Why can't people understand that not all public or private schools are the same. Some kids from pubic come to private and thrive and others find the adjustment very difficult. I see this in my 9th grade child's class at Big 3. Some public school kids failing and others doing well. There is not one universal experience. An example is recent mock tests in 9th grade for SAT and ACT. Some kids did very well and others were a train wreck. It just shows that not everyone is coming in at the same level.
However, to the OP, you child will likely work through the issues and therefore you should take all the help you can get. Kids eventually catch up and he is only 8th grade so low stakes. Ignore the haters and do the best for your child.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he didn’t have to write essays, it’s not a rigorous school. Which is good news! They will be much more willing to work with you.

Do rigorous schools have student essays for Middle School admissions? I thought that started in HS admissions.

All the schools my kids applied to in middle school required testing and essays (this was pre-pandemic). This is not a comment about rigor, rather that all schools I am familiar with required an application that required work on behalf of my kid.

I am with the other poster - if your child is having trouble with three letter words in 8th grade, that feels odd. Presumably he had to spell three letter words at previous schools. Could be some mental health or larger problem going on. It sounds like you are no focused on him, which will probably be a big help to him.

Good luck!

OP here, now I see why everyone is saying troll. I said - or meant to say - three SYLLABLE words. Like "rigorus."

lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So people are really playing along the OP's illiterate kid managed to get admitted to private in the most competitive admissions cycle ever in a non-entry year?

NP. There are alot of privates in this area. I don't understand why this is so unimaginable to you.

FCPS has academics on par with or better than the open admission independents. The competitive admit independents wouldn't take OPs kid especially in a non-entry year when there are tons of other applicants coming out of public who can do all the things that OP complains her kid can't do.

As other parochial school parents have noted, those schools focus on spelling and writing and things like note-taking skills through the lower grades, so its not hard to imagine that a kid who didn't get direct instruction in those areas might find it challenging, even if they were an A/B student in FCPS.

Also, the child might have an inherent LD that wasn't evident in a school that didn't check spelling. I have a very bright kid with a phonological processing disorder that impacts his spelling that we didn't pick up on until the end of third grade. He was smart enough to cover for it until he couldn't. It's very possible op's child has something similar going on that has flown under the radar until now, when he's in a school that doesn't let things like poor spelling slide.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So people are really playing along the OP's illiterate kid managed to get admitted to private in the most competitive admissions cycle ever in a non-entry year?

NP. There are alot of privates in this area. I don't understand why this is so unimaginable to you.

FCPS has academics on par with or better than the open admission independents. The competitive admit independents wouldn't take OPs kid especially in a non-entry year when there are tons of other applicants coming out of public who can do all the things that OP complains her kid can't do.

Anonymous wrote:So people are really playing along the OP's illiterate kid managed to get admitted to private in the most competitive admissions cycle ever in a non-entry year?

NP. There are alot of privates in this area. I don't understand why this is so unimaginable to you.

So people are really playing along the OP's illiterate kid managed to get admitted to private in the most competitive admissions cycle ever in a non-entry year?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he didn’t have to write essays, it’s not a rigorous school. Which is good news! They will be much more willing to work with you.

Do rigorous schools have student essays for Middle School admissions? I thought that started in HS admissions.

All the schools my kids applied to in middle school required testing and essays (this was pre-pandemic). This is not a comment about rigor, rather that all schools I am familiar with required an application that required work on behalf of my kid.

I am with the other poster - if your child is having trouble with three letter words in 8th grade, that feels odd. Presumably he had to spell three letter words at previous schools. Could be some mental health or larger problem going on. It sounds like you are no focused on him, which will probably be a big help to him.

Good luck!

OP here, now I see why everyone is saying troll. I said - or meant to say - three SYLLABLE words. Like "rigorus."

At least now we know where he gets his aptitude for spelling three syllable words.

Get a tutor and get involved. Look at his assignments every night, review his homework and quiz him before tests. I realize it is time consuming, but until he is able to handle it on his own, stay vigilant.

When my DC switched to parochial middle school 2 things made the transition quite difficult: (1) organizational/study skills and 2) grammar and spelling. Yes there are some very bright, high-achieving kids who score tippy top on standardized tests and cannot spell simple words. This surprises me too, but that I is my kid — and cousin and uncle (both Ivy grads and professionals). Since DC previous school “did not work on spelling” we didn’t know how significant the issue was until middle school.

The thing that helped my kid most — for study skills and confidence - the SOAR program. Not just the binder but also the actual workbook. Now they have an online program which DC2 is working through. For us it’s been worth every penny. I’d recommend your kid work through this program over Thanksgiving or Christmas break: https://studyskills.com/mlp/six-steps-conquer-chaos-lp-e/?utm_source=ads.google.com&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=SOAR&gclid=CjwKCAjwiY6MBhBqEiwARFSCPhPBwmKhBzti-z6hnAuXbRb0_Ip8ABQGAPC253pfdON_EBVQAP0JehoCenUQAvD_BwE

For the spelling - some kids in her class have an actual diagnosis and accommodation. In our case, coming in 5th, DC had time to rote memorize a ton of words. And Grammarly premium is a God send per DC . Best of
Luck!

I am not surprised to hear DC cannot write...the public schools do not emphasize writing and this combined with virtual for more than a year.
Be glad you are finding this out now before HS. Work with the school. Ask for them to recommend a writing tutor and work in partnership together
It sounds like overall he is struggling with writing, annotations etc....Our k-8 usually begins teaching that in 6th but with COVID it started in earnest a year late for those kids. Don't worry..focus on how to get your kid up to speed. When we switched from public to private pre COVID in 6th our A/B student was drowning and not prepared for the rigor expected but did catch up

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If he didn’t have to write essays, it’s not a rigorous school. Which is good news! They will be much more willing to work with you.

Do rigorous schools have student essays for Middle School admissions? I thought that started in HS admissions.

All the schools my kids applied to in middle school required testing and essays (this was pre-pandemic). This is not a comment about rigor, rather that all schools I am familiar with required an application that required work on behalf of my kid.

I am with the other poster - if your child is having trouble with three letter words in 8th grade, that feels odd. Presumably he had to spell three letter words at previous schools. Could be some mental health or larger problem going on. It sounds like you are no focused on him, which will probably be a big help to him.

Good luck!

OP here, now I see why everyone is saying troll. I said - or meant to say - three SYLLABLE words. Like "rigorus."

It’s “rigorous.” My kid started having midterms and finals in 3rd grade for ELA and math. Every year, they added in one more class so by 6th grade, they had midterms and finals in every class. They were taught how to take notes so by 6th/7th grade, they knew how to take Cornell notes. They got grades for their notes and then they spot checked them throughout MS. None of this “Here’s a packet to fill in the blanks.” This was in Catholic school. I don’t understand how people think taking your own notes is too much. You learn what you write, not what’s handed to you. There’s a big study about how handwriting notes leads to better recall and better grades.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting because I know two former FCOS kids excelling in their new privates.

FCPS

Interesting because I know two former FCOS kids excelling in their new privates.

Anonymous wrote:Accepted with As & Bs during the pandemic for a non-expansion year? Weird.

Is he doing geometry at this new school?

One of the reasons I'm convinced this is not a real scenario. Or that they are not really failing.

Accepted with As & Bs during the pandemic for a non-expansion year? Weird.

Is he doing geometry at this new school?