School closures/delays?

Ever since the second week of first grade, when they were already being asked to write their height in centimeters on a number line—you know, a full three-digit number—while they haven't even touched the number 1 in math class yet, I've realized there's really no point in trying to make sense of the logic behind it all. 😁

Since they’re constantly being assigned homework from, say, page 128 and such, it would be much better if they stopped pretending that certain things aren't necessary during preschool. They should probably make mastering numbers up to 1,000 a mandatory skill for first graders. It doesn't necessarily mean they need to perform complex arithmetic, but they should definitely be able to read and write those numbers. At the very least, they ought to be able to find a specific page in their reading textbook.

I’ve actually seen a couple of kids repeat first grade during my thirteen years in the classroom—two cases specifically, across three different schools I’ve worked at. In both instances, these were kids who had actually started school a year late after being held back from enrollment. They were really struggling in that first grade, honestly performing more like three-year-olds than six-year-olds. By the end of the year, if I remember correctly, neither of them could even master five basic letters. They ended up getting individualized learning plans the following year, and they basically just scraped by through middle school with some help along the way.
In my experience, it’s pretty rare for an average kid—someone without major developmental hurdles or significant issues at home—to need to repeat first grade.

I am convinced that environmental factors play a massive role in this discrepancy. Upon further reflection, back in my elementary and high school days, the vast majority of my peers lacked even basic conversational or expressive reading skills; there were rarely more than five of us who actually stood out from the crowd.

And don't even get me started on how few students actually bothered to read the required literature in high school or the assigned texts in college.

I’d estimate about 200 first graders repeat the grade every year.

True, they can get an individualized education plan if the situation calls for it.

Unfortunately, these are mostly kids from marginalized communities who haven't had access to quality preschool education

Michelle Nelson4 said:Ever since the second week of first grade, when they were already being asked to write their height in centimeters on a number line—you know, a full three-digit number—while they haven't even touched the number 1 in math class yet, I've realized there's really no point in trying to make sense of the logic behind it all. 😁

Since they’re constantly being assigned homework from, say, page 128 and such, it would be much better if they stopped pretending that certain things aren't necessary during preschool. They should probably make mastering numbers up to 1,000 a mandatory skill for first graders. It doesn't necessarily mean they need to perform complex arithmetic, but they should definitely be able to read and write those numbers. At the very least, they ought to be able to find a specific page in their reading textbook.

I'm with you on that.
Life gets a lot simpler when kids actually understand digits and letters.
Kids who don't stay for after-school care need to be able to read a class schedule and pack their own bags every day. How can they manage that if they haven't mastered letters, numbers, or the days of the week? And apparently, they don't even touch the days of the week in preschool until the end of first grade.
Mine knew the days of the week back in daycare, but most kids aren't taught that.

As for delaying school entry, they almost pushed us off to next year because the school pediatrician decided she wasn't emotionally ready.
The excuse was that she's dealing with divorced parents, living between two houses, moved environments twice in two years, and her dad has a new family. My argument—that staying in daycare would just make her miserable seeing all her friends head to school while she stays behind—was dismissed with a "she'll just make new friends." When we went for the evaluation at the school, we were blunt: we aren't enrolling her there, but at a school downtown near my job. Suddenly, the delay wasn't necessary anymore.
The daycare staff insisted she was fully prepared and suggested the school was just trying to delay kids born right on the cutoff date because they have too many students. She wasn't even near the cutoff.

If I had known what this school year would actually look like, I might have opted for the delay.

Sarah Hall53 said:So, here’s the thing—I was thinking about something a colleague of mine told me about ten years ago. She’s an elementary school teacher I really look up to, and she was digging through some old boxes at the bottom of her closet when she stumbled upon these old exams from back in the late eighties and early nineties. They were specifically designed for students with special needs... and honestly? The scope of the material and the types of problems in those tests were basically identical to what the entire general curriculum was covering back then.
Honestly, her references are probably worth next to nothing. I mean, what does she know? She’s only got about forty years under her belt. ☕

The school curriculum today is just insanely intense—it feels like it's seven times harder than it was even ten years ago, and at least fourteen times tougher than when we were kids. The stuff these children are being expected to learn is completely incomprehensible and just way too much volume-wise. It’s actually pretty scary.
Are you happy now? Feeling satisfied?

The whole truth of the matter is that back when we’re comparing eras, there wasn't this massive pressure for everyone to pull straight A's. If you pass with a B? Hey, good for you, that’s very good. You pass with a C? That’s good enough. But nowadays, everyone expects these kids to have a perfect 4.0 GPA by the time they finish fourth grade, even if it means they have to spend another four to six hours every single day after school drilling the same stuff over and over again just to keep up.
But nobody wants to admit that. Instead, they just throw stones and complain about how "unreasonable" or "overloaded" the current curriculum is.

And why are people being so entitled about wanting that perfect 4.0 instead of actually seeking real knowledge regardless of the grade? Is it possible this happens because everyone is chasing the GPA, while nobody actually cares about actual learning?

nimblelynx7 said:And why are people being so entitled about wanting that perfect 4.0 instead of actually seeking real knowledge regardless of the grade? Is it possible this happens because everyone is chasing the GPA, while nobody actually cares about actual learning?

The school reform promised us "life skills," but we got nothing. In reality, the whole thing is a mess. There's this massive, suffocating pressure on kids to be at the top of the class with a perfect GPA. Meanwhile, trade schools and vocational paths get totally ignored. Kids—especially the ones prone to perfectionism—get hammered by teachers and parents telling them they have to be flawless at everything. It just kills their self-esteem. Why aren't we teaching actual life skills like home economics, digital literacy, or how to manage money? Most students today lack basic independence, largely because parents are too soft on them. You end up with this weird gap where a kid might be a genius academically but is an emotional wreck who can't function on their own.

fadedridge902 said:The school reform promised us "life skills," but we got nothing. In reality, the whole thing is a mess. There's this massive, suffocating pressure on kids to be at the top of the class with a perfect GPA. Meanwhile, trade schools and vocational paths get totally ignored. Kids—especially the ones prone to perfectionism—get hammered by teachers and parents telling them they have to be flawless at everything. It just kills their self-esteem. Why aren't we teaching actual life skills like home economics, digital literacy, or how to manage money? Most students today lack basic independence, largely because parents are too soft on them. You end up with this weird gap where a kid might be a genius academically but is an emotional wreck who can't function on their own.

I guess we shouldn't have expected much more than that.
I mean, when you set out to implement a massive overhaul that seems to exist just for its own sake—sort of lacking any deep understanding of how one move triggers the next, and without much coordination between different departments or stakeholders—you pretty much end up with this kind of mess we're staring at now, which I suspect we'll be dealing with for years to come.
It’s probably too late to turn back, though, because so much taxpayer money has already been poured into this rather aimless project.
so help us god.

nimblelynx7 said:And why are people being so entitled about wanting that perfect 4.0 instead of actually seeking real knowledge regardless of the grade? Is it possible this happens because everyone is chasing the GPA, while nobody actually cares about actual learning?

Who, seriously, is asking for perfect grades from first through fourth grade? Besides the parents? (I guess maybe just so they can brag about the report card at the end of the semester... because honestly, I can't see any other reason.)

rowdypanther12 said:Unfortunately, these are mostly kids from marginalized communities who haven't had access to quality preschool education

What's the deal with preschool, though? I always assumed it was mandatory, but now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

Carl Bishop2 said:What's the deal with preschool, though? I always assumed it was mandatory, but now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

The law says it’s required—but let's be real, nobody actually enforces it...

Sarah Hall53 said:good morning 1 was what we used for the first half of the year, then for the second half we switched over to good morning 2—same thickness, though. We also had these workbooks to go along with both, plus these little A5 worksheets, you know, those super thick tear-out pads with the red covers. Oh, and there was a third volume of Good Morning too, which served as our reading book. And that was just for American language class.

https://vdocuments.site/135189027-ed...bro-jutro.html

And didn't we have some sun decal on the window?

I'm reading through all these threads one by one because I'll have a first grader this fall, and honestly, I'm a little appalled by everything I'm seeing.
Now I'm hearing from you all that the curriculum has been simplified compared to when we were in school, yet on other days, I hear that second graders are already learning multiplication tables. As far as I can remember, we didn't touch that so early...
And the books I've seen? Absolutely terrible.
Parents don't even understand what the poet was trying to convey with all those clouds and arrows.

Besides, why do they demand that kids already know how to read and write before they even start school, only to spend the entire year nagging them about it? Apparently, it's because they need to be able to read the assignments themselves. That's the excuse.
The whole thing is backwards.

Preschool is mandatory, but I don't know a single soul who goes to daycare just to attend something called "preschool." I don't even know where such a thing would even be organized.

Of course we were learning multiplication tables in second grade, right?
In third grade, using Cyrillic.
That fact alone is enough to make all those complaints about having too much to learn seem completely ridiculous.
It’s not that there’s too much, it’s just poorly taught.😁

Our daycare offers preschool every year. But honestly, fewer and fewer kids are signing up because most of them just stay in the daycare program instead.

urbanowl81 said:I’d estimate about 200 first graders repeat the grade every year.

True, they can get an individualized education plan if the situation calls for it.

Got a link?

Carl Bishop2 said:What's the deal with preschool, though? I always assumed it was mandatory, but now I'm starting to second-guess myself.

True, though it isn't available everywhere.
In many areas, working moms and daycare providers send their kids to preschool during that final year, maybe just two or three times a week for a few hours at a time.
In some rural towns, they hold classes at the local elementary school for a few hours, but then parents run into major transportation issues.

Personally, I feel like everyone should be in preschool during that last year before kindergarten—not just for a couple of hours. It shouldn't just be about finger painting; it's about building a whole foundation of social skills and more.

urbantinker8 said:Got a link?

I honestly think my county has the highest concentration 🤦
of kids who have absolutely no concept of discipline or structure, and to make matters worse, they struggle significantly with the English language.
I suspect these students are failing grades en masse—not just first grade, but all of them. I don't know what the current stats look like, but I remember hearing stories back in the day about kids repeating the same grade twice, and girls consistently dropping out by the end of high school.
Of course, there are exceptions, but from what I can see, the numbers are rising to a point where we should all be feeling pretty ashamed.