Irvine schools

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@bones:

Exactly... communities that care about education will always have supplemental education no matter how good the schools are. Programs like Kumon and MathMonkey don't exist because IUSD isn't that great (although I still have my own opinion on how "great" IUSD is)... it's because of these education programs that students do so well.

Why are we looking at Kumon when I always though I never would (I even make fun of it)? Because class sizes are bigger and some subjects don't get as much attention as others in our kid's particular classroom. We were told by her former teacher that the next teacher doesn't focus very much on math and from what we've seen... it's true (which ironically is why my kid chose to go to that class). So we don't want her to fall behind in math and this seems like one of the more reasonable ways to help.
 
I agree with IHO- not enough time in the classroom to go over new things.  I feel like the first half of the school year is review on things that should be known and when March comes along, it's the time teachers are cramming new stuff.

I know a lot of people seem to hate Kumon- but which kid really wants to do more work?  I am sure kids whine about going to Mathnasium, Math Monkey- etc.

I don't know about these other programs except Kumon- but I like that Kumon isn't another classroom with passive learning.  They need to be independent and figure out the problem themselves.  I have even learned some math methods from Kumon that I never learned doing old-school math.  Kumon has been beneficial for us. 

 
IHO - if u don't mind sharing, what activities do your kids participate in, you seem to value a more normalized childhood allowing your kids to be kids.
 
In the summer they were in swimming and art... I wanted them to try a martial art but not enough time.

Now that school has started... we've cut back on the extracurricular because not enough time but just recently they've taken up roller skating every other weekend and between that, just swimming at the pool (it's been hot enough). Still thinking about karate.

I'm trying to get them into SoCal Elite's winter basketball league but only if they want to. As I've said, we're looking into Kumon for one of them just to help with math but that may not happen.

I actually don't like the idea of supplemental education because I think they get enough work at school but at the same time, I've noticed that my lack of "pushing" one of them has caused some laziness that they have to make up for. I would much rather their free time be used pursuing other things... they like to read, draw and do art/craft stuff along with the occasional TV and video games (not during the week) although my younger plays more games than he should.

I realize everyone is different, but I don't even want my kids to go to Uni... I prefer a more balanced school life if that's possible in Irvine. I've seen quite a few of my relatives grow up in Irvine/Tustin and they were not so focused on education and have turned out okay... so it gives me hope. :)
 
I thought I would give this topic a bump--

I'm experiencing growing disappointment with IUSD elementary schools as my kids age through the system.  The class sizes seem larger every year.  My older child was very lucky- she rode the wave of class size reduction and had only 18-20 kids in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. But what I find more troubling is the gap that exists inside the classroom between the high achievers and low achievers.  This gap seems to widen as the children age.  I had heard that IUSD mainstreams most of the kids that would have qualified for special ed not that long ago due to the budget cuts.  So many services for these children have been cut.  How can a teacher effectively teach in a 1st grade classroom of 30+ kids where some kids read chapter books and others can't read at all?  With this many kids- it is very difficult to provide any kind of individualized teaching focus.

Now, IUSD may lose more funding under Gov. Brown's plan--  which stands to make for more classroom crowding,  less special ed funding,  more mainstreaming leading to a bigger gap. 

As a parent,  I know that I can supplement my children's education through after school programs--  but that doesn't solve the issue of  boredom they suffer through in the classroom when the teacher repeats the same topic over and over (its generally 7+ times) so that it reaches every child.  The kids who get it within the first 3 times then zone out and miss the next topic.  Sometimes my daughter is so bored that she almost falls asleep. 

IUSD teachers are amazing, dedicated professionals-  I'm not putting any of this on them.  I applaud how well they do perform in this environment.  But these schools are going down hill in my opinion.  I realize that class size reduction is very expensive-- but I think it is the single most important line item of the budget.  This is what TIC should fund.  They get a huge premium because of the school district-- they need to get serious about making the schools as good as they promote them to be.
 
I agree that smaller class sizes would improve things. The problem with class size reduction is it's opposed to IUSD's other problem, not enough capacity or schools.

I read an article in the OCReg (and can't link to it because of their stupid paywall) that even their newest schools are overcrowded and they are trying to alleviate it by reassigning kids to other schools, building more portable units etc etc. There are supposed to be 7 new schools opening up in the next few years and they still don't think it's enough.

Stonegate, which just opened up a few years ago, is at capacity already.

TIC must have overdid their IUSD marketing.
 
furioussugar said:
I thought I would give this topic a bump--

I'm experiencing growing disappointment with IUSD elementary schools as my kids age through the system.  The class sizes seem larger every year.  My older child was very lucky- she rode the wave of class size reduction and had only 18-20 kids in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. But what I find more troubling is the gap that exists inside the classroom between the high achievers and low achievers.  This gap seems to widen as the children age.  I had heard that IUSD mainstreams most of the kids that would have qualified for special ed not that long ago due to the budget cuts.  So many services for these children have been cut.  How can a teacher effectively teach in a 1st grade classroom of 30+ kids where some kids read chapter books and others can't read at all?  With this many kids- it is very difficult to provide any kind of individualized teaching focus.

Now, IUSD may lose more funding under Gov. Brown's plan--  which stands to make for more classroom crowding,  less special ed funding,  more mainstreaming leading to a bigger gap. 

As a parent,  I know that I can supplement my children's education through after school programs--  but that doesn't solve the issue of  boredom they suffer through in the classroom when the teacher repeats the same topic over and over (its generally 7+ times) so that it reaches every child.  The kids who get it within the first 3 times then zone out and miss the next topic.  Sometimes my daughter is so bored that she almost falls asleep. 

IUSD teachers are amazing, dedicated professionals-  I'm not putting any of this on them.  I applaud how well they do perform in this environment.  But these schools are going down hill in my opinion.  I realize that class size reduction is very expensive-- but I think it is the single most important line item of the budget.  This is what TIC should fund.  They get a huge premium because of the school district-- they need to get serious about making the schools as good as they promote them to be.
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What schools did your kids go to?
 
if they cut/reduced/got rid off government employee pensions and generous overtime programs schools would have plenty of funding. next time you see a govt employee express your gratitude.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I agree that smaller class sizes would improve things. The problem with class size reduction is it's opposed to IUSD's other problem, not enough capacity or schools.

I read an article in the OCReg (and can't link to it because of their stupid paywall) that even their newest schools are overcrowded and they are trying to alleviate it by reassigning kids to other schools, building more portable units etc etc. There are supposed to be 7 new schools opening up in the next few years and they still don't think it's enough.

Stonegate, which just opened up a few years ago, is at capacity already.

TIC must have overdid their IUSD marketing.
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IUSD has two school sites sitting empty right now-  El Camino and Westwood Basics.  They could reopen those.
 
Those became Woodbury Elem and Stonegate Elem... and like their other two Elem school sites (Alderwood and Vista Verde), those sites are probably slated for something else (like new homes).
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Those became Woodbury Elem and Stonegate Elem... and like their other two Elem school sites (Alderwood and Vista Verde), those sites are probably slated for something else (like new homes).
Click to expand...

Yes,  but IUSD had refurbished El Camino to use while they rebuilt Deerfield 2 years ago.  Why not use it now?  They still own it.
 
furioussugar said:
But what I find more troubling is the gap that exists inside the classroom between the high achievers and low achievers.  This gap seems to widen as the children age.  I had heard that IUSD mainstreams most of the kids that would have qualified for special ed not that long ago due to the budget cuts.  So many services for these children have been cut.  How can a teacher effectively teach in a 1st grade classroom of 30+ kids where some kids read chapter books and others can't read at all?  With this many kids- it is very difficult to provide any kind of individualized teaching focus.

Now, IUSD may lose more funding under Gov. Brown's plan--  which stands to make for more classroom crowding,  less special ed funding,  more mainstreaming leading to a bigger gap.
Click to expand...

I can sympathize but I'm not quite sure I understand what you hope to find by going to another area. I think that is just the latest education model for all schools to offer a "least restrictive environment" for special ed kids. I know ours does (SVUSD). The way I had it explained to me by one teacher is that the idea is the "regular" kids will influence the special needs kids and that will ultimately help the special needs kids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstreaming_(education)

I volunteer in the classroom and had expressed some concerns once to a friend who is a retired teacher that I don't feel qualified to work with a couple of the kids for the kind of work they were asking me to do - one who has behavioral problems and one who seems pretty high up on the autism scale. She said, "We aren't trained for it either." Wonderful.
 
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