Anonymous
Post 02/06/2015 15:49     Subject: Re:how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the idiot who keeps posting that no one should care about the abysmal elementary school math because their kids will get to MCPS Calculus in twelfth grade. Good grief, talk about a fool drinking the cool aid.

You can't mask horrible a math curriculum by labeling twelfth grade math Calculus. Lets just call Biscuit books advanced American literature.

The kids are missing a critical foundation in mathematics. This may be fine if your headed to community college and plan a long career in MCPS but the world does people educated in STEM. Sadly, Montgomery County will not be contributing.


Very disappointed when I compare my 1st graders math to what my now 5th grader used to do in 1st grade.

Calc by 12th grade? Duh. I went to public school in Iowa and had AP call AB junior yr and AP calf BC senior year.

God I hope we move away soon or find a way to do private school for 1 or 2 kids...


The private schools won't make you happy. They move at a pretty slow pace, even the big 3. I'm personally glad they slowed it down. You can supplement at home if it really bothers you.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2015 15:47     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised that my 1st grader is still getting homework like "12-5 = ___" and "rank these items pictured in order from biggest to smallest."
In kindergarten, the school is asking kids to draw circles to answer simple addition (2+3 = ___).
When my oldest kid was in kindergarten in a downcounty school 5 years ago, he was already starting to regroup and doing triple-digit addition (like 123 + 456 + ___). But yet my 1st grader hasn't gotten close to what his brother was doing a year earlier, and my younger kid is actually better at math than the older kid. It's frustrating for my little one and for me.
I know that the new curriculum is slowing things down, but is our experience normal? It seems a little odd to have kids doing such simple work when they are more than capable of moving ahead. Teacher just shrugs and blames it on the curriculum.


Your prior experience doesn't mesh at all with mine. We're in a very high performing school in MCPS and my oldest never did complex problems like you're describing in K. Those problems came in late first grade and second grade. I do not believe that is developmentally appropriate for most K.
Anonymous
Post 02/06/2015 12:20     Subject: Re:how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:Do people realize that some kids come into k barely knowing their numbers? So yes, K-2 math is slower to help other kids catch up. Repetition builds brain memory, so yes, they will repeat things over and over.

If your kid is more advanced, and you have a good teacher, the teacher will provide your DC some acceleration. It will state this on your DC's report card. If this isn't advanced enough for you, then by all means, provide some enrichment at home, but then don't complain that your DC's are complaining that school is boring.

My kids are advanced in math, but I realize that this is public school, and they can't cater to just my kids. Older DC is in compacted math. DC will be in Algebra by 7th grade. That's pretty advanced.


You're right. MCPS won't cater to your kids, it will only cater to the bottom kids. Just shut up and keep paying your property taxes.
Anonymous
Post 02/05/2015 17:16     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.


Yes. Our compacted math teacher told us that there was an ES kid taking HS math.


Oh please.

They phased in the new track. Next year you can not move up unless you skip an entire school grade.




There are at least 4 (maybe more) 5th graders in my middle school daughter's IM class this year.
I assume those kids will take algebra next fall.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 21:05     Subject: Re:how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the idiot who keeps posting that no one should care about the abysmal elementary school math because their kids will get to MCPS Calculus in twelfth grade. Good grief, talk about a fool drinking the cool aid.

You can't mask horrible a math curriculum by labeling twelfth grade math Calculus. Lets just call Biscuit books advanced American literature.

The kids are missing a critical foundation in mathematics. This may be fine if your headed to community college and plan a long career in MCPS but the world does people educated in STEM. Sadly, Montgomery County will not be contributing.


Very disappointed when I compare my 1st graders math to what my now 5th grader used to do in 1st grade.

Calc by 12th grade? Duh. I went to public school in Iowa and had AP call AB junior yr and AP calf BC senior year.

God I hope we move away soon or find a way to do private school for 1 or 2 kids...


No kidding. I went to public school in Iowa, where AP Calculus AB for seniors was the honors track -- in MCPS it's the grade-level track. And, in fact, the MCPS above-grade-level track is exactly what you had.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 20:54     Subject: Re:how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:I am so tired of the idiot who keeps posting that no one should care about the abysmal elementary school math because their kids will get to MCPS Calculus in twelfth grade. Good grief, talk about a fool drinking the cool aid.

You can't mask horrible a math curriculum by labeling twelfth grade math Calculus. Lets just call Biscuit books advanced American literature.

The kids are missing a critical foundation in mathematics. This may be fine if your headed to community college and plan a long career in MCPS but the world does people educated in STEM. Sadly, Montgomery County will not be contributing.


Very disappointed when I compare my 1st graders math to what my now 5th grader used to do in 1st grade.

Calc by 12th grade? Duh. I went to public school in Iowa and had AP call AB junior yr and AP calf BC senior year.

God I hope we move away soon or find a way to do private school for 1 or 2 kids...
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 16:07     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.


Yes. Our compacted math teacher told us that there was an ES kid taking HS math.


Oh please.

They phased in the new track. Next year you can not move up unless you skip an entire school grade.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:41     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.


Yes. Our compacted math teacher told us that there was an ES kid taking HS math.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:39     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has brought home problems such as:

12-3=5+z

I actually thought that was pretty sophisticated for 1st grade, but I don't have any memories of the types of problems I worked on when I was 6/7.


Agreed. And DD really struggled with it.


I'm the one who posted this problem. My dd didn't struggle too hard with it, luckily, she has a math brain. I actually think that all the "there are 42 ways to solve 12+5" has helped her do math problems in her head. Or maybe she's just smart like her dad


I agree. When I first encountered the make-ten approach for mental math (for example, 63 + 15 = 63 + 7 + 8 = 70 + 8 = 78), I thought that nobody would ever do that, but then my second-grader actually did do that. And actually my second-grader was much better at mental math than my pre-2.0, accelerated kid at the same age.


I'm 44, math minded, and this is how I do mental math. It's the easiest and fastest way to do multi-digit addition. I figured it out on my own at some point. I was never formally taught that. I am so glad they are teaching that to my kids, and I enforce this way of learning at home too.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:26     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
I don't but think my 3rd grader is ready and I also don't think it's an option.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:17     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.


So can I get my 3rd grader into 4th grade math then?


Unlikely but not impossible. Why do you think that your third-grader needs to be in fourth-grade math?
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:12     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.




So can I get my 3rd grader into 4th grade math then?
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:12     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Not allowed does not really exist in MCPS...it just means you are not alking to the right person.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 15:00     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
True. She teaches almost 30 5th graders in an HGC who are scattering to a bunch of different middle schools though.
Anonymous
Post 02/03/2015 14:59     Subject: how slowly is math in your child's ES moving now under 2.0 for K-2nd graders?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

Next year's 6th graders will not be allowed to take Algebra in any middle school.


How do you know this?


I suppose it could change but this is according to my 5th grader's compacted math teacher. She had to fill out forms for middle school placement and this is what she has been told by the district.


I don't think that your fifth-grader's compacted math teacher knows what every sixth-grader in every middle school in the county will do for math next year. For one thing, different middle schools have different ways of doing a lot of things, and for another, even a bureaucracy as big as MCPS does occasionally make unpublicized exceptions.