Elementary school curriculum ??'s

[mom2grace]

My daughter goes to a small catholic school. She's in 1st grade. Kindergarten was fabulous, 1st grade not so much.

They teach to our state standards test, and I don't see much creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking coming out of the classroom. And I understand that to many people, these state tests are really important. However, I want children who can think for themselves, and solve problems.

Our school is a very liberal catholic school.


Does anyone have any advice? Experience making a school's curriculum broader? Any teachers with advice on how to go about this so I don't piss of the teachers/principal?

I do have a background in child development, but I don't want to make too many waves too fast.
Our school board president did tell me that she is interested in making the curriculum stronger in critical thinking skills.

THANKS!

 

[_queenie_]

They're probally using an outdated curriculum, like the catholic school in my town (where my DH went). That's the trouble I find with many catholic schools, they're still going by what someone told them to teach in the '50s. I was considering sending the kids to private school (the catholic school), but DH just didn't want to as he had such a bad experience there. I'm glad we decided not to after seeing how outdated everything still was. My main reccomendation to you right now would be to ask when they last updated the curriculum, and if you could see th school's average test scores (it could all be linked together in that everything was outdated and scores were low sp they had to revise the curriculum slightly to make it even stricter).

Best of Luck!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

When I began teaching, I was very fortunate to get a job in a brand new magnet school. It is public, but the people from that township, apply to go there. It is then done by lottery. Anyway, our curriculum is based on the state standards, but we wrote it. It is a lot of work checking and cross checking that you have every little thing covered that the state mandates, but IMO the school's curriculum where I taught (now a SAHM) is so much more enriching than where my son goes. I am assuming it would make administration nervous to change curriculum all at once. How about adding some enrichment pieces a little at a time? There are good math games out there that use critical thinking - Math Pentathlon comes to mind. Somebody could start with an after school club of some sort.

Good luck! I'm off to take my DD somewhere so I'll think about it some more.

 

[connorlevismom]

Most of the catholic schools we are looking at update their curriculum every year or every other. I think that is essential to do.

Kristine

 

[Starr W.]

I found out that 1st grade does seem like a letdown from K. I think they go slowly with things, especially the first half of the year. My eldest son a 5th grader has had wonderful teachers from preschool to 5th grade, I would highly recommend any of them, except for his 1st grade teacher. All 3 1st grade teachers at our elementary were not that great(would have been better in older grades, didn't want to deal with the first yr of full time school issues and ours had a burr up her bum about kids right at the cutoff age).

Now we had a redistricting, and we're at a different school, and my youngest is in ADK this year, so it's a whole new world for me(I have a handle on 4th and 5th grade teachers).

In Ohio, we don't start the state tests until 3rd grade, even with the subpar 1st grade teacher my eldest has done fine on the tests.

 

[mom2grace]

They're probally using an outdated curriculum, like the catholic school in my town (where my DH went).
Best of Luck!

Actually our state has a curriculum that fits with our state test and this is what they use. It teaches for the test, so our state can rise in the national rankings.

Our school would do well no matter what they taught on the stupid test, but who knows if our kids are going to have the skills to be a research scientist or judge! I am sure this is happening all over our state.

But, that's off the topic! The school board is willing to have input, I just need to know how to go about it.

 

[mom2grace]

When I began teaching, I was very fortunate to get a job in a brand new magnet school. It is public, but the people from that township, apply to go there. It is then done by lottery. Anyway, our curriculum is based on the state standards, but we wrote it. It is a lot of work checking and cross checking that you have every little thing covered that the state mandates, but IMO the school's curriculum where I taught (now a SAHM) is so much more enriching than where my son goes. I am assuming it would make administration nervous to change curriculum all at once. How about adding some enrichment pieces a little at a time? There are good math games out there that use critical thinking - Math Pentathlon comes to mind. Somebody could start with an after school club of some sort.

Good luck! I'm off to take my DD somewhere so I'll think about it some more.

I live in Indy, in IPS!

 

[_queenie_]

Actually our state has a curriculum that fits with our state test and this is what they use. It teaches for the test, so our state can rise in the national rankings.

Our school would do well no matter what they taught on the stupid test, but who knows if our kids are going to have the skills to be a research scientist or judge! I am sure this is happening all over our state.

But, that's off the topic! The school board is willing to have input, I just need to know how to go about it.

What I meant by outdated curriculum is that they aren't teaching the material in fun, new inventive ways, (the way they are teaching, not what) but anyway, that's not important. The way I would approach the subject to the board is to either say that that some first graders are having trouble making the transition from Kindergarten, or that you think some new enrichment activities (like the pp said) might stimulate intrest in the topics they're studying (either way you'd basically be saying you'd like to see them have a little fun). I would get a few other parents in on it so it looks like what you're saying pertains to every child, not just yours (that's happened to me before).

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I live in Indy, in IPS!

Oh, you are talking ISTEP! I really do not like that test. It wastes a week of student's time. I am in Lawrence Township which is where I taught (at their international magnet school), but my DS is in their gifted program which is not housed in one of the magnet schools.

My son's class just took a walk to a city park in much need of help. They had to jot down ideas on how to improve it. You can then discuss and write about it. (Not sure if they did this!) Writing is a section on ISTEP. Instead of Christmas presents, the teacher asked for donations to Heiffer. The kids decided what to buy using their website.

These are both little things you could do in a traditional classroom, but they got the kids thinking outside their little classroom. Like I said before, I really do like the Math Pentathlon games. They use all different math skills - spacial, computation, reasoning, higher level thinking - and put them in a game format. My school used them as a special class and after school club, but my DS first grade teacher successfully integrated them into her math curriculum. She was an excellent teacher and able to do this while still meeting the "standards." The downside is I think they are somewhat expensive.

I think you will need to take the approach of how can I help you. A teacher does not want anything else added to his/her plate ! Although a good teacher should be able to take the curriculum and make it relevant, interesting, and though provoking. Perhaps it is just this year's teacher since you liked K?

Good luck! I love so many of the old houses in the IPS area!

 

[mom2grace]

oops.

 

[islandtimect]

My daughter also attends 1st grade at a small, liberal (if that's possible) Catholic school. The archdiocese that your school belongs to probably oversees the curriculum that's used. Check out the information provided on your archdiocese's website. Our website has a lot of info on the core subjects, test scores on standardized test, areas for improvement, etc. Here is the link to our school district - http://www.archdioceseofhartford.org/ministries/cathschools.htm.

You might also want to invite someone from the archdiocese's curriculum department to your school. We recently had that person speak to us parents and learned an awful lot on what they believe is important in educating children in today's world, what improvements are coming, etc. We learned that our school does NOT teach to tests, and that this is to the benefit of our children. Children at our school take the IOWA (ITBS) test, and rank in the top 99% nationally in math, language and reading. This test is used by some public and many private schools in the U.S.

Even though the archdiocese oversees the curriculum, the textbooks that are used are generally set by the school's principal and board. It's important that the textbooks are updated every 5 or 6 years; however, this is very expensive for the school and might result in a tuition increase.

Good Luck!

 

[ZPT1022]

My daughter also attends 1st grade at a small, liberal (if that's possible) Catholic school. The archdiocese that your school belongs to probably oversees the curriculum that's used. Check out the information provided on your archdiocese's website. Our website has a lot of info on the core subjects, test scores on standardized test, areas for improvement, etc. Here is the link to our school district - http://www.archdioceseofhartford.org/ministries/cathschools.htm.

You might also want to invite someone from the archdiocese's curriculum department to your school. We recently had that person speak to us parents and learned an awful lot on what they believe is important in educating children in today's world, what improvements are coming, etc. We learned that our school does NOT teach to tests, and that this is to the benefit of our children. Children at our school take the IOWA (ITBS) test, and rank in the top 99% nationally in math, language and reading. This test is used by some public and many private schools in the U.S.

Even though the archdiocese oversees the curriculum, the textbooks that are used are generally set by the school's principal and board. It's important that the textbooks are updated every 5 or 6 years; however, this is very expensive for the school and might result in a tuition increase.

Good Luck!

Marie, I'm curious what school your kids go to, since you linked to the Hartford, CT archdiocese. My oldest is at Assumption in Manchester



OP, my daughter is also in first grade this year and I think that a lot of what we are experiencing (and sometimes not really liking) has a lot to do with a major culture shift from K to 1st. Nothing wrong with the first grade teacher per se, but it's just not the same lovey environment that K was. My daughter seems to need a little extra push this year because of that. K was still a lot of free time and play and 1st is a lot more instructional time and seriousness. It's a hard transition.

 

[nena]

This is my 11th year of teaching Kinder and the curriculum has changed drastically. Then the goal was learning the alphabet, now its reading. Then we had time for the playhouse, now the furniture collects dust. Then we had Art and Music, now we have Science and Social Studies. Four years ago our district tried to make us an all day Kinder...teachers were against it. Some parents liked the idea, many because their children would be in school all day. As teachers we thought we would have the opportunity for Art, Music, Dramatic Play, but when we looked at the instructional minutes, they were added onto Language Arts and Math w/ only 30 minutes a day for Art/Music.
First grade definately has its expectations, one of which is learning to read fluently. 2nd grade is the beginning of Standardized Testing. In 4th grade students take a writing aptitude test. ALL GRADES TAKE STATE TESTS INCLUDING KINDER!!!
My suggestion, get involved with your school's PTO/PTA or Parent Teacher Club. Our PTC supports, music, art, poetry and sports as well as honors students for their academic achievement on Literacy and Math. We are about to kickoff Litercy Month. Students receive a free book and are encouraged to read 30 minutes each night and earn prizes!!