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So the homework is different from APS and DPS. Does that mean it's better? There is always more than one way to accomplish the same thing. My kids went to Boulder Valley schools and believe it or not, they had reading lists too.
CCHS can have high aggregate SAT scores, but that doesn't mean your daughter is going to score high on her SATs, and if she does, it's not necessarily b/c she went to CCHS. My niece had high SATs and she graduated from high school in Lawton, Oklahoma. In fact, because her SATs were so out of line with her grades (bad), he couldn't get in to the University of Oklahoma as an in-state student. It all comes down to the student. Nor do high graduation rates guarantee that your kid will graduate.
I think the hostility comes from statements like "underachieving schools", the implication being if it's not CCSD, it's a loser.
Again, I understand that not every kid is going to be a doctor. I also understand that there are "averages" for a reason. CCSD's SAT scores are posted by "average". Of course there are kids who do far better and far worse. Do I hope my daughters grow up to be incredibly gifted? Of course. It's more realistic to expect them to perform "well" which means taking their "average" and working with them on it.
As for homework...I can't compare other school districts because we only focused on 3 and I only know moms with 1st graders from my local mom's group that are in the area of the 3 school districts. I have no idea what kids are learning in Boulder (or anywhere west of Denver-metro).
What I DO know is that my daughter has 110 "sight words" that she should know by the end of 1st grade. My fellow moms from DPS (have a list of 45) and APS (have 60). My child is learning to count money and make change, she's learnig how to tell time on a clock and draw hands for times like 9:47 am. The other moms say that their kids are still learning to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. They are shocked that my daughter goes to a store and can count out 87 cents for the cashier. A few moms ask me, "is your daughter in advanced classes?" Nope. Does that mean that all kids are going to read or count differently? No...again, it's what CCSD expects her to know. They have a higher expectation and that only continues to build on itself.
I fully understand that there are kids who will read better or worse than my daughter will no matter which school district they're in. We aren't talking about individual students. I have always made a point to talk about what CCSD expects of their students (which is more than APS and DPS) and that's probably why onaverage their schools perform better on state and national tests. I don't want her to go to college with high grades in high school and find out that that she doesn't know what she should for math 101 (and that happens all of the time).
Just so we're clear...I have never found a "bad" (or even a sub-standard) teacher in my daughter's school. As I said before, whenever I ask a parent of an older student which teacher they recommend, I always get the "oh, they're both great on A-track" (which is the track my daughter is on).
So...because I know my daughter and know what kind of environment she thrives in, I find out which teacher gives more free time to their students and which teacher has more structure. My daughter thrives in structure. She wouldn't do well with a teacher who lets kids choose any activity (going to the reading nook for example) throughout the day but I know some parents would love their kids to have that kind of free-learning environment. I search for the opposite for my daughter and know that she's doing great because of it. It's not going to "backfire" on me because I don't pick teachers for my daughter based on who I "like". I pick them based on what I know about how they run their classrooms. I know how they run their classrooms because I am a regular volunteer and have met them all and seen most of them in action.
I'm curious as to what the plan will be when she reaches a time when you can't request what kind of environment she will be in and has to deal with teachers and ways of learning that she hasn't been exposed to?
As for homework...I can't compare other school districts because we only focused on 3 and I only know moms with 1st graders from my local mom's group that are in the area of the 3 school districts. I have no idea what kids are learning in Boulder (or anywhere west of Denver-metro).
What I DO know is that my daughter has 110 "sight words" that she should know by the end of 1st grade. My fellow moms from DPS (have a list of 45) and APS (have 60). My child is learning to count money and make change, she's learnig how to tell time on a clock and draw hands for times like 9:47 am. The other moms say that their kids are still learning to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. They are shocked that my daughter goes to a store and can count out 87 cents for the cashier. A few moms ask me, "is your daughter in advanced classes?" Nope. Does that mean that all kids are going to read or count differently? No...again, it's what CCSD expects her to know. They have a higher expectation and that only continues to build on itself.
I fully understand that there are kids who will read better or worse than my daughter will no matter which school district they're in. We aren't talking about individual students. I have always made a point to talk about what CCSD expects of their students (which is more than APS and DPS) and that's probably why onaverage their schools perform better on state and national tests. I don't want her to go to college with high grades in high school and find out that that she doesn't know what she should for math 101 (and that happens all of the time).
This is the point! You have little idea what's going on in any other district. You don't even really know what's going on in APS or DPS. They may be focusing on something else entirely. I don't remember how many "sight words" my kids were supposed to know by what grade. One of my daughters couldn't read until close to the end of third grade. By your standards, she was doomed to failure. However, she graduated in the top 10% of her class, she got a college scholarship, made the Dean's List, graduated with honors from CU, and is applying to grad school. It didn't matter a tinker's d*** that she didn't know 110 words in first grade. The school worked with her to help her with her reading. They didn't just give up on her b/c she didn't know 110 words.
If you want your kids to know what they should know when they graduate from high school and get to college, try to make sure they take college prep/AP courses. It doesn't matter where they take them!
I'm curious as to what the plan will be when she reaches a time when you can't request what kind of environment she will be in and has to deal with teachers and ways of learning that she hasn't been exposed to?
I'm sure she'll do fine but when I stop requesting teachers, it won't be until she's in middle school and by that time, her teachers aren't going to be telling her to "pick what you want to do for 30 minutes".
Just to clarify...when I say "structured environment" I'm not talking about military discipline. Here's the example of the 2 different 1st grade teachers at my daughter's school (on her track).
Teacher A's day looks like this (which my daughter is in). They start with reading on the carpet and morning messages which goes from 8-8:45. Then to centers from 8:45-9:45. At 9:45, they go to recess. After recess, they start their writing workshop for an hour while the teacher plays classical music on her CD player. Then they go to lunch and another recess. The afternoon is for specials (computer lab, gym, music or art) for an hour, then math for 30 minutes at their desk, then science for 30 minutes at their desks, then back to centers where the teacher calls individual reading groups for focused reading time. The end of the day starts at 2:30 where the kids get their homework packets ready and gather their coats and backpacks and are out at 2:45. A lot of things vary depending on what unit they're studying, but the schedule and time frames don't vary at all. They may change out science for studying about Martin Luther King, Jr. (for example during his birthday), but there is a schedule posted on the whiteboard and she is very good at keeping to it.
Teacher B has the same lesson plan but instead of centers, she allows kids to chose what they want to do. Many of them head to the book nook or to the computer station in their classrooms. Some do work at their desk. Math and science is done in a group and has a lot of hands-on activities. Both end up in the same place at the end of the year.
I chose teacher A because my daughter isn't that assertive. She does fine in groups but is always happy to let the more outspoken children do all of the work while she sits back and watches. BTW, I know teacher B and she is wonderful. Personality-wise, she and I get along better than my daughter's teacher (we're both from the same area originally), but I know that my daughter's teacher would structure her learning in a way that would be advantageous for my daughter's learning. Hopefully by the time she's in middle school, she'll have more confidence and be able to speak up in a large group. Until that happens, I will continue to find the teachers that focus on her individual strengths.
Again, both teachers are great and I'm sure my daughter would learn in both environments. It's not about that for me...it's about which classroom setting she'll get more out of. Plenty of parents chose teacher B for just the same reason...they appreciate her more freedom-based teaching style.
This is the point! You have little idea what's going on in any other district. You don't even really know what's going on in APS or DPS.
You're being defensive again and reminding me why it's futile to have a conversation with you at all. You like to take one individual kid and hold them up as the poster child to argue with what I am trying to say. You read what you want to read and put words into my posts which were not said at all. I did not say that your child was doomed to failure for not reading well by grade 3. I said she clearly had some catching up to do if she graduated high in her class.
Using your same standards, YOU then have no idea what's going on in CCSD. As a weekly volunteer, a regular participant in anything that is going on at my school and within the district, and as a mom who goes to coffee every week for a few hours to talk to other moms (who repeatedly ask me to bring my daughter's homework with me), I have the ability to make a comparison between those 3 districts. I have never said anything about any other district than those I was exposed to and did research on. I chose CCSD and still can't figure out why that burns your butt so much.
Learning how to deal with more assertive kids, different teaching styles that don't always synch with the previous teachers, or mom's, is a good thing, I think. If both end up in the same place at the end of the year, it doesn't really matter, does it?
If both end up in the same place at the end of the year, it doesn't really matter, does it?
Exactly and thank you for proving my point that teacher A and teacher B will end up in the same place and that's why CCSD is great.
I don't have to pinpoint a "bad" teacher. I get to chose between 2 fantastic teachers with different teaching styles. It would be much harder if I had to steer her through a maze of good teachers and not great teachers. That's not the case in my neighborhood school.
I'm sure she'll do fine but when I stop requesting teachers, it won't be until she's in middle school and by that time, her teachers aren't going to be telling her to "pick what you want to do for 30 minutes".
Actually, I think you will be surprised at how unstructured middle school is.
At that point they are expected to be self motivated and sufficient with their time.
When my son was in 6th grade, there was a lot of emphasis that year preparing the kids for middle school because teachers and teaching styles are so incredibly different than elementary.
There may be a lot of time left in the classroom in which they are expected to use their time wisely and figure things out on their own.
Exactly and thank you for proving my point that teacher A and teacher B will end up in the same place and that's why CCSD is great.
I don't have to pinpoint a "bad" teacher. I get to chose between 2 fantastic teachers with different teaching styles. It would be much harder if I had to steer her through a maze of good teachers and not great teachers. That's not the case in my neighborhood school.
My point is that this is no different than it is in any school with more than one classroom per grade level. I'll give you some slack here and say you must be awfully naive if you think that teachers in every other SD in America have total free reign over exactly what to teach and when, with virutally no oversight. To give an example from something I know, ALL the Boulder Valley elementary schools follow the same curriculum. As I said before, my daughter had trouble learning how to read. She would have had trouble no matter what method was used, no matter how many words she was "expected" to know, etc.
Your daugher is very young yet. You will encounter, even in much-vaunted CCSD, some "bad" teachers. You'll just have to take my word on that, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to convince you of it. You might also find that some of these "best" teachers that you have hand-selected for your kid (kids? I can't quite figure out how many you have in what grades) don't work for your kid. I've seen it happen.
You actually seem to be saying "Teacher B" is a bad teacher, b/c she gives the kids too much freedom. However, you then contradict yourself by saying it all works out by the end of the year.
I agree that you have a surprise coming about middle school. And from what I've heard, CCHS is not for the faint of heart.
Actually, I think you will be surprised at how unstructured middle school is.
At that point they are expected to be self motivated and sufficient with their time.
When my son was in 6th grade, there was a lot of emphasis that year preparing the kids for middle school because teachers and teaching styles are so incredibly different than elementary.
There may be a lot of time left in the classroom in which they are expected to use their time wisely and figure things out on their own.
Even more so in high school.
Just something to think about.
Interesting. There are plenty of things I will learn as my kids are starting out. Self-sufficiency is not my daughter's problem. She is great at doing things on her own. She just learns better when she gets to do hands-on stuff rather than sitting back and letting other kids do it while she watches. She's only in 1st grade and I am sure she is going to go through some big changes by the time she reaches middle school. She's a smart kid so I'm not worried, but since her elementary school education is one that will build on itself, I am trying my best to get her a very strong foundation.
Here's another example that I just thought of because they were doing this last time I volunteered. Both classes are learning about money and how to make change from $1.
My daughter's class each gets a ziploc bag with $1 in change. Her teacher walks through with an item to purchase and hands one to each child. She gets a squeeky duck that costs 47 cents and has to figure out how much change to make. Then, each child passes their item to their neighbor until they've done all 7 items. My daughter has physically touched each item and figured out for herself how much change to make (she can't look at her neighbor's change pile because his is different).
The other teacher has set up a market in her classroom. She puts the kids into groups and sends them around to purchase items with their $1 in change. Each group gets to appoint a shopkeeper and a buyer. Sometimes they take turns and sometimes the kids who are more assertive do each station while the other kids sit back. When the cashier sells a duck for 47 cents and then asks the group how much change she needs to give back, one kid shouts "53 cents!" and then all the kids say "53 cents." Do all the kids know that it was 53 cents or did they just copy the other kid who shouted first?
Again, both examples are ones that my daughter will likely learn in. But because I understand her, I know that if she can actually work on her own with her own bag of money and not just follow along, she's going to do better. Other parents love the idea of setting up a little market and letting their kids "shop". There's not a right way or wrong way to get a lesson plan done, but there is a better way for each kid and that's my point.
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