Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

Brown is new to 5th AAP this year. I’m curious how she knows what most AAP kids do. She taught 6th advanced math last year for PBL and apparently assigned inappropriate amounts of packets upon packets of math homework.

We had Brown a few years ago for math and the homework was ridiculous. I am all for some daily math homework but 40 problems of the same genre is not necessary. I would often draw a line after about 20 and say my kid wasn't doing them.

Anonymous wrote:Just make sure you aren’t zoned for McNair.

Yes!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

More likely then not, the books are not full novels the way we think of them (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the like) and more like books like I Survive series or the Tales of a Fifth Grade Knight or President of the Whole Fifth Grade. Novels but shorter novels that are meant to be accessible to kids in upper ES. Which is not to down play reading those books, they are good, age appropriate reads, and far more manageable then thinking that the kids are reading 40 books like the Percy Jackson series.

But I think it is kind of crazy to ask kids to read 40 books and not to read books that are interesting to them and challenge them. It feels like Teachers are pushing quantity over interest. DS reads the I Survive books and similar length books at school. He is currently working through the Hardy Boys series at home. He gets different things out of each type of book. I prefer the Hardy Boys or the Front Desk series because I think they help him realize that he can read and enjoy longer books. I like the I Survive Books because they introduce him to interesting historical scenarios and lead to conversations about how he might handle challenging events. I far prefer the reading method in his fifth grade class because it simply encourages reading and is not setting a numerical goal which then encourages kids to read shorter books.

Precisely. Encouraging quantity over quality is extraordinarily problematic. An AAP fifth grader should be reading books much more challenging than the I Survived series or other such novellas.

My AAP fifth grader is currently reading Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which has conjured an interest in learning more about the Holocaust and the plight of Jews in Amsterdam. She is now voraciously researching these spin-off topics. I strongly prefer she read the way she currently is-- challenging herself and following her interests-- than to read a large number of books far below her reading level merely to reach some arbitrary goal a teacher has set. In fact, should a teacher ever criticize the small number of books my daughter has read in a prescribed amount of time, we would need to have words.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.

The point of reading books is to enjoy a story. I can't speak for the teacher, but I assume that the goal is to get kids into the habit of reading at home for pleasure. Their classroom reading is separate and comes with the assignments you are referencing.

So count me in as a clueless parent because I'm thrilled that my DC chooses to read for fun and explore different genres as part of the 40 book challenge. If your kids are only reading for the purpose of doing well on a book report or class discussion, then that's too bad. You should encourage them to read more often.

I have. My child reads a ton without the “40 book challenge.” My child needs more in class instructions with novels though- book clubs, comprehension questions, etc. they should be responding in some way to the literature. The kids should learn how to use textual evidence to support their thinking, but they don’t. They should learn about foreshadowing, and developing characters. But they don’t. They literally do nothing with books. The teacher doesn’t even meet with a book club when a book club is done. The groups all meet on the same day which makes zero sense.

I am a parent at a different ES. My child does the 40 Book Challenge and I have no problem with it. It takes no class time and is a way to get the reluctant readers excited to read more. The teacher keeps track weekly and even gave the records made from last class. My kid is also reading other stuff in class and learning how to give evidence and everything you referenced above.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.

The point of reading books is to enjoy a story. I can't speak for the teacher, but I assume that the goal is to get kids into the habit of reading at home for pleasure. Their classroom reading is separate and comes with the assignments you are referencing.

So count me in as a clueless parent because I'm thrilled that my DC chooses to read for fun and explore different genres as part of the 40 book challenge. If your kids are only reading for the purpose of doing well on a book report or class discussion, then that's too bad. You should encourage them to read more often.

I have. My child reads a ton without the “40 book challenge.” My child needs more in class instructions with novels though- book clubs, comprehension questions, etc. they should be responding in some way to the literature. The kids should learn how to use textual evidence to support their thinking, but they don’t. They should learn about foreshadowing, and developing characters. But they don’t. They literally do nothing with books. The teacher doesn’t even meet with a book club when a book club is done. The groups all meet on the same day which makes zero sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.

The point of reading books is to enjoy a story. I can't speak for the teacher, but I assume that the goal is to get kids into the habit of reading at home for pleasure. Their classroom reading is separate and comes with the assignments you are referencing.

So count me in as a clueless parent because I'm thrilled that my DC chooses to read for fun and explore different genres as part of the 40 book challenge. If your kids are only reading for the purpose of doing well on a book report or class discussion, then that's too bad. You should encourage them to read more often.

Your child can read for fun without tracking a number of books. If the Teacher wants them to explore different genres while reading for fun maybe come up with a list of 10 books for a variety of genres and encourage kids to read 2 of the 10.

I always participated in the summer reading programs at the library. We earned an ice cream cone or something for every X number of books that we read. I remember picking the thinnest books that Librarian would accept in order to maximize my ice cream cones. I read a ton of books but none of them stretched me or made me enjoy reading more. I did like the free ice cream cones though.

I would look for a better way of encouraging reading for fun then tallying 40 books a year. Mind you, my kid would hit that number easily because he enjoys reading already and reads chapter books and graphic novels. He reads chapter books for his 30 minutes of reading at home because we don't count the graphic novels and will read a 300 page book in a week. He comes out and discusses what he is reading as well, like he shared with me an anti-counterfeiting tip he picked up from a Hardy Boys book and then checked on all of his own bills, so we know he is paying attention and comprehending what he is reading.

Fox Mill has book club in second, third, and fourth where the kids read a book and write a very short book report. More like a few sentences and then draw a picture. The kids who participate get a special treat when they meet during lunch to discuss the book. I am a bit bummed that it is not happening in fifth grade because there were books included that DS would not have read otherwise. It also introduced us to a bunch of new series that DS enjoyed. I would far prefer something like that to a challenge to read 40 books.

+1 This exactly. My child is a great reader and always has a book. We don’t need to tally it up for some pointless assignment all in the name of making the teacher look good to parents. I want more substance in class.

FYI, third grade gen Ed also had the same 40 book challenge assignment. Completely pointless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Navy family here. Our experience has been exceptional. Wonderful teachers, engaging work, a strong sense of community and school spirit. We feel so fortunate to have experienced Navy, and I think most of our friends agree. Surprised to hear the negative comments on this thread.

That’s because you live in a bubble. The Navy parents I have talked to all have concerns, especially with the upper grades.

I commented on this thread earlier about the divide between AAP and PBL being a problem, but I would also say we had a great experience at Navy with no complaints, other than the fact my kids can't spell and that's more of a FCPS thing.

Navy parent here. In addition to spelling, my kids can’t write and haven’t learned and organizational/study skills. Navy is severely lacking in these areas. They care way too much about using computers in a way that is detrimental to the kids.

At lots of elementary schools, there seems to be too much of a focus on fluff and fun, which means the spelling, grammar and writing instruction is severely lacking. My kids didn't get actual writing instruction until middle school, and a number of my friends have had the same experiences with their kids' FCPS schools. I had one kid in general education, one in LLIV, and one at a center, and all three had incredibly weak/nonexistent spelling, grammar and writing lessons throughout elementary school, so I do not believe this problem is isolated to one school or one teacher.

Even the reading instruction was extraordinarily weak at both the elementary schools my kids attended. From kindergarten through 6th grade, they were never taught very many reading strategies at all. FCPS needs to reduce the amount of fluff and fun and they need to increase the amount of actual instruction.

Navy AAP parent here. The writing instruction is poor. The use of groupwork covers up for it. The only time my kids ever had a spelling list was prepping for the spelling bee. Never did a book report. Math instruction is fine.

My kids supplement as a result, particularly in writing.

We supplement in writing too. Lots of Navy families have been supplementing for years.

How do you supplement for writing?

Workbooks, sunshine academy, online wiriting classes, assigning bookreports for my kids etc.

+1 Plus a LA tutor

First 10 books are free choice, the for second set 10 books teacher assigned 12 different genres. My DC reads more than asked and I picked the books ( on or above grade levels) and asked DC to choose. Even if they read books below grade level so what? Like another poster said, reading is supposed to be fun. It’s hard job to be teachers especially when some people try to judge critically and to pick on them on purpose.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - do these schools assign homework? One downside of our current school is no homework/accountability.

I think you're going to find that's true at most FCPS schools. At Navy, in the 6th grade there is daily math homework. That's the only class where it's consistent. Otherwise it's usually things that weren't completed during the school day, as opposed to true homework.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - do these schools assign homework? One downside of our current school is no homework/accountability.

At Fox Mill it depends. DS is in JI and had homework in first and second (reading and writing, a bit of math, and then memorizing the hiragana and katakana for Japanese). It wasn't particularly onerous for our child. I will say that the Japanese practice is the main reason why kids end up transferring to the Gen Ed class.

Third grade was distance learning so I have no clue what a normal year looks like.

Fourth grade has a social studies assignment pretty much every week, some ST Math, and reading. Kids also brought home any work they did not complete in class to complete at home so the amount of work depended on the kid. The reading was on Lexia and they had a number of minutes they were supposed to do, 45 a week, and the Teacher sent home a certificate at the end of the week telling parents how many minutes their child completed. I hated the ST Math, mainly because the graphics are so slow that it took far longer then it should have to complete. I liked the Lexia. It introduced a literary concept, then read a short story with that concept, and then the child answered questions focused on the concept. I was actually impressed with the program.

Fifth grade has not had much homework. It sounds like it is all work that kids don't complete at school and that has not affected DS. He has had a few writing assignments that he choose to work on a bit more at home and that we gave some feedback on, mainly reminders to capitalize Proper Nouns and the like. So it is very much kid dependent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.

The point of reading books is to enjoy a story. I can't speak for the teacher, but I assume that the goal is to get kids into the habit of reading at home for pleasure. Their classroom reading is separate and comes with the assignments you are referencing.

So count me in as a clueless parent because I'm thrilled that my DC chooses to read for fun and explore different genres as part of the 40 book challenge. If your kids are only reading for the purpose of doing well on a book report or class discussion, then that's too bad. You should encourage them to read more often.

Your child can read for fun without tracking a number of books. If the Teacher wants them to explore different genres while reading for fun maybe come up with a list of 10 books for a variety of genres and encourage kids to read 2 of the 10.

I always participated in the summer reading programs at the library. We earned an ice cream cone or something for every X number of books that we read. I remember picking the thinnest books that Librarian would accept in order to maximize my ice cream cones. I read a ton of books but none of them stretched me or made me enjoy reading more. I did like the free ice cream cones though.

I would look for a better way of encouraging reading for fun then tallying 40 books a year. Mind you, my kid would hit that number easily because he enjoys reading already and reads chapter books and graphic novels. He reads chapter books for his 30 minutes of reading at home because we don't count the graphic novels and will read a 300 page book in a week. He comes out and discusses what he is reading as well, like he shared with me an anti-counterfeiting tip he picked up from a Hardy Boys book and then checked on all of his own bills, so we know he is paying attention and comprehending what he is reading.

Fox Mill has book club in second, third, and fourth where the kids read a book and write a very short book report. More like a few sentences and then draw a picture. The kids who participate get a special treat when they meet during lunch to discuss the book. I am a bit bummed that it is not happening in fifth grade because there were books included that DS would not have read otherwise. It also introduced us to a bunch of new series that DS enjoyed. I would far prefer something like that to a challenge to read 40 books.

OP here - do these schools assign homework? One downside of our current school is no homework/accountability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.

The point of reading books is to enjoy a story. I can't speak for the teacher, but I assume that the goal is to get kids into the habit of reading at home for pleasure. Their classroom reading is separate and comes with the assignments you are referencing.

So count me in as a clueless parent because I'm thrilled that my DC chooses to read for fun and explore different genres as part of the 40 book challenge. If your kids are only reading for the purpose of doing well on a book report or class discussion, then that's too bad. You should encourage them to read more often.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

Brown is new to 5th AAP this year. I’m curious how she knows what most AAP kids do. She taught 6th advanced math last year for PBL and apparently assigned inappropriate amounts of packets upon packets of math homework.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current Navy AAP 5th grader, has done 2 assigned book club, is asked to read 10 books each quarter, teacher would sit next to individual student to discuss/assist ( observed when volunteered outside classroom). Teachers assigns writing/report/vocabularies etc and math practice nearly everyday. AAP and Gen Ed students mixed in specials but not LA Arts and Math ( not all students are in advanced LA Arts and Advanced Math, a couple of more advanced join AAP 6th grader for math). Don’t know about pre Covid, but the policy is 2 AAP class teachers teach both classes in case one has to take sick leave, the same may apply for Gen Ed classes.

I call BS. There is no way they are asked to read 10 grade level appropriate or advanced level books each quarter. That is more than one per week. While many kids can certainly read that many books, there is no way the teacher is asking them all to do so.

DP

I'm the navy parent who wrote about supplementation.

Yes, they are asked, but not required to read 40 books in a year. This was covered on the back to school nite (that occured on a morning before school started). The teachers (Brown/Trench) said that most kids complete this.

+1 this sounds like quantity over quality. What is the point of reading 40 books if they aren’t discussed or written about in any way? Teacher has no idea if kids even understand the books. This sounds like something that looks good to clueless parents.