Anonymous
10/28/2020 14:05
Subject: math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:We are also at a Capitol Hill DCPS and I could have written almost this exact post. Math the first two weeks had them differentiating between socks (like “one has stripes and one doesn’t”); almost exactly what my PK3er is doing at the same school. We tried Zearn and my kid was bored in minutes. 5 exercises in a row of counting to 5? No initial assessment at all? I emailed the teacher and she bumped us to the last K unit, which is 1-20 (as opposed to 1-5). It’s all still remedial, but not bad for fluency so I’m having my kid race through it as quickly as possible like it’s a game. I am hopeful things might improve once we reach 1st grade. We’ve done an hour over 3 days and she’s about half way through this unit.
Just want to report back in case any future K parents are reading this thread. Zearn gets *so* much better in 1st grade. It's like a totally different interface. No idea why they make PK unique and terrible. (I still think it could be improved with more choice and fun background/context a la Lexia, but still... *so* much better.)
Iready is a really great math program too! The student takes an assessment so it will place the child at the right level for learning. Look for it on clever. It’s a lot more interactive than zearn. I love zearn too Bc it works on fluency.
Anonymous
10/28/2020 13:41
Subject: math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten
Anonymous wrote:We are also at a Capitol Hill DCPS and I could have written almost this exact post. Math the first two weeks had them differentiating between socks (like “one has stripes and one doesn’t”); almost exactly what my PK3er is doing at the same school. We tried Zearn and my kid was bored in minutes. 5 exercises in a row of counting to 5? No initial assessment at all? I emailed the teacher and she bumped us to the last K unit, which is 1-20 (as opposed to 1-5). It’s all still remedial, but not bad for fluency so I’m having my kid race through it as quickly as possible like it’s a game. I am hopeful things might improve once we reach 1st grade. We’ve done an hour over 3 days and she’s about half way through this unit.
Just want to report back in case any future K parents are reading this thread. Zearn gets *so* much better in 1st grade. It's like a totally different interface. No idea why they make PK unique and terrible. (I still think it could be improved with more choice and fun background/context a la Lexia, but still... *so* much better.)
Anonymous
10/06/2020 21:24
Subject: Re:math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten
Your statement was so subjective and opinionated it was hard to take it seriously. I mean really...this is why the US is behind? We are lowballing our kids? Sorry but that was bit too hyperbolic.
Anonymous
10/05/2020 21:16
Subject: math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OK. Right!
Anonymous wrote:This is why the US as a whole is super behind in math! We are underballing our kids, starting them off so slowly and then wonder why we are so behind...
Not sure why you’re winking at this... The US is notoriously terrible at math relative to international standards.
https://factsmaps.com/pisa-2018-worldwide-ranking-average-score-of-mathematics-science-reading/
I think the rankings for the US are good. When Americans have to calculate something, you'd thing their place is somewhere near 50.
Anonymous
10/05/2020 20:09
Subject: math instruction in DCPS Kindergarten
Anonymous wrote:OK. Right!Anonymous wrote:This is why the US as a whole is super behind in math! We are underballing our kids, starting them off so slowly and then wonder why we are so behind...
Not sure why you’re winking at this... The US is notoriously terrible at math relative to international standards.