Is the curriculum too advanced?

[Prue]

Yes, but how many parents would actually complain the curriculum is too easy? I bet that there would be a hell of a
lot more parents complaining it's too hard!

You'd be surprised at how many parents complain that we are not challenging their children enough!

But, I do have to point out that quite often its also the way the teacher teaches, and wether there a good teacher or not.

This is such an important factor!! The unit that caper70 is talking about can be a very difficult strand to teach and make interesting to the students. With a strand like this it is imperative that the teacher finds a way to make the students enjoy learning about it, which I would say caper70's child's teacher is not doing.

If only five students are passing there is definitely a problem, but I don't think that the problem lies in the difficulty of the curriculum. This material is taught to our grade 5 students province wide and most successfully complete it.

She was rude, had no teaching methods, called my kid an idiot on several occasions (nice eh)

That is completely unacceptable. But I'm glad to hear that your son has a better teacher this year and is having a better experience.

[caper70]

This sounds like standard stuff for the kids in my area, but haven't heard of anybody failing.

I don't think using 'most adults would fail this test' is a good marker of what is or is not appropriate for school. To be quite honest, aside from math and reading, I'd probably do poorly on everything else. Some adults still do not know the main political parties in Canada.

I do think it's a good marker. If adults can't do what they are teaching in grade 5 then how can we expect 9 and 10 year olds to do it?

[caper70]

I really don't think it's necessary to teach our 9 year olds how an immigrant gets into Canada!

[Boo Radley]

I do think it's a good marker. If adults can't do what they are teaching in grade 5 then how can we expect 9 and 10 year olds to do it?

"Are you smarter than a 5th grader" has the answer to your question.

• Can you name the different types of clouds? e.g. nimbostratus, etc.
• What planet is closest to the sun?
• What is the lowest prime number?
• 'Carefully' is an example of what type of word? Adjective, Noun, Verb or Adverb?

Just because you didn't know the answers to these questions doesn't mean they shouldn't be taught to 9 year olds, imho.

[Boo Radley]

My personal opinion...
If you want your son to be successful in his career you have to help him challenge his limitations and thrive for the best. 20 years later when he's getting paid 100k+ per year he'll thank you for it.

[caper70]

"Are you smarter than a 5th grader" has the answer to your question.

• Can you name the different types of clouds? e.g. nimbostratus, etc.
• What planet is closest to the sun?
• What is the lowest prime number?
• 'Carefully' is an example of what type of word? Adjective, Noun, Verb or Adverb?

Just because you didn't know the answers to these questions doesn't mean they shouldn't be taught to 9 year olds, imho.

But my point is that they are being told the answers to these questions but are not registering it. If only 5/25 children are remembering it, then there is a problem.

[baggypants]

Good news on our education system!!!

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family..._math_students

baggypants

[Prue]

But my point is that they are being told the answers to these questions but are not registering it. If only 5/25 children are remembering it, then there is a problem.

Yes there is a problem, but I don't think it is the difficulty of the material being taught. If the problem was that this strand was too difficult, we would see similar pass/failure rates mirrored across the province and this is not happening.

[cara.likes.skittles]

Good news on our education system!!!

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family..._math_students

baggypants

:D
THAT'S ME!
sweeeet.
but this here: In Canada, boys outperformed girls in mathematics, but the difference was relatively small.
yeah, that's NOT true at my school, in my grade. at all of the undergraduate awards, it has been girls winning the mathematics and english awards.
but that's pretty awesome :D
we rock.

[caper70]

Yes there is a problem, but I don't think it is the difficulty of the material being taught. If the problem was that this strand was too difficult, we would see similar pass/failure rates mirrored across the province and this is not happening.

We probably don't see it because the teachers can manipulate the system easily enough. For example, my daughter's teacher gives multiple choice for spelling tests. The teacher across the hall (same grade) doesn't. The teacher who gives out multiple choice probably has a higher percentage of children passing spelling than the teacher across the hall.

[bcteagirl]

We probably don't see it because the teachers can manipulate the system easily enough. For example, my daughter's teacher gives multiple choice for spelling tests. The teacher across the hall (same grade) doesn't. The teacher who gives out multiple choice probably has a higher percentage of children passing spelling than the teacher across the hall.

And yet when the proffs give multiple choice exams to the first year undergrads in psyc, 1/3 of the class complains that multiple choice is far harder than the other option ><... Just can't win I guess

[SavingKarina]

Teachers have a big part in how well students learn. Maybe it was just a not so good teacher teaching.

[iced_faerie]

I don't think that stuff is too advanced..I remember learning that stuff, but I don't remember the answers...besides, my niece who is in grade 4, is doing the same thing...and she's doing fine, so I don't think so..I guess it depends on the area

[SavingKarina]

I know elementary teachers who are afraid to teach math above addition and subtraction. (YES, HOW SAD!!!) If adults are the marker, we'll never get to fractions or percentages!

I do think it's a good marker. If adults can't do what they are teaching in grade 5 then how can we expect 9 and 10 year olds to do it?

[licious]

I don't mean to be rude, but isn't coming on a forum and complaining that your son's homework is too difficult a strange stance to take on this issue?

For starters, I think it's wonderful that they are trying to challenge kids more. I remember breezing through elementary school with extremely high marks, but being disappointed when I realized the amount of information I hadn't been taught and really wished that I knew.

Secondly, if you truly feel that the workload is unmanageable, why don't you make an appointment and speak with your child's teacher? Perhaps he/she can help to clarify what's going on. I really doubt that 90% of the students are actually failing. Perhaps those tests are just used as markers to give the teacher some idea of the areas that the children need more help with.

Finally, (and please don't take this the wrong way) but if your child is having difficulties, perhaps you could encourage him to study for an extra half an hour per night. Simply stating that your son CAN'T learn the names of the political parties or can't learn the immigration process doesn't seem right to me. What will happen when he is in high school? Will you trail him to every class, proclaiming that he can't do his calculus homework and that he can't write his English essay?

I'm sure that your son can, in fact, do all of these things. He probably just needs a little extra help and encouragement from his teachers and yourself.