We aren’t in a focus school, but we are in a non-W school. DD has had spelling lists for as long as I can remember.

I just don’t understand the mentality of some of the posters here who believe that their schools are horrible, but also don’t make financial changes to go to private schools or move. No one is forcing you to live in Bethesda. You can find nice neighborhoods that cost less throughout the county. And amazingly, they aren’t full of MS-13 and the murdered victims of MS-13. They are normal neighborhoods. Many of them have buses that will take your children to their private schools. It’s a great deal, actually. If you don’t like some aspect of your life, change it. I get the impression from DCUM that W schools are a cesspool of 30+ student classes and no academic rigor. You don’t have to put up with that.

Anonymous wrote:I remember on tours of the top 3 privates in this area that the schools didn't emphasize spelling until 3rd grade. Just saying...

I have one in private and while this is true to a certain extent (in ours it’s more like 2nd), there is a very strong emphasis on writing — developing ideas, plots, fiction, non-fiction, organization of writing, etc. — probably some of the “critical thinking and analytical skills” that can’t-spell PP was taking about, with teacher review, beginning in K and really ramping up by 2nd grade. So by design, they are working on one skill, then fine tuning spelling beginning in 2nd and 3rd and continuing on from there. That is why it does not faze parents as much. If there was a perception that the MCPS teachers were doing this level of intentionality on writing in the early years, then I don’t think many parents would complain. Instead, the perception is that all parts of writing (substance, grammar, and spelling) are all fairly mediocre unless you luck out with a superb teacher or possibly school-wide emphasis.

I remember on tours of the top 3 privates in this area that the schools didn't emphasize spelling until 3rd grade. Just saying...

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and we are very pleased with our public elementary school. There is a strong emphasis on writing (dc wrote a 12 pg paper in 4th grade) and they are learning advanced math skills. They have always had spelling tests at least every other week and grammar is part of the curriculum. They don’t teach math the way I was taught in the 70s, but I consider that a good thing. I wish they would spend more on cursive writing, but I will work on that with the DCs over the summer.

Did he actually write the paper or type it up on an auto spell check chrome book. Two very different things.

What is the obsession with spelling? When was the last time you had to write a doc on a piece of paper instead of a word processor? I spelled "obssessed" on this forum, and it underlined it in red so I knew I spelled it incorrectly. My spelling has always sucked, and we had spelling tests growing up, as do my MCPS ES kids. My spelling still sucks. Thank goodness for spell checker, yet I still got a good paying job (six figures) where I use my analytical, critical thinking and tech skills. Even when I write an email at work, it spell checks for me. My grammar is fine, good enough to get my point across without people misunderstanding. Spelling? No one cares that much, especially because we have spellchecker.

You clearly have very low educational expectations for your child. Congrats!

I agree won hundred percent, spelling is quiet overrated because spellcheck works grate. Reeding is also knot all its maid out too bee, hoo kneads books when you can watch tv on you're PC.

Ha! A good one, PP!

PP who can't spell, do you think just because you can't, the kids shouldn't be able to know the basics OF THEIR OWN LANGUAGE? Pathetic.

NP here. HOnestly, I'd rather my kids spend their time with real world tasks such as reading, writing literature, and debating ideas- all things that they are doing in their MCPS elementary school; versus memorizing the spelling of words. By the way, my 2nd grader does get spelling tests.

thank you, exactly. Some people's perspectives are so short sighted. I'm that PP who can't spell, and my 4th grader has had spelling tests since 1st or 2nd grade. I go over the words with them to make sure they can spell it, but I would rather the teacher focus on teaching critical reading skills, and formulating well thought out sentences than nitpicking over spelling. But that's fine, let those people focus on spelling while our kid focus on the bigger picture.

They need to go back to ability grouping with elasticity amongst the groups. It is a race to the bottom. When your kids hit 8 th grade with high As and their spelling and grammar are still questionable, it is frustrating.

Honestly just move to Howard county. It is a less burdened system.

MUTINY =MOVE

Problem solved

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and we are very pleased with our public elementary school. There is a strong emphasis on writing (dc wrote a 12 pg paper in 4th grade) and they are learning advanced math skills. They have always had spelling tests at least every other week and grammar is part of the curriculum. They don’t teach math the way I was taught in the 70s, but I consider that a good thing. I wish they would spend more on cursive writing, but I will work on that with the DCs over the summer.

Did he actually write the paper or type it up on an auto spell check chrome book. Two very different things.

What is the obsession with spelling? When was the last time you had to write a doc on a piece of paper instead of a word processor? I spelled "obssessed" on this forum, and it underlined it in red so I knew I spelled it incorrectly. My spelling has always sucked, and we had spelling tests growing up, as do my MCPS ES kids. My spelling still sucks. Thank goodness for spell checker, yet I still got a good paying job (six figures) where I use my analytical, critical thinking and tech skills. Even when I write an email at work, it spell checks for me. My grammar is fine, good enough to get my point across without people misunderstanding. Spelling? No one cares that much, especially because we have spellchecker.

You clearly have very low educational expectations for your child. Congrats!

I agree won hundred percent, spelling is quiet overrated because spellcheck works grate. Reeding is also knot all its maid out too bee, hoo kneads books when you can watch tv on you're PC.

Ha! A good one, PP!

PP who can't spell, do you think just because you can't, the kids shouldn't be able to know the basics OF THEIR OWN LANGUAGE? Pathetic.

Not really. You and I could both understand what the pp wrote despite poor spelling. Obviously we don’t want older kids and adults spelling like this, but if my first grader wrote this, I wouldn’t be marking it up. I would not how well the child observed the sounds in the word and used those to determine the spelling effectively to communicate her/his point to the reader. I might then let my child know that each word has a standard American English spelling that everyone has agreed upon, and I would ask if s/he wants to know and practice the spelling of any of these. I would do maybe five words.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and we are very pleased with our public elementary school. There is a strong emphasis on writing (dc wrote a 12 pg paper in 4th grade) and they are learning advanced math skills. They have always had spelling tests at least every other week and grammar is part of the curriculum. They don’t teach math the way I was taught in the 70s, but I consider that a good thing. I wish they would spend more on cursive writing, but I will work on that with the DCs over the summer.

Did he actually write the paper or type it up on an auto spell check chrome book. Two very different things.

What is the obsession with spelling? When was the last time you had to write a doc on a piece of paper instead of a word processor? I spelled "obssessed" on this forum, and it underlined it in red so I knew I spelled it incorrectly. My spelling has always sucked, and we had spelling tests growing up, as do my MCPS ES kids. My spelling still sucks. Thank goodness for spell checker, yet I still got a good paying job (six figures) where I use my analytical, critical thinking and tech skills. Even when I write an email at work, it spell checks for me. My grammar is fine, good enough to get my point across without people misunderstanding. Spelling? No one cares that much, especially because we have spellchecker.

You clearly have very low educational expectations for your child. Congrats!

I agree won hundred percent, spelling is quiet overrated because spellcheck works grate. Reeding is also knot all its maid out too bee, hoo kneads books when you can watch tv on you're PC.

Ha! A good one, PP!

PP who can't spell, do you think just because you can't, the kids shouldn't be able to know the basics OF THEIR OWN LANGUAGE? Pathetic.

NP here. HOnestly, I'd rather my kids spend their time with real world tasks such as reading, writing literature, and debating ideas- all things that they are doing in their MCPS elementary school; versus memorizing the spelling of words. By the way, my 2nd grader does get spelling tests.

I agree with you OP! MCPS is on a steady decline when it comes to providing strong academic instruction that will prepare students for University. Grammar and writing instruction is subpar, 2.0 is a total fail, and the emphasis on testing versus instruction will proove to be ineffective in the long run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda and we are very pleased with our public elementary school. There is a strong emphasis on writing (dc wrote a 12 pg paper in 4th grade) and they are learning advanced math skills. They have always had spelling tests at least every other week and grammar is part of the curriculum. They don’t teach math the way I was taught in the 70s, but I consider that a good thing. I wish they would spend more on cursive writing, but I will work on that with the DCs over the summer.

Did he actually write the paper or type it up on an auto spell check chrome book. Two very different things.

What is the obsession with spelling? When was the last time you had to write a doc on a piece of paper instead of a word processor? I spelled "obssessed" on this forum, and it underlined it in red so I knew I spelled it incorrectly. My spelling has always sucked, and we had spelling tests growing up, as do my MCPS ES kids. My spelling still sucks. Thank goodness for spell checker, yet I still got a good paying job (six figures) where I use my analytical, critical thinking and tech skills. Even when I write an email at work, it spell checks for me. My grammar is fine, good enough to get my point across without people misunderstanding. Spelling? No one cares that much, especially because we have spellchecker.

You clearly have very low educational expectations for your child. Congrats!

I agree won hundred percent, spelling is quiet overrated because spellcheck works grate. Reeding is also knot all its maid out too bee, hoo kneads books when you can watch tv on you're PC.

Ha! A good one, PP!

PP who can't spell, do you think just because you can't, the kids shouldn't be able to know the basics OF THEIR OWN LANGUAGE? Pathetic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child told me the other day when another child asked how to spell something that they were in 3rd and should know how to spell already. Funny, as MCPS does not teach spelling. We were in a private for a few years until our child aged out and the quality of education which was a more traditional approach was much better. They did spelling, grammar and things like fractions in first grade. MCPS does fractions in 3rd. There are some positives that they do encourage a lot of writing but there is very little history or science. There is very little teaching and everything is structured around centers.

MY second grader is taught spelling. The teachers just don’t obsessively correct every word.

no time for that stuff, correcting essays, spelling, math steps? please.

They do all of that. I’ve posted above about it several times, but you’re not interested in responding to useful, relevant, and detailed posts. You sound like an angry and deceitful person. Have you actually tried talking to the teacher or administrator about your concerns? Have you tried visiting the classroom to observe the classroom instruction? Have you tried volunteering? I didn’t like my child’s teacher last year. I volunteered when I could, especially to help with things that clearly were hard for her. I did what I could to improve to support the teacher to help. And I do feel strongly that a lot of the problems would be resolved or better addressed if the classes were capped at 18. In my mind, ideal class size is 12-15.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:K-12 education is about Curriculum, Teachers, and Peer Group.

You'll rarely find the trifecta, so pick a school (or house, whatever) that gets you the two you weight most highly.

Private, public, catholic, jesuit, up county, down county, Wash DC, Virginia, Howard county, Frederick.
Do your homework and pick. They are not similar.

"'K-12 education is about Curriculum, Teachers, and Peer Group. You'll rarely find the trifecta, so pick a school (or house, whatever) that gets you the two you weight most highly.'"

I like this advice. Something to think about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child told me the other day when another child asked how to spell something that they were in 3rd and should know how to spell already. Funny, as MCPS does not teach spelling. We were in a private for a few years until our child aged out and the quality of education which was a more traditional approach was much better. They did spelling, grammar and things like fractions in first grade. MCPS does fractions in 3rd. There are some positives that they do encourage a lot of writing but there is very little history or science. There is very little teaching and everything is structured around centers.

MY second grader is taught spelling. The teachers just don’t obsessively correct every word.

no time for that stuff, correcting essays, spelling, math steps? please.

Anonymous wrote:My child told me the other day when another child asked how to spell something that they were in 3rd and should know how to spell already. Funny, as MCPS does not teach spelling. We were in a private for a few years until our child aged out and the quality of education which was a more traditional approach was much better. They did spelling, grammar and things like fractions in first grade. MCPS does fractions in 3rd. There are some positives that they do encourage a lot of writing but there is very little history or science. There is very little teaching and everything is structured around centers.

MY second grader is taught spelling. The teachers just don’t obsessively correct every word.