Which school is this? Could you please share?

My daughter is in K now. She has not been put in any enrichment group even though she is capable to read 2nd grade books and to perform 2-digit addition/subtraction.

Anonymous wrote:I am an education professional, and my child started kindergarten this year at a school with a large FARMS population. Though i have no pre- Curriculum 2.0 experience, I have nothing but positive experiences to report. Within one week of starting school they had assessed his reading skills twice. He was placed in a reading group within his class and quickly put in an enriched reading group in another room twice a week. His reading skills have advanced 1 grade. By October the teacher set him up for math enrichment twice a week with the math specialist. They give him more advanced homework, which he sometimes will choose to do. I supplement his homework with workbooks, which he sometimes chooses to do. We are all happy!

Anonymous wrote:
I am an education professional, and my child started kindergarten this year at a school with a large FARMS population. Though i have no pre- Curriculum 2.0 experience, I have nothing but positive experiences to report. Within one week of starting school they had assessed his reading skills twice. He was placed in a reading group within his class and quickly put in an enriched reading group in another room twice a week. His reading skills have advanced 1 grade. By October the teacher set him up for math enrichment twice a week with the math specialist. They give him more advanced homework, which he sometimes will choose to do. I supplement his homework with workbooks, which he sometimes chooses to do. We are all happy!

The reading is one area where 2.0 hasn't changed the curriculum. I had one child pre-2.0 and one child post 2.0 and the approach to reading is exactly the same in K. Interestingly, we had the same K experience where there was a big jump from the initial assessment to their ability around October. Honestly, I think the difference is less about jumping a level and more about word recognition as they really focus on high frequency words more so than sounding out words. This gives the kids a bump once they start recognizing these words as they match the readers used in assessments. I'm not complaining about reading as I actually like their approach. The use of high interest books, reading buddies, and combo of word recognition/phonics works well IMO but this isn't 2.0.

Our school doesn't have a math specialist and all the kids do the same math with enrichment activities if they get done sooner. My kids did Montessori before K so they both came in with higher math skills. My child pre-2.0 was allowed to do above grade level math while my child post 2.0 can only do more activities surrounding whatever the grade level happens to be. Our teachers lets our child practice more handwriting or try to write stories with the extra time as she noted that he understands all the math and does it quickly. At least he isn't sitting there staring at the wall but I'm not thrilled that math is ignored.

I find it illogical that MCPS has no problem with differential groups for reading but does not allow differential groups for math.

Anonymous wrote:I am an education professional, and my child started kindergarten this year at a school with a large FARMS population. Though i have no pre- Curriculum 2.0 experience, I have nothing but positive experiences to report. Within one week of starting school they had assessed his reading skills twice. He was placed in a reading group within his class and quickly put in an enriched reading group in another room twice a week. His reading skills have advanced 1 grade. By October the teacher set him up for math enrichment twice a week with the math specialist. They give him more advanced homework, which he sometimes will choose to do. I supplement his homework with workbooks, which he sometimes chooses to do. We are all happy!

Can you please keep your down to earth, practical, real world experiences to yourself? It totally detracts from my manufactured outrage and paranoia over my slightly above average kid not being lauded as a genius.

Why the anonymity? The BOE incumbents are being reelected (except for Smondrowski). C 2.0 is here to stay. The petition is to keep Math Pathways. That won't fly either. Don't sign a petition without knowing who is behind it.

I do not play party politics. I am nonaligned. I agree entirely with the objectives and goals stated within the petition. I signed it. I do not care if it was prepared by the Superintendent or Mickey Mouse. A few thousands local residents feel the same way.

I am an education professional, and my child started kindergarten this year at a school with a large FARMS population. Though i have no pre- Curriculum 2.0 experience, I have nothing but positive experiences to report. Within one week of starting school they had assessed his reading skills twice. He was placed in a reading group within his class and quickly put in an enriched reading group in another room twice a week. His reading skills have advanced 1 grade. By October the teacher set him up for math enrichment twice a week with the math specialist. They give him more advanced homework, which he sometimes will choose to do. I supplement his homework with workbooks, which he sometimes chooses to do. We are all happy!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/montgomery-county-parents-say-new-curriculum-20-is-one-size-fits-all-math/2012/12/02/6828d390-3295-11e2-bfd5-e202b6d7b501_story_1.html

Read the article. Over 1200 parents have signed the online petition at change.org. Plenty have signed their names. Many teachers cannot sign their name because they are not allowed to complain so they have to do so anonymously. Plenty of parents showed up at the Town Hall Meeting to confront the Superintendent Joshua Starr and ask him to explain why our brightest students are being held back. He was unaware of the "proficiency" goal (gasp) and instead of really listening to parents his answer was that parents were not informed. our children's education should to be part of a failing experiment where bright able students sit in class and suffer repetitive math or self directed worksheets, or worse yet, spend their learning time helping to teach other children the standard. --- Augusta

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the petition on change.org to make improvements and changes to the current Curriculum 2.0 ....Search "No Time To Waste" and sign the petition....We need many more signatures....We can't just complain. We need to take action. Thank you.

Why the anonymity? The BOE incumbents are being reelected (except for Smondrowski). C 2.0 is here to stay. The petition is to keep Math Pathways. That won't fly either. Don't sign a petition without knowing who is behind it.

2.0 in its current edition won't fly either, at list not in the areas with high concentration of Tiger moms.
One of the schools does divide students based on their level in math, it even allows to use higher grade level assignments. And I assume it's just a beginning, more principals would have to listed to parents and adjust.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out the petition on change.org to make improvements and changes to the current Curriculum 2.0 ....Search "No Time To Waste" and sign the petition....We need many more signatures....We can't just complain. We need to take action. Thank you.

Why the anonymity? The BOE incumbents are being reelected (except for Smondrowski). C 2.0 is here to stay. The petition is to keep Math Pathways. That won't fly either. Don't sign a petition without knowing who is behind it.

The Math Pathways have been promoted by a single person on the Gifted and Talented Association email list. Coinciding with postings on DCUM a poster with an anonymous email address was allowed to post on the Gifted and Talented Association email list. That means the moderator, the Gifted and Talented Association president approved the anonymous poster. It means the anonymous poster is known to the Gifted and Talented Association. So, this is a stealth campaign to promote one man's agenda. Check out the Gifted and Talented Association email list before signing the petition. Buyer beware.

Anonymous wrote:Check out the petition on change.org to make improvements and changes to the current Curriculum 2.0 ....Search "No Time To Waste" and sign the petition....We need many more signatures....We can't just complain. We need to take action. Thank you.

Why the anonymity? The BOE incumbents are being reelected (except for Smondrowski). C 2.0 is here to stay. The petition is to keep Math Pathways. That won't fly either. Don't sign a petition without knowing who is behind it.

Check out the petition on change.org to make improvements and changes to the current Curriculum 2.0 ....Search "No Time To Waste" and sign the petition....We need many more signatures....We can't just complain. We need to take action. Thank you.

There is a petition on change.org to change the curriculum 2.0...search on change.org for no time to waste....sign the petition then send it to everyone to sign....it's the only way to get change to happen....

Curriculum 2.0 is not encouraging to the kids who are able to read and do math at a higher level as they are not able to receive accelerated learning.

listening right now. can't get through on the phone lines. so far only soft-ball questions from Starr supporters

http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-10-24/montgomery-county-schools-superintendent-joshua-starr

How about calling/asking some questions here?

Can we send a message by voting in the Board of Ed. candidates who oppose 2.0. Another thread listed the names - I'll have to look it up.