Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1

Maybe it gets better later, but math was a joke in my child's public elementary.

Mine too. MCPS. Not impressed with 2.0. Maybe pre 2.0 there was some rigor there, but they have slowed it down to not increase the achievement gap with the illegal aliens. All they talk about is the achievement gap. It is getting old and many kids are bored.

No, America keeps the lousy curricula to keep their people down. The education department could easily copy a better one from Asia or Europe, but it doesn't. Your government likes people like you who blame another group of people for just about anything and not them. Even the states with small number of illegals and better curriculum get beat by students from other countries.
Government started to dumb Americans down way before the illegals you are talking about showed up. Thank god they moved here, because now you have somebody to blame.
When was there any rigor? After many years here, I've yet to meet an American, even an older one, who got a better education than my foreign born friends and I did K through 12.
(No, THE Socrates was not a dog. Years later I run into this children's book and what do you know - Socrates is a dog in that book).

Comparing academics of lower schools is really hard to quantify OP -- you're going to get pretty subjective responses, as you can see from the posts so far. At least public schools post reading and match proficiency data (DCPS does anyway), but that doesn't tell you what school has the "strongest" academics. Speaking of which -- does "strong academics" mean most difficult curriculum or best teachers? I assume the former. Or is it nomenclature for ... hard to get into? After all, other than public schools, hard-to-get-into schools are more likely to have academic goals for their students that are more challenging than easier to get into schools, simply by virtue of the student body's ability, drive, and intelligence.

I don't think any of the privates do what you are looking for. Might as well give him individual instruction.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yes our DC needs to be pushed academically or else he's unhappy and can be a bit wandering - the harder the curriculum and the happier our kid and happier the teacher

You realize this is all part of the learning experience. A child needs to learn how to sit still and pay attention even when they aren't interested in what's being taught. Every single child needs to be challenged in some way and all the schools (public and private) will do this on some way at every grade level. Differentiation doesn't ordinarily come into play until middle school although I know MCPS used to have GT programs at the elementary school level and maybe they still do. I don't know about Virginia public schools.

OP here- of course! He doesn't misbehave nor get out of his seat etc - he's just not super happy unless he's learning new things and has a teacher that is constantly introducing new curriculum. Just like we adults have different learning styles, so does he - so I want a school that is challenging and isn't teaching to the less advanced students - we looked at Nysmith and I think they clearly are pushing ahead and differentiating. Wasn't sure if any of the DC privates were also considered to be pushing ahead academically. . .

GDS is what you make of it -- not a good fit for a kid who needs to be pushed.

GDS

I think it is possible to provide an interesting and engaging curriculum without it being difficult, per se. My child's lower school experience wasn't a struggle, but he had opportunities to engage in well-designed and rich courses of study in all of his subjects. They don't have to be doing traditionally advanced coursework, like long division in kindergarten, for the material to be appropriate for a bright child. I'd look for a school that provides depth and breadth in many areas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1

Maybe it gets better later, but math was a joke in my child's public elementary.

Mine too. MCPS. Not impressed with 2.0. Maybe pre 2.0 there was some rigor there, but they have slowed it down to not increase the achievement gap with the illegal aliens. All they talk about is the achievement gap. It is getting old and many kids are bored.

Well, we are legal aliens (green cards) and we pay huge amounts of taxes, as I believe many of the illegal aliens in this country do. I wouldn't be able to id them though and you sound like a facist, but that aside, our kids are in MCPS and the Math teaching this year, 4th grade is stellar. No one who is capable is bored because they are advanced into 4/5 math, plus of course there are the magnets for Highly Gifted. So the poster who wrote that is very sorely out of date.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yes our DC needs to be pushed academically or else he's unhappy and can be a bit wandering - the harder the curriculum and the happier our kid and happier the teacher

You realize this is all part of the learning experience. A child needs to learn how to sit still and pay attention even when they aren't interested in what's being taught. Every single child needs to be challenged in some way and all the schools (public and private) will do this on some way at every grade level. Differentiation doesn't ordinarily come into play until middle school although I know MCPS used to have GT programs at the elementary school level and maybe they still do. I don't know about Virginia public schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1

Maybe it gets better later, but math was a joke in my child's public elementary.

Mine too. MCPS. Not impressed with 2.0. Maybe pre 2.0 there was some rigor there, but they have slowed it down to not increase the achievement gap with the illegal aliens. All they talk about is the achievement gap. It is getting old and many kids are bored.

Not to start a debate, but how in the world do you know the immigration status of the kids in your child's class? I've only seen the PARCC scores be reported by race, not immigration status.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1

Maybe it gets better later, but math was a joke in my child's public elementary.

Mine too. MCPS. Not impressed with 2.0. Maybe pre 2.0 there was some rigor there, but they have slowed it down to not increase the achievement gap with the illegal aliens. All they talk about is the achievement gap. It is getting old and many kids are bored.

Why?

Definitely not Landon

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1

Maybe it gets better later, but math was a joke in my child's public elementary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public g t program

+1 People don't usually choose public for the academic rigor.

Not to start a debate, but yes actually they do, particularly for the math program

+1