Op, I am the op of this thread. https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/716481.page

You are going to get push-backs from the teachers because they do not have the bandwidth to help you. I cultivated relationships with all the teachers and the school and met their needs for classroom supplies, books, snacks, chaperoning, PTA, donations etc when possible. Apart from that, I did not ask for their input on what they were teaching my kid. I used the MCPS curriculum to determine what would be taught, but pretty much added my own curriculum on top of that, based on my resources. We are also at a high FARMS school cluster, and my kids have been in the magnet program for most of their school life. Even with the magnet programs, the middle school magnet curriculum was subpar and I was pretty much scrambling to afterschool and add rigor.

I think with a bit of research, you can craft a curriculum uniquely suited for your child. You will find that the school assignments are really slim and it does not truly interfere with the afterschooling. My kids finished homework at school in ES and MS. That was my expectation from them. Only in HS, have I shifted my attention away from curriculum and moved it to the college process.

OP here:

Everything worked out. I emailed the teacher and he sent a document with calendars for the year showing the units they will work on in each subject (which he said all the teachers at the grade level uses). He responded very politely, sent it the that night and didn't seem to take anything personally. Which is great, because now I see that there are several units/standards they are covering pretty thoroughly that I don't have to plan to teach and can take off our plate, and a couple of things I would love to double down on at the same time (they are going to be doing some engineering design projects (yay!) which will be great for me to supplement during that same month and prior to that).

I am not sure why some people in this thread would have felt that much apprehension and anxiety from a parent asking for a look at the curriculum they plan to teach. I only had to ask because the district does not have this listed anywhere on their website and it is not publicly available. The teacher probably knows this, so its no big deal to send it. And its obvious he already had it in document form and that it was planned out by the teachers together already. Why would they have needed to hide it?

A parent asking for a curriculum calendar does not mean a slippery slope into them harassing you all year over details and explanations and forcing you to teach them to read or something. This isn't a give a mouse a cookie situation, and just as teachers are constantly asking parents to cooperate with them by supporting the classroom with school supplies, volunteering, chaperoning, reading to the child every night, and so on, teachers need to cooperate with parents on supporting their child's learning at home as well. We are ALL in this together to ensure our kids do well. Responding to a parent with secrecy or telling the parent they need to sit back and let them handle it is defensiveness, IMO, and there is probably a negative reason for that.

If a parent harasses you, THEN you express your concern and set your boundary by saying "No." Don't respond to every parent that approaches you as if they are out to abuse you. Just like I don't let a teacher giving me an attitude or being dismissive of me or my child affect how I speak to all teachers.

I know I may be feeding the trolls, but just wanted to add my response for any real parents or teachers reading that may encounter a similar situation.

PS. We are also at a Title 1 school where teachers and admin have tried hard to get parents to do activities with their children at home because so many of them are failing to pass the standardized tests. They send all types of materials home with activities to do with the child, like counting snacks, and they even send flashcards home. It would not make sense for them to balk at a parent that willingly asks to see what they are teaching so that she can do all those things most efficiently. That's one less child for them to have to worry about pouring even more resources to.

Anonymous wrote:OP your expectations are beyond unreasonable. I don't think you have a clue how little you will get from your teacher / school.

Unless your kid has an IEP or similar you are going to get a big, fat zero in terms of response.

I think OP will like get an email with the basic year-long framework. My concern, as a teacher, is whether that framework would be something a parent could easily translate or whether there would be subsequent requests to break things down into more detail. At some point, I would balk because it’s time consuming right at the start of the school year when my workload is already intense. I would worry about not being able to focus sufficiently on struggling kids because I was wrapped up in helping OP “after school”. That said, if OP feels she must have a breakdown for a typical year in her child’s school system, this is typically accessible on the district’s website.

OP your expectations are beyond unreasonable. I don't think you have a clue how little you will get from your teacher / school.

Unless your kid has an IEP or similar you are going to get a big, fat zero in terms of response.

OP, you are overthinking this. Teach your cultural history and science topics on your own. Let her interests be the guide. The Hoagies Gifted website has brain teasers that reinforce logic and critical thinking skills. As for writing, simply let her write! It can be a journal, book report, news article, letter, findings of any scientific experiments you have done, or anything you deem important.

I did a lot of academic enrichment with my children, and I never consulted with the teacher. It went well. Just build on their interests. One of my children loved math, and I trained that dc to USAMO qualification. Another child was a talented writer and excellent at anguages. I taught that dc three foreign languages, and that child won poetry and essay contests and is now the editor in chief of a college newspaper. My third child loved science, and excelled at research, eventually winning a prize at one of the major science research competitions. My youngest adores music and is a top-notch pianist and violinist. None of this required teacher input.

How about you get a job so you can afford to move to a better school?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a teacher as are many of my friends. I just do not know how they keep from losing it with parents like this. I have so much admiration for their ability to ignore the stupidity and just teach. I simply cannot imagine dealing with the OP or her kid day after day.

+1

Geez, some nasty ass people on this forum. OP asked for a way to ask the teacher for their schedule, and ya'll acting like she asking for their blood type and ss#.

OP, try to ignore posts like that. Its an anonymous forum, so they use any chance to let out their bitterness on here. Just ask the teacher for the schedule. If they give it ot you great, you're good to go. If not, then teach your child the most important things and talk to the principal about the lack of transparency. It is not worth going above that for.

It all really depends on the teacher, which will change from year to year, so you don't want to depend on them anyway. But your taxes pay their salary and they are teaching your child so you have the right to ask.

How does having the teacher's schedule help in this situation? If OP knows that ELA is taught from 9:15-11:00 as opposed to 1:30-3:15, how does that help OP?

Yearly schedule. As in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

DP and a public school teacher who supplemented my kids: I never worried about trying to match up with their classroom teacher’s schedule. I made my own calendar and if things overlapped, great. If not, NBD. Everything we did was interdisciplinary and hands on learning. No worksheets. No quizzes. Sometimes, it was really nice for them that what we did at home didn’t match in any way what they did at school.

+1
NP here. I agree that I think OP should ignore trying to coordinate with the public school schedule. Your whole purpose was to do things that aren't being covered. Just treat what you want to do as separate "activities" you might sign up for. Since you aren't designing an actual curriculum that has to be approved by the state, and you don't have to be monitored like you were homeschooling, just relax a little bit about what you want to do and be flexible with homework sent home from school. If your daughter is not behind and the homework seems like busy work, just let the teacher know that you are choosing for your child to do something else with her time (and ignore whatever report card consequences happen.) If the homework seems important (part of a project) adjust what you were planning on doing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a teacher as are many of my friends. I just do not know how they keep from losing it with parents like this. I have so much admiration for their ability to ignore the stupidity and just teach. I simply cannot imagine dealing with the OP or her kid day after day.

+1

Geez, some nasty ass people on this forum. OP asked for a way to ask the teacher for their schedule, and ya'll acting like she asking for their blood type and ss#.

OP, try to ignore posts like that. Its an anonymous forum, so they use any chance to let out their bitterness on here. Just ask the teacher for the schedule. If they give it ot you great, you're good to go. If not, then teach your child the most important things and talk to the principal about the lack of transparency. It is not worth going above that for.

It all really depends on the teacher, which will change from year to year, so you don't want to depend on them anyway. But your taxes pay their salary and they are teaching your child so you have the right to ask.

How does having the teacher's schedule help in this situation? If OP knows that ELA is taught from 9:15-11:00 as opposed to 1:30-3:15, how does that help OP?

Yearly schedule. As in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

DP and a public school teacher who supplemented my kids: I never worried about trying to match up with their classroom teacher’s schedule. I made my own calendar and if things overlapped, great. If not, NBD. Everything we did was interdisciplinary and hands on learning. No worksheets. No quizzes. Sometimes, it was really nice for them that what we did at home didn’t match in any way what they did at school.

Some people really didn't like that PhD bit.

Women and their "relational aggression"

(a.k.a their need to tear down other woman they perceive as above them)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a teacher as are many of my friends. I just do not know how they keep from losing it with parents like this. I have so much admiration for their ability to ignore the stupidity and just teach. I simply cannot imagine dealing with the OP or her kid day after day.

+1

Geez, some nasty ass people on this forum. OP asked for a way to ask the teacher for their schedule, and ya'll acting like she asking for their blood type and ss#.

OP, try to ignore posts like that. Its an anonymous forum, so they use any chance to let out their bitterness on here. Just ask the teacher for the schedule. If they give it ot you great, you're good to go. If not, then teach your child the most important things and talk to the principal about the lack of transparency. It is not worth going above that for.

It all really depends on the teacher, which will change from year to year, so you don't want to depend on them anyway. But your taxes pay their salary and they are teaching your child so you have the right to ask.

Paying taxes doesn't mean that teachers are your employees. Everyone who believes that paying taxes means that they get to treat teachers as their employees and are entitled to do so is an a**hole. Period.

Calling a person an a**hole for asking for currciulum standards from a teacher is being an a**hole. If your salary is paid by my taxes, that means your activities should be completely transparent. not to mention you are with my child every day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a teacher as are many of my friends. I just do not know how they keep from losing it with parents like this. I have so much admiration for their ability to ignore the stupidity and just teach. I simply cannot imagine dealing with the OP or her kid day after day.

+1

Geez, some nasty ass people on this forum. OP asked for a way to ask the teacher for their schedule, and ya'll acting like she asking for their blood type and ss#.

OP, try to ignore posts like that. Its an anonymous forum, so they use any chance to let out their bitterness on here. Just ask the teacher for the schedule. If they give it ot you great, you're good to go. If not, then teach your child the most important things and talk to the principal about the lack of transparency. It is not worth going above that for.

It all really depends on the teacher, which will change from year to year, so you don't want to depend on them anyway. But your taxes pay their salary and they are teaching your child so you have the right to ask.

How does having the teacher's schedule help in this situation? If OP knows that ELA is taught from 9:15-11:00 as opposed to 1:30-3:15, how does that help OP?

Yearly schedule. As in Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.

Forgot to add that I wish Jeff would create a separate forum for MCPS since non-MCPS people get flamed for posting legit questions or comments.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 13:16.

I wrote as if you were in MCPS. They have curriculum standards on their website, with examples.

You don't need to know in detail what the teacher is doing, OP, because you want your child functioning at a much higher level anyway. You can start doing all 4 operations, and look at various workbooks to see what kind of progression there is. I recommend Beast Academy books for math, and reading and writing books from The Critical Thinking Company's website.

OP here:

I AM NOT IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

But I am confused as to why you expect MCPS to provide quarterly standards and schedules on their website, but are shocked that I would like that same information at my school. The teacher has this information, even if the county does not provide it online. Also, yes, MD has its standards posted online, but that doesn't tell me when and in what progression the teacher has chosen to teach these standards. Teachers have wide latitude in that department.

I simply want to coordinate my scheduling with theirs. That is all.

Why is this a problem that a parent would like to know what a teacher is going to teach their child for the year? I would love for an actual elementary school teacher to reply with why sending a 1-2 page calendar/list/schedule for the year (presumably they already have this planned out) would be difficult or inappropriate, especially given the state of public schools and the obvious need for parental involvement and supplementation.

I have a PhD and I have taught on the college level, so I know what goes into planning a curriculum and you must have a schedule and progression. We were required to give each student a syllabus, a road map of sorts for what is going to go on in the course, what they are going to learn and when. I shouldn't have to wait until after the fact to find out what is working and what is not throughout the year, especially when our time is limited and will have to compete with assigned homework. Again, this school has a very low ranking (in the 500s) and so the students are obviously not doing the best.

Then why are you posting on "MD Public Schools' forum?
Signed,
- only an MBA

In OP’s defense (and I can’t find much defensible about her), people from AA Co, Fred Co, and HoCo frequently post here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 13:16.

I wrote as if you were in MCPS. They have curriculum standards on their website, with examples.

You don't need to know in detail what the teacher is doing, OP, because you want your child functioning at a much higher level anyway. You can start doing all 4 operations, and look at various workbooks to see what kind of progression there is. I recommend Beast Academy books for math, and reading and writing books from The Critical Thinking Company's website.

OP here:

I AM NOT IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

But I am confused as to why you expect MCPS to provide quarterly standards and schedules on their website, but are shocked that I would like that same information at my school. The teacher has this information, even if the county does not provide it online. Also, yes, MD has its standards posted online, but that doesn't tell me when and in what progression the teacher has chosen to teach these standards. Teachers have wide latitude in that department.

I simply want to coordinate my scheduling with theirs. That is all.

Why is this a problem that a parent would like to know what a teacher is going to teach their child for the year? I would love for an actual elementary school teacher to reply with why sending a 1-2 page calendar/list/schedule for the year (presumably they already have this planned out) would be difficult or inappropriate, especially given the state of public schools and the obvious need for parental involvement and supplementation.

I have a PhD and I have taught on the college level, so I know what goes into planning a curriculum and you must have a schedule and progression. We were required to give each student a syllabus, a road map of sorts for what is going to go on in the course, what they are going to learn and when. I shouldn't have to wait until after the fact to find out what is working and what is not throughout the year, especially when our time is limited and will have to compete with assigned homework. Again, this school has a very low ranking (in the 500s) and so the students are obviously not doing the best.

Then why are you posting on "MD Public Schools' forum?
Signed,
- only an MBA

You are aware that there are other districts in MD correct?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 13:16.

I wrote as if you were in MCPS. They have curriculum standards on their website, with examples.

You don't need to know in detail what the teacher is doing, OP, because you want your child functioning at a much higher level anyway. You can start doing all 4 operations, and look at various workbooks to see what kind of progression there is. I recommend Beast Academy books for math, and reading and writing books from The Critical Thinking Company's website.

OP here:

I AM NOT IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

But I am confused as to why you expect MCPS to provide quarterly standards and schedules on their website, but are shocked that I would like that same information at my school. The teacher has this information, even if the county does not provide it online. Also, yes, MD has its standards posted online, but that doesn't tell me when and in what progression the teacher has chosen to teach these standards. Teachers have wide latitude in that department.

I simply want to coordinate my scheduling with theirs. That is all.

Why is this a problem that a parent would like to know what a teacher is going to teach their child for the year? I would love for an actual elementary school teacher to reply with why sending a 1-2 page calendar/list/schedule for the year (presumably they already have this planned out) would be difficult or inappropriate, especially given the state of public schools and the obvious need for parental involvement and supplementation.

I have a PhD and I have taught on the college level, so I know what goes into planning a curriculum and you must have a schedule and progression. We were required to give each student a syllabus, a road map of sorts for what is going to go on in the course, what they are going to learn and when. I shouldn't have to wait until after the fact to find out what is working and what is not throughout the year, especially when our time is limited and will have to compete with assigned homework. Again, this school has a very low ranking (in the 500s) and so the students are obviously not doing the best.

Then why are you posting on "MD Public Schools' forum?
Signed,
- only an MBA