Anonymous
Post 09/19/2022 22:35     Subject: Outside math enrichment
If MCPS did a better job of meeting the needs of advanced students, outside enrichment wouldn't be necessary. But as it is, MCPS is focused on kids at or below grade level, and the acceleration and enrichment offered for kids not in CES/magnet programs is not enough to meet gifted students' needs. With the shift to lottery-based admissions among qualified students for CES/middle school magnets, students who need a high level of acceleration and enrichment aren't getting it in MCPS. As such, I know lots of families (ours included) that turn to outside enrichment classes for both ELA and math.
Anonymous
Post 09/19/2022 09:34     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader just started RSM because even with compacted math, she was bored. There are so many kids in her MCPS 5/6 class that the teacher can’t differentiate for more advanced learners. We haven’t done any outside enrichment before, but right now RSM is great. It has one-fifth of the kids in the 5/6 math and expects much more from them.



This is why the achievement gap will become wider and wider


If schools aren’t teaching kids, then parents have to go somewhere else. Trying to close the achievement gap at school by watering down the curriculum is the dumbest thing ever. Gifted kids getting bored at schools aren’t serving anyone good.


Of course that’s true. But it is exactly what MCPS has been doing the past few years.

I guess it’s much easier to lower the ceiling than raise the floor.

There are only so many resources to go around. There is only so much money to go around. Not much incentive to support students who are already meeting or exceeding expectations.


Only 3 billion a year to go around…
Only 1.6 operating a year to go around…
90% on pensions, healthcare and salaries…

160K students, 25K employees. It's a large operation.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 23:19     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader just started RSM because even with compacted math, she was bored. There are so many kids in her MCPS 5/6 class that the teacher can’t differentiate for more advanced learners. We haven’t done any outside enrichment before, but right now RSM is great. It has one-fifth of the kids in the 5/6 math and expects much more from them.



This is why the achievement gap will become wider and wider


If schools aren’t teaching kids, then parents have to go somewhere else. Trying to close the achievement gap at school by watering down the curriculum is the dumbest thing ever. Gifted kids getting bored at schools aren’t serving anyone good.


Of course that’s true. But it is exactly what MCPS has been doing the past few years.

I guess it’s much easier to lower the ceiling than raise the floor.

There are only so many resources to go around. There is only so much money to go around. Not much incentive to support students who are already meeting or exceeding expectations.


Only 3 billion a year to go around…
Only 1.6 operating a year to go around…
90% on pensions, healthcare and salaries…
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 23:12     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:My kids do AoPS because they enjoy math and MCPS math is simply terrible.

Look at the recent stats for the Algebra MCAP. They are REALLY bad. MCPS isn’t teaching our kids Math well. Parents want another option.


+1 and imagine having MCPS try to teach a child with a math disability. Utter nightmare. We left.

Basically to the original poster - you can pick any MCPS elementary school and find its assigned cram school (the closest) because the overall instruction is so poor after Curriculum 2.0. So now they have a different curriculum - doesn’t matter - same poor results. The cram school companies are making out like bandits in Moco.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 22:22     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:I guess this is the MCPS version of ‘school choice’.

The politics in this county don’t support school vouchers or charter schools, so this is how we get around it.

Offering free tutoring to all students. The free tutors are paid by taxpayer money, but are employed by a private company.

Interesting workaround.


Tutoring is separate from schools choice. In ms and he if you live in the DCC you have some school choice. Mcps had a charter. It was closed very quickly.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 21:25     Subject: Outside math enrichment
I guess this is the MCPS version of ‘school choice’.

The politics in this county don’t support school vouchers or charter schools, so this is how we get around it.

Offering free tutoring to all students. The free tutors are paid by taxpayer money, but are employed by a private company.

Interesting workaround.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 17:39     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:Pp that use mcps free tutoring, are you sure that we can use it for math and reading for a few grades level higher than my kid's current grade?

My kid is in early ES year.


Positive - mine are ahead too and would not qualify for most tutoring. There are no requirements on the tutor me and the other one (I could never get a tutor from the other one and they'd never respond). And, no restrictions on how often or how long. We did it a few times a week for each tutor over the summer.

You can do it for things like a foreign language too even if your child is not in the class but they don't have tutors for all things but its worth asking.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 16:37     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Pp that use mcps free tutoring, are you sure that we can use it for math and reading for a few grades level higher than my kid's current grade?

My kid is in early ES year.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 14:30     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.


Thanks for answering my questions and I am happy for you that you are taking full advantage of the tutoring program.


Give it a try. Its worked out really well for us in the two subjects. If you don't like the tutor, just as for a new one (if they have one as they don't for all subjects). But, it was also nice to have during the summer to fill time and prep for this year. Silly not to take advantage of something MCPS is offering for free.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 13:11     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.


Thanks for answering my questions and I am happy for you that you are taking full advantage of the tutoring program.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 12:56     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.


Wow, that’s a lot! The kid attends school all day and then needs tutoring on top of that.

The other PP is correct. What is MCPS doing? It seems like if my kid is at school for 7 hours every day, she should be getting a decent education. Instead, the kids need external tutoring because they’re not getting a solid education IN school.

It’s sad because I come from a different country where every kid has ‘outside tutoring’ because the public schools stink. Or the parents paid for private. I came to the US as a child and got a strong education at our public school. Disappointing that now parents have to resort to tutors now instead of expecting public schools to offer the basics - solid curriculum, enrichment, etc.


It is absurd but what is the other option? Like you said, if we want to keep up with kids in other countries and get a strong education, you do what you need to do. We looked at privates and the math wasn't as strong and it wasn't going to work on the math track my kids were on.

Mine are choosing that much tutoring and often ask for more time when needed. It is a lot but it's actually cut down on the homework drama and school frustration as they are understanding the subject matter better. We choose the two hardest subjects, one we cannot help with. It wouldn't be bad if they weren't also in outside activities every day to but we make it work.

We long gave up on MCPS having a good solid curriculum when they don't even teach the basics like math facts, grammar or spelling in ES.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 12:46     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.


Wow, that’s a lot! The kid attends school all day and then needs tutoring on top of that.

The other PP is correct. What is MCPS doing? It seems like if my kid is at school for 7 hours every day, she should be getting a decent education. Instead, the kids need external tutoring because they’re not getting a solid education IN school.

It’s sad because I come from a different country where every kid has ‘outside tutoring’ because the public schools stink. Or the parents paid for private. I came to the US as a child and got a strong education at our public school. Disappointing that now parents have to resort to tutors now instead of expecting public schools to offer the basics - solid curriculum, enrichment, etc.


I agree, as i am an immigrant too and in my country tutors were for kids who were actually struggling not for enrichment. The problem here is a little complex. Parents do enrichment either through outside enrichment centers like rsm, mathnasium or kumon or at home so because of the enrichment that the child is already receiving outside of school whatever enrichment mcps throws at the child seems insignificant. This is a vicious cycle. If kids were mot receiving outside enrichment they would not be as bored in the class and mcps would be able to figure out something for those kids. I feel it’s unfair to expect mcps to provide 2 or 3 grade levels higher math classes just because a child is attending rsm or mathnasium for enrichment.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 12:35     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.


Wow, that’s a lot! The kid attends school all day and then needs tutoring on top of that.

The other PP is correct. What is MCPS doing? It seems like if my kid is at school for 7 hours every day, she should be getting a decent education. Instead, the kids need external tutoring because they’re not getting a solid education IN school.

It’s sad because I come from a different country where every kid has ‘outside tutoring’ because the public schools stink. Or the parents paid for private. I came to the US as a child and got a strong education at our public school. Disappointing that now parents have to resort to tutors now instead of expecting public schools to offer the basics - solid curriculum, enrichment, etc.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 12:26     Subject: Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My 5th grader just started RSM because even with compacted math, she was bored. There are so many kids in her MCPS 5/6 class that the teacher can’t differentiate for more advanced learners. We haven’t done any outside enrichment before, but right now RSM is great. It has one-fifth of the kids in the 5/6 math and expects much more from them.



This is why the achievement gap will become wider and wider


If schools aren’t teaching kids, then parents have to go somewhere else. Trying to close the achievement gap at school by watering down the curriculum is the dumbest thing ever. Gifted kids getting bored at schools aren’t serving anyone good.


No, you can also teach them yourself. We always supplement ped at home. In elementary we did lots of workbooks. Harder in middle and high school but we still are very involved.
Anonymous
Post 09/18/2022 12:25     Subject: Re:Outside math enrichment
Anonymous wrote:Question to the pp who uses tutoring service via MCPS. Could you please share the profile/background of the good tutor you use? A college student majoring education, a retired certified teacher, etc. Also, how many sessions can you request?

We always used a certified teacher who is also a reading specialist for reading, and a certified teacher who is specialized in elementary gifted education for math.

Recently, we used a college student for tutoring my kid to learn programming and I was surprised how good he was, even though he was not an experienced teacher.

Previously I was dismissive of the MCPS’s tutoring service, but I’m thinking that maybe you can find a gem if you are a bit patient.



We do it through tutor me. Unlimited sessions. We do it with each subject 2-3 times a week. First one for math was a dud and we dropped her. She could help with homework but did nothing else and lied about the hours she gave us. Current math one is a retired teacher and fantastic. The other one just graduated with their PhD. Both go over homework and supplement with extra time. We found two gems but pure luck. I also asked for other very random subjects and did not get anyone but we don’t really have time to fit more in but got the main things. When we had the dud we kept her till they assigned someone new.

My children don’t need the tutoring but it helps with homework to have someone other than us review it. It’s free so I figured why not and it’s been really helpful. We did it last spring, all summer and now this school year.