Carrie75 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Forgive me, I am still new to this. How do you find out what methods or general curriculums your child is using in ps, and how do you find out whether or not, they are good or bad? And say, for instance, my son's 1st grade class is using Everyday Math, which I have heard mentioned on this board as "bad." How do you figure out the best way to supplement Everyday Math so I am sure my son is getting a better math education for 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I would think you could call the teacher or email her and find out the curriculum. I would supplement with Singapore or math mammoth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVNA Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 When my kids were in public school, we knew what they were using based on what books they brought home. I'm sure you could also ask the teacher or principal. Everyday Math was the curriculum my kids used when they were in public school as well. If you want to supplement it, write the name of any math curriculum you see on this site on a poster board. Throw a dart at that poster board and you will have a better curriculum than Everyday Math. In all seriousness, without knowing you and your son, it's a bit hard to say what to supplement with. When my oldest child was in public school, the classroom teachers supplemented with basic fact sheets and I would highly recommend doing at least that. We used those at home as well and then pulled sheets from superteacherworksheets.com and dadsworksheets.com. If my kids were still there, I'd probably supplement with either Saxon(for my oldest) or Singapore(for my youngest). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 No forgiveness warranted, I plow myself through all the boards on this site and ask a ton of questions that make little sense! :) Nice to meet you. What I did was to call the school and ask for the ISBN numbers of the books they were using. From there, I google Amazon or whatever, get the title and possibly order a used copy of it. I also review the content if it's available online to give it a once over and compare that with what I already know my child knows, the style it's written in, if there are any companion web resources that go along with the title, and ask questions from those who are fluent in reviewing that title or program, along with the way the teacher/school will be presenting it. I haven't met the new teacher for this year yet to batter over the head with questions on the curriculum use or format or planning. I'm planning to wait a bit on that. I don't know in advance how strictly they'll follow the textbook, if it's a general guide, what order the topical matter is done, how they reinforce the material... I personally have always ordered a companion set of texts which are used at the school (and sometimes, they *will* loan a set to you, ask)- the idea is that I can follow up at home, look for holes in learning, misunderstandings or reinforcement of what's taught at the school. Sometimes I can phrase or help with a subject one on one where the school can't. We can go deeper, skip ahead, park it and explore if there's a big interest...just mainly flex and flow and reinforce and watch. The math review help I just had here when I asked about Math Connections helped me tremendously spot holes I should follow up on or watch/ask at the school...the example John Hopkins brought up for one (there were many) was that the concept of the area of a triangle was not included. That's a pretty easy one for me to go print some worksheets out on and reinforce and prevent that gap from happening. With the Everday Math program, go back over it, see how it's presented or supported at the school..and fill in the holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie75 Posted August 21, 2011 Author Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thank you for the insight. We are new to ps, besides K with no textbook curriculum, so I appreciate the thorough answers. I am not sure how I feel yet about telling the teacher that we are afterschooling. We'll see. I haven't met the teacher yet, so I will play that by ear. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Does your school have a Back to School night or a Curriculum Night? I have found those are good sources of information about what the school is using, and they don't require you to out yourself as an afterschooler if you don't want to. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 That's a good one. Take cell phone and photo the ISBN's on the sly if you want..lol. That's a good idea for previewing curriculum, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Does your school have a Back to School night or a Curriculum Night? I have found those are good sources of information about what the school is using, and they don't require you to out yourself as an afterschooler if you don't want to. ;) :iagree: I already know what our school uses in multiple grades for math and English (e.g., Saxon, Shurley) and took advantage of our open house the other night to see some of the other things they'll be using this year. I've also seen my older DD's textbooks for science and social studies when she's taken them home to study for tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferLynn Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 "Curriculum" often means something else to the teachers and administrators. As other posters suggested, ask for ISBN numbers or textbook titles or at least publishers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 "Curriculum" often means something else to the teachers and administrators. As other posters suggested, ask for ISBN numbers or textbook titles or at least publishers. I have learned that hard way :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I'm just guessing here, but I bet San Diego is using some type of balanced literacy instruction. Not seeing textbooks at the Kindergarten level is a good thing. Hopefully there is some sort of literacy program in place based on Guided Reading. You want to see a teacher that is continually assessing each child's reading level, and teaching to that level via small group instruction. Maybe there will be little books or early readers in the classroom to support this. These books might still be from a giant publishing house, but they would not look like textbooks to the average parents. Our school district for example, uses Benchmark reading. If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me. I used to teach Kindergarten, and I grew up in Tierrasanta/Scripps Ranch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hi again Carrie, during a random surf tonight I saw this and thought of your question on Everyday Mathematics. There might be some information and links here you'd enjoy. http://www.afterschoolers.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=80&forum_id=7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Everyday Math was the curriculum my kids used when they were in public school as well. If you want to supplement it, write the name of any math curriculum you see on this site on a poster board. Throw a dart at that poster board and you will have a better curriculum than Everyday Math. :iagree: :lol: Does your school have a Back to School night or a Curriculum Night? I have found those are good sources of information about what the school is using, and they don't require you to out yourself as an afterschooler if you don't want to. ;) If you keep your eyes and ears wide open and ask a lot of questions, this could be a good way to learn something. It helps to know what to watch for. Other times, they may come right out and tell you. At dd's 2nd grade back to school night, her teacher requested that parents not teach the "old fashioned" addition and subtraction algorithms to their children, and spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the parents to understand the methods she would be teaching the children. The parents didn't get it and she offered to work with them after school. :confused: That there's a red flag that you've got a crappy math program in the works, in this case, TERC Investigations. "Curriculum" often means something else to the teachers and administrators. As other posters suggested, ask for ISBN numbers or textbook titles or at least publishers. We've learned that the hard way, too. The word "curriculum" has caused some confusing communications between parents, teachers, and administrators. Administrators will use the word "curriculum" to refer to the standards and regulations teachers must follow - that's what to teach, when to teach it, and how to teach it - and so teachers may also refer to it as such. The actual math books are often referred to as the "materials". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Forgive me, I am still new to this. How do you find out what methods or general curriculums your child is using in ps, and how do you find out whether or not, they are good or bad? And say, for instance, my son's 1st grade class is using Everyday Math, which I have heard mentioned on this board as "bad." How do you figure out the best way to supplement Everyday Math so I am sure my son is getting a better math education for 1st. You don't find out unless you are lucky enough to have administrators and teachers who will honestly share that information with you. I have yet to deal with a completely forthcoming school. All of the schools my kids attended wrote elaborate descriptions of fabulous-sounding curricula and methodologies but failed to deliver in one subject or another. Some teachers were amazing and taught most of what they said they would and did a fabulous job. Others -- we weren't so lucky. That is why I've afterschooled all these years. PS -- Singapore Math is a good math supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 When ds1 was in first grade, I asked for a meeting with the teacher so that I could see what textbooks they were using and find out more about the supposed reading group they were having. She let me see the teacher's manuals, but not actual student books. I don't think the students actually had books. I never saw one in my son's desk when I volunteered in the classroom. I really disliked Everyday Math. I chose to work on addition and subtraction facts with ds, because they didn't seem to be covering them at all in EM. If I had not started homeschooling full time, I would have eventually chosen a mastery based math program to afterschool my kids. EM is supposedly a spiral program, but they never spent time on anything long enough (except making tally marks) for them to even spiral back for a refresher. It was like learning the material all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie75 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Share Posted August 23, 2011 Thank you for all the info! All of your replies have been very helpful! Jen, your blog is on my blog list. I may be PM'ing you as school gets rolling. We are N county coastal SD, great school, but it is packed. I am not worried at all about getting a bad teacher or dealing with unhelpful admin, I am just concerned about my boys education getting lost in the shuffle of the large class sizes. I have Horizons Math 1 for them, I'll look into Singapore when they are done with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I think the other huge benefit to some sort of style at home is that one can flex and flow with the learning style of the child. Some children may retain or absorb mathematical concepts in the foundation years in different ways. One child may need or use best manipulative tools, another through worksheets and so on. I think also the slower paced environment along with one on one attention goes miles in the good of their understanding subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie75 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 It looks like DS will be using "California Math" for first. I see I can buy a copy of the workbook for 5 bucks on Amazon if needed. I'm not sure yet if they will be bringing the workbooks home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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