To answer your question, “fine” isn’t sufficient. They want their kids to LEARN. The slow pace of public school has made parents all across the country seek out private tutors. If schools really cared, they would makes changes, but they have not.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is in 4th grade in a gifted class. I was surprised to find out out that most kids in her class have tutors and do extra math or writing despite doing well. My daughter is doing fine, but sometimes feels insecure about her abilities because many of her classmates already know the material before it is taught. I can't help being annoyed with all these parents giving their children extra work to give them a leg up and I don't understand why you would hire a tutor if your child is doing fine. Maybe I am missing something. Can anyone explain to me why you would do this?

Kuddos to those parents for valuing education and pouring resources into it. We all do what we can and what we value. I'd understand it more if you criticised them for buying their kids expensive clothes or something, but extra lessons and extra work? Good for them! Maybe one of those tutors will inspire one of.those kids who will then go on to discover who knows what! You never know how far you can go until you push yourself!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DCs don’t have tutors (in 4th grade it’s a waste of money). But they learn the material before it’s taught in class. I had an Asian student in my HS who aced every single math test, and one day I noticed he had completed all the practice questions in the new unit we were starting. He told me he always did the whole chapter prior to class so that it was essentially review and practice (and he could ask questions if he didn’t understand something). I thought this was brilliant and honestly can’t believe no one else does this. Apparently, this is much more common in other cultures (learning the work before it is taught in class). I do it with my kids now and it is a much more effective way of learning.

Indeed, why bother with the teacher at all? She sounds superfluous.

sometimes I would agree. But the teachers are needed to hand out the materials and test the kids. I don't want to homeschool my kid.

DC is in a HS magnet. DC said DC mostly learned from the videos, presos that the teacher posted, and sometimes on Khan academy for math. DC hardly listened to the teachers drone on in zoom class. DC is a straight A student.

DC and the friends also self studied for AP exams though the materials were provided by the teachers. No tutoring.

When DC was in middle school, DC would do something similar to what ^^PP posted about the kid learning ahead. DC would do the same but mainly because DC was bored in class so DC would look ahead.

DC has never had a tutor.

I don't understand your snark here. Would you say the same thing about a kid who tried to play some music piece that the teacher hadn't covered? I bet you would be impressed by it.

But when it comes to academics, the learning ahead seems to trigger some people.

Anonymous wrote:My DCs don’t have tutors (in 4th grade it’s a waste of money). But they learn the material before it’s taught in class. I had an Asian student in my HS who aced every single math test, and one day I noticed he had completed all the practice questions in the new unit we were starting. He told me he always did the whole chapter prior to class so that it was essentially review and practice (and he could ask questions if he didn’t understand something). I thought this was brilliant and honestly can’t believe no one else does this. Apparently, this is much more common in other cultures (learning the work before it is taught in class). I do it with my kids now and it is a much more effective way of learning.

Indeed, why bother with the teacher at all? She sounds superfluous.

My DCs don’t have tutors (in 4th grade it’s a waste of money). But they learn the material before it’s taught in class. I had an Asian student in my HS who aced every single math test, and one day I noticed he had completed all the practice questions in the new unit we were starting. He told me he always did the whole chapter prior to class so that it was essentially review and practice (and he could ask questions if he didn’t understand something). I thought this was brilliant and honestly can’t believe no one else does this. Apparently, this is much more common in other cultures (learning the work before it is taught in class). I do it with my kids now and it is a much more effective way of learning.

Our experience in the G&T programs were that they were good, but weren’t at the level of the private our kids attend now. Some kids are capable of and interested in learning materials above and beyond what’s covered in class. Those are also the kids who are probably doing well in school. If a parent wants to nurture a child’s interest in a subject by enrolling them in Kumon or whatever, why should you care? (And I’m not interested in threads trashing Kumon. It’s just an example.)

The WSJ had an article several years ago about kids in HS previewing classes over the summer at academic camps. If I remember correctly, the kids highlighted in the article took difficult math and science classes that they knew they would struggle with during the regular year. It was a way for them to cover the material more than once so when they took the class at their school, they could approach the material more confidently. Again, why should you care?

Parents with kids in sports get their kids extra coaching and send them to camps to get better. I can’t remember a time when I ever heard a parent criticizing another sports parent for doing this. Stay in your own lane OP.

There is a huge difference between sending your kid to Russia School of Math or AoPS or robotics club or whatever and having your kid take a class over the summer and then take it in school for a grade during the school year. Tutoring during the year to make sure a child is understanding the material is something different, especially if a child feels behind or is not confident with the material. One is enrichment, one is tutoring, and one is a crazy way to increase a GPA so your kid has a better chance at certain colleges.

I would guess that the kids who don't complete STEM degrees in college after taking summer classes before the real class are kids who burned out on the subject or who were never interested in the subject and finally felt like they could do what they wanted in college. I know kids whose parents did private coaching who went on to play in College and I know others who burned out and dropped the sport. I also know some who didn't make the cut even after private coaching.

I don't see anything wrong with parents identifying a child's interest and providing them activities in that area. I don't see pretaking classes as necessary or a good idea but I know that it happens. But if you cannot see that those are different things, that is on you.

Anonymous wrote:OP, a look ahead: several in DC's high school AP science classes would take the class over the summer, with a private tutor -- not for credit, but to -already- know the material. Yes, they did slightly better than DC in each of the high school classes. About equal in college admissions. In college, though, the regularly tutored kids fell behind and never achieved the science/math degree they were seeking.

What an absurd connection. You are actually saying a kid who was tutored to get ahead ended up dropping sought after degrees in college because the tutoring from years before negatively impacted them? 🤦‍♀️

OP, a look ahead: several in DC's high school AP science classes would take the class over the summer, with a private tutor -- not for credit, but to -already- know the material. Yes, they did slightly better than DC in each of the high school classes. About equal in college admissions. In college, though, the regularly tutored kids fell behind and never achieved the science/math degree they were seeking.

A leg up? Given the state of MCPS it was just to give a special education child what they SHOULD have received in school. Agreed on starting earlier. But who would have thought a ‘good’ school district with a 3 billion dollar budget would break federal law on a daily basis? Ah a shame child was our first - would have jumped on the issue right away.

It is not about competition but meeting your kids needs. Some kids want to be out playing spirts all day. Some kids are book worms. Some kids love video games. We are all trying to find the right balance for our kids. DS loves math, it makes no sense to me, but he does. So he takes extra math. He plays sports, does Scouts, and hangs out with friends as well.

also some teachers just aren't good at teaching

To PP- repetition and reinforcement.

What’s the point of knowing material before it’s taught! Nothing.

P.S. i think the above is true for sports, too. Parents don’t even tell other parents about their private coaches for their kids. The competition is absurd.