Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids read lots of books *outside* school, including various classic children's books. They will be well read regardless of what their school does or doesn't provide. There are separate threads in kids books on DCUM - worth considering.

Can you link?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a voracious reader and still agree with OP - she doesn't really *know* anything, and sometimes strikes me as deeply incurious. I remember FCPS science units on "Mystery Powders" - which taught the scientific method and basic chemistry - and "Batteries & Bulbs", both of which had to be before 5th grade when I switched school systems. My current AAP 4th grader has done nothing close to these, and in fact I'm not sure she's even had a real science unit yet outside of insect lifecycles (x3). The reading choices she had outside of Benchmark last year had no historical fiction options, and of course Benchmark itself is trivial little excerpts/short texts. History/Social Studies is just reviewing a series of Google slides. She hasn't had to research anything independently, write a book report, do a take-home project...it really does seem like we're just passing kids along from year to year and as long as they meet basic math and reading benchmarks it's good enough.

My oldest had to do her first research project in 5th. Only the teacher expected the group (it was a group project, and the final project was a website) to understand not only the concept of a thesis, but of how to make a supporting argument. She had never even taught them how to do that, and neither had any prior year teacher. I had to sit and patiently explain at home how each paragraph had to have a subject sentence showing how it supported the thesis, then make an argument, then sum up the argument. Since no other kid had any clue how to do this, I think DD tidied up everyone's paragraphs herself, since she's the kind of kid who does the bulk of the group project.

We switched to private a couple years later. Second child was clearly instructed in 5th - but it was review for the kids who had been at the school - how to construct an argument in a basic essay. They even taught it to her before expecting her to actually write a research paper!

Public school has become a woefully bad education. So much of the day is wasted So many things I learned in elementary i.e. geography, cursive, writing, spelling, science, history, critical thinking are not tught. We are truly raising a generation of idiots. Educatuon will soon become a class issue where only the well off can afford a good one.

Anonymous wrote:Listen to story of the world in the car, four volumes. Can get cds used off eBay or mp3 off website. Excellent and comprehensive. There are also books. Many Christian schools and homeschoolers use them but the content is not explicitly Christian, just historically relevant developments from Christianity are explained as are the equivalent in Islam, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Our kids read lots of books *outside* school, including various classic children's books. They will be well read regardless of what their school does or doesn't provide. There are separate threads in kids books on DCUM - worth considering.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a voracious reader and still agree with OP - she doesn't really *know* anything, and sometimes strikes me as deeply incurious. I remember FCPS science units on "Mystery Powders" - which taught the scientific method and basic chemistry - and "Batteries & Bulbs", both of which had to be before 5th grade when I switched school systems. My current AAP 4th grader has done nothing close to these, and in fact I'm not sure she's even had a real science unit yet outside of insect lifecycles (x3). The reading choices she had outside of Benchmark last year had no historical fiction options, and of course Benchmark itself is trivial little excerpts/short texts. History/Social Studies is just reviewing a series of Google slides. She hasn't had to research anything independently, write a book report, do a take-home project...it really does seem like we're just passing kids along from year to year and as long as they meet basic math and reading benchmarks it's good enough.

My oldest had to do her first research project in 5th. Only the teacher expected the group (it was a group project, and the final project was a website) to understand not only the concept of a thesis, but of how to make a supporting argument. She had never even taught them how to do that, and neither had any prior year teacher. I had to sit and patiently explain at home how each paragraph had to have a subject sentence showing how it supported the thesis, then make an argument, then sum up the argument. Since no other kid had any clue how to do this, I think DD tidied up everyone's paragraphs herself, since she's the kind of kid who does the bulk of the group project.

We switched to private a couple years later. Second child was clearly instructed in 5th - but it was review for the kids who had been at the school - how to construct an argument in a basic essay. They even taught it to her before expecting her to actually write a research paper!

Anonymous wrote:I have a voracious reader and still agree with OP - she doesn't really *know* anything, and sometimes strikes me as deeply incurious. I remember FCPS science units on "Mystery Powders" - which taught the scientific method and basic chemistry - and "Batteries & Bulbs", both of which had to be before 5th grade when I switched school systems. My current AAP 4th grader has done nothing close to these, and in fact I'm not sure she's even had a real science unit yet outside of insect lifecycles (x3). The reading choices she had outside of Benchmark last year had no historical fiction options, and of course Benchmark itself is trivial little excerpts/short texts. History/Social Studies is just reviewing a series of Google slides. She hasn't had to research anything independently, write a book report, do a take-home project...it really does seem like we're just passing kids along from year to year and as long as they meet basic math and reading benchmarks it's good enough.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) builds many of these topics (probably not all of them) into the readings and related materials.

(Anyone can look at the CKLA material online at the Core Knowledge Foundation website. CKF predates and is NOT related to the so-called Common Core curriculum effort, but names are similar.)

MCPS and APS each switched to CKLA for K - elementary grades maybe 2-3 years ago. I think it is a good curriculum overall.

I forgot to mention. CKF also publishes a series of books (1 book per US grade) approximately titled "What a 4th Grader Needs to Know", where "4th grader" might be replaced with Kindergartener or 1st Grader ... 6th Grader.

These are very good for at home supplementing. They contain not only history, but also music, art, science, and other culture. They have most of the age-appropriate content that kids need to understand the context for stories they are reading.

Ser also Ed Hirsch s book on "Cultural Literacy".