Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

No where did the PP say they weren’t taught to read music. She said her kid already knew how to, putting her ahead.

Knowing how to read music shouldn’t put her ahead, since all the kids should know it.

In what made up world can all 4th graders read music?

That is why they go to instrumental music. Except if they've had private lessons they shouldn't know how to read music and that poster is not being reasonable with expectations.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Bad idea as they don’t have piano in most schools and they only teach specific instruments in elementary.

Yes, she is learning a different instrument than piano in elementary. But she's far ahead because of her piano lessons. She has picked up a second instrument very quickly and is quite good. Hence, it sometimes makes sense for her to choose to stay for math and skip the instrument lesson.

You can work with her on the math at home. My kid was advanced but went as it was fun and a good experience. If you want advanced, then have them do a private orchestra. But, its also learning to play with a group and many other things you will not get via piano.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

No where did the PP say they weren’t taught to read music. She said her kid already knew how to, putting her ahead.

Knowing how to read music shouldn’t put her ahead, since all the kids should know it.

In what made up world can all 4th graders read music?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

Thats why they should take the MCPS instrumental music. We had an amazing teacher who taught the kids who could not read music to read and also play. She did amazing at getting the kids to a basic level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Bad idea as they don’t have piano in most schools and they only teach specific instruments in elementary.

Yes, she is learning a different instrument than piano in elementary. But she's far ahead because of her piano lessons. She has picked up a second instrument very quickly and is quite good. Hence, it sometimes makes sense for her to choose to stay for math and skip the instrument lesson.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the reason behind her discouragement is that she doesn’t want to do any extra work if the kids miss something important. I don’t blame her. Teachers are burdened with too much work and get paid too little. Why would they want to reteach a lesson if the students miss it because of music?

This.

It’s a pain for the teachers because random groups of kids miss class at different times.

Really? If that is a huge problem to a teacher (for 4th graders... SMH), the teacher should find a different job.

Actually, nope. MCPS has a terrible way of scheduling and implementing instrumental music. There should be a dedicated enrichment hour at least once a week for activities such as band and orchestra in elementary school. Kids not participating can use that time to focus on missing work or small groups with the teacher. I moved here from the Southwest and that's how every single school does it there. Same with my friends in California, Washington.... Here, it's just random. The kids forget to go and/or their instruments most of the time. Many sign up just to get out of class.

Anonymous wrote:Why is the school even offering lessons? Seems like it makes things more complicated. Have kids do private lessons and then do the rehearsals after school. That’s what I did when I played cello from 3rd-12th grade. Same thing when DH played viola.

Not everyone can afford private lessons...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

No where did the PP say they weren’t taught to read music. She said her kid already knew how to, putting her ahead.

Knowing how to read music shouldn’t put her ahead, since all the kids should know it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the reason behind her discouragement is that she doesn’t want to do any extra work if the kids miss something important. I don’t blame her. Teachers are burdened with too much work and get paid too little. Why would they want to reteach a lesson if the students miss it because of music?

This.

It’s a pain for the teachers because random groups of kids miss class at different times.

Really? If that is a huge problem to a teacher (for 4th graders... SMH), the teacher should find a different job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

No where did the PP say they weren’t taught to read music. She said her kid already knew how to, putting her ahead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

They should still be being taught how to read music.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Bad idea as they don’t have piano in most schools and they only teach specific instruments in elementary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Most kids don’t do private lessons. Her kid is doing great.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.

Most of the class can’t read music? My 6 year old can read music. That speaks volumes about the quality of music instruction. Even a Suzuki method should ideally involve teaching kids how to read music.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At BTSN DS’s 4th grade teacher seemed to be discouraging instrumental music. She kept mentioning that kids miss instruction time and have to make up on their own with the parents help. She also mentioned that it’s better to start in middle school etc. This is my youngest kid and the first time any teacher has discouraged taking instrumental music in 4th grade. My 3 older kids all did it and had no issues and I didn’t get this negative/discouraging rant from any of their 4th grade teachers. In fact they were all very supportive.
Anyone else experience this ?

We got that too - many kids miss compacted math, which already goes so fast. So if a kid is borderline, it can be a problem to miss half a class a week.

This is why the instrumental teachers rotate the lesson times, so the same group is not always missing the same portion of the teaching day. Sometimes it can be tough for the kids to keep track, but that, too, is a good life lesson.

I told my 4th grader that she was allowed to stay in class and skip instrument if she thought she was going to miss important content. I think she took me up on this twice last year, both times when she had been out for illness and didn't want to miss another math lesson. I fully supported her choice.

She's been playing piano for years and can already read music, putting her way ahead of most of the class. It's fine to choose not to miss class--sometimes you have to prioritize.