Teacher turnover is phenomenally high in many MCPS elementary schools.

Anonymous wrote:My non-W 4th grader has had spelling tests every 2 weeks since 2nd grade. In 1st grade, they were every week. I don’t think they spend much time on chrome books at all, apart from a math program they do in the 5 minutes while kids are settling into class. They were taught cursive in 3rd grade but aren’t required to use it in their writing. Either you W folks are exaggerating, or you’re not aware of what your kids are doing, or your schools aren’t as rigorous (our school has a high gs rating and high test scores so don’t even try that one).

The elementary schools in bethesda have mainly teachers under age 25. Principal claims thisbiabbecasuenolder teachers live far out and prefer schools closer to them. Thus it makes sense that a 40-55 yo teacher is able to teach better, teach more, and incorporate more of the former curricula into his or her coursework. They probably also know what is best and useful. Less sticking to the c2.0 rubric only.

I have a 6th and 8th grader. They went to an ES in the Einstein cluster. They both drilled math facts and the now-8th grader absolutely had spelling tests (some years, but it was never a consistent thing). The older one also got one week of cursive instruction in 3rd grade.

The younger had spelling tests inconsistently in two grades and never learned cursive.

Despite the highly centralized system, there are differences between schools and teachers. I know for the older kid there were other third grade classes who had more cursive instruction.

Both my kids drilled math facts in school, a lot. My older one did not do compacted math, and still had to drill them in 5th grade. It was ridiculous, but that's what you get, when you don't differentiate education within the classroom.

My kids never had spelling bees, geography bees, etc. I asked about spelling bee a couple of times and principal said it would never happen. Did not fit in with curriculum.

Some of the savvier principals figure out how to get around the system. When we ended up as a tier two ES, ours, for example, managed to build in time for an extra recess.

The same could be said for cursive. If a principal thinks it's an important skill, the schedule will be adjusted to work it in. While autonomy is basically dead in the MCPS system, experienced leaders and teachers manage to work around some of the obstacles.

FWIW, I paid to have my son learn cursive b/c his fine motor skills were poor. Cursive increased his speed and improved his outlook.

My non-W 4th grader has had spelling tests every 2 weeks since 2nd grade. In 1st grade, they were every week. I don’t think they spend much time on chrome books at all, apart from a math program they do in the 5 minutes while kids are settling into class. They were taught cursive in 3rd grade but aren’t required to use it in their writing. Either you W folks are exaggerating, or you’re not aware of what your kids are doing, or your schools aren’t as rigorous (our school has a high gs rating and high test scores so don’t even try that one).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My daughter is in 3rd and has yet to have any test except for MAPs. My older child used to have math facts quizzes, spelling tests, vocabulary match quizzes, spelling bees, geography bees..... Now they just play games on chromebooks

From which you can conclude that there are no longer any spelling tests in the lower grades that your daughter has been in, at your daughter's school. But it would be an absurd generalization to conclude from this that there are no longer any spelling tests in any lower grade at any school in MCPS.

I remember reading "MCPS doesn't teach cursive anymore!" on DCUM the year my kid was in third grade in MCPS being taught cursive.

MCPS doesn't teach cursive. My middle schoolers do not know cursive.

Nobody likes mayonnaise. [I know this because] I don't like mayonnaise.

I teach older students and the grammatical and spelling errors that occur early in the writing process are often a part of the struggle writers experience as they try to figure out exactly what they want to say and how to say it. As they go through prewriting and drafting, often these issues are cleared up.

It's important NOT to focus on editing until the very end of the writing process. If a writer feels writing is all about good grammar and spelling s/he will fixate on writing correct and safe and boring sentences because sentences with complex and new ideas are HARDER to write, and s/he will avoid that out of the fear of making mistakes. You will set your child up to be a very average writer if this is what you obsess over.

Elementary students should be taught spelling and grammar, but it should not be their primary focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My daughter is in 3rd and has yet to have any test except for MAPs. My older child used to have math facts quizzes, spelling tests, vocabulary match quizzes, spelling bees, geography bees..... Now they just play games on chromebooks

From which you can conclude that there are no longer any spelling tests in the lower grades that your daughter has been in, at your daughter's school. But it would be an absurd generalization to conclude from this that there are no longer any spelling tests in any lower grade at any school in MCPS.

I remember reading "MCPS doesn't teach cursive anymore!" on DCUM the year my kid was in third grade in MCPS being taught cursive.

MCPS doesn't teach cursive. My middle schoolers do not know cursive.

teaching*

Sorry for typos.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

MCPS does teach spelling.

I am blown away by some of these posters. I have a first grader at MCPS. They have a spelling test every week and use those words to make a cumulative word wall of all the words they have learned thus far this year. MCPS does not teach spelling? So now we are basically just stating complete untruths I guess.

My daughter is in 3rd and has yet to have any test except for MAPs. My older child used to have math facts quizzes, spelling tests, vocabulary match quizzes, spelling bees, geography bees..... Now they just play games on chromebooks

I think this must be school or even teacher specific. My second grader does have quizzes and tests. It’s not a big part of their school experience yet, and it shouldn’t be. She is taught spelling and grammar. But I’m more impressed by the way they are teaching nuance, helping them to distinguish opinion from fact and how/when to use each, teaching the writing process, teaching civics and their roles in their various communities, teaching about money and its value, twachjng
Complex addition and subtraction as well as introducing multiplication. Teaching how to measure and construct things, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

My daughter is in 3rd and has yet to have any test except for MAPs. My older child used to have math facts quizzes, spelling tests, vocabulary match quizzes, spelling bees, geography bees..... Now they just play games on chromebooks

From which you can conclude that there are no longer any spelling tests in the lower grades that your daughter has been in, at your daughter's school. But it would be an absurd generalization to conclude from this that there are no longer any spelling tests in any lower grade at any school in MCPS.

I remember reading "MCPS doesn't teach cursive anymore!" on DCUM the year my kid was in third grade in MCPS being taught cursive.

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.

MCPS does teach spelling.

I am blown away by some of these posters. I have a first grader at MCPS. They have a spelling test every week and use those words to make a cumulative word wall of all the words they have learned thus far this year. MCPS does not teach spelling? So now we are basically just stating complete untruths I guess.

My daughter is in 3rd and has yet to have any test except for MAPs. My older child used to have math facts quizzes, spelling tests, vocabulary match quizzes, spelling bees, geography bees..... Now they just play games on chromebooks

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

How dare you insinuate that W schools aren't the very best that MCPS has to offer?!?!? (sarcasm)

No, no, PP! The W schools ARE the very best that MCPS has to offer, it's just the the very best that MCPS has to offer is still horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!

Or, um, something.

Anonymous wrote: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.

How dare you insinuate that W schools aren't the very best that MCPS has to offer?!?!? (sarcasm)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kids are bored in class because MCPS doesn't challenge them. I hear this from so many parents these days, particularly in "W" elementary schools. It's absolutely a failure of the system.

Kids are bored in class because boredom is a feeling that humans feel.

There are many schools where kids aren't bored in class.

It seems highly unlikely to me that there are any schools where kids are never bored in class.