best fit for their child. This is valid. Stop projecting.