doyyan

Hello All,

Perhaps British expat teachers can help?

How does the British primary schooling system compare with the American primary schooling system.

We live in Edinburgh and we had friends from American visiting us and their 5 year old daughter appears to tackle with ease the curriculum of our P2 son.

They told us the US curriculum is not bounded, meaning the teachers could 'challenge' a pupil all the time and to get them better.

We couldn't confirm if this system is confined to just their school somewhere in California or nationwide.

That to me is suggesting the British schooling system is somewhat backward compared to the American one?

Weeze

I think it is a little unfair to say one system is backward compared to another. In both systems you get good schools and bad schools. All I can really say is that my Mam (a primary school teacher for over 40 years) was very impressed with the curriculum here. In her opinion, the work they were doing was at a higher level than they would do at the same age in the UK. She was also shocked that so many schools (pre-school and Kindergarden) taught using the Montessori method which has never been popular in the UK. Our 8 year old friends find the work more challenging. On the other hand, some schools only want to teach creationism here and the only criteria to pass is to have an understanding on Texas history.
I'm sure someone else will be along soon who can be more help.

SultanOfSwing

US system is all standardised testing and everybody has to lick the arse of the people on the various sports teams for some unknown reason.

I seem to have started things like multiplication and long division in school a good few years earlier than the age my son was when he started them out here also.

Mummy in the foothills

The standard varies widely from district to district state to state. You friend may well have been lucky enough to find a great fit.
My youngest is 6 she started 1st grade in July her little friend in Wales is the same age, and they are just about at the same level. My Dd however has been advanced to a 1/2 combo class as she is reading and comprehending at an almost 3rd grade level, math she's doing 1st grade work. Yet her friend in Wales is an average student doing regular course work for her age. So I think it's all swings and roundabouts, we do a lot of teach at home work as she is just so eager to know everything.

Bob

It's massively different, hard to compare systems.

Each state is different, then depending on the county and how wealthy, the quality can range so much.

There isn't a national curriculum like there is in the UK which makes it easy to compare. Sure there are standarised testing in the US, but more for the older kids than primary age.

Cursive writing isn't taught in some areas here, evolution also isn't taught in some areas.

So what is better? What ever works for your kids, where you are I guess, because you could be at the school next door and that could be crap, or teaching completely different things.

nethead

Even standardised testing is different from state to state. The standard in MA is much higher (testing wise) than PA.

I find it hard to imagine a 5 year old which is after all only kindergarten level, doing the same work as a kid in year 2 in the UK After all in year 2 you would already have 3 years of schooling under your belt. Perhaps she's just a very bright kid. I have no idea what the OP means in 'not bounded'?? What is that?

Like others have said schooling varies a lot from state to state, and even from district to district. Education and learning is so much more than just school.

AmerLisa

My daughter started multiplication and some division at the end of second grade, continued through third and fourth grade.... A good school district will start introducing it as early as possible....

Bob

Also standard for teachers to be qualified. Maine you need to score one of the highest to be certified, Mass isn't far behind, but the score to teach is say Florida is so low that you are one step above dragging your knuckles along the floor.

That's not to say teachers are shit there, just that the requirement to teach isn't set nearly as high.

Sally Redux

Yes, I thought the same.

We were here for 6 months when my daughter was 6, she was put into grade 1 here and the work seemed similar to what she was doing in the UK. When we came back she was in grade 4, elementary school was OK except a narrower curriculum; PE, music and computing had to be supported by parental contributions and I think they have gone altogether now. When you get to middle school level, the curriculum is much less broad, which my son found really tedious.

However, remember that this is a very big country, how can one possibly answer such a wide question.

AmerLisa

It really depends on the 5 year old, and of course the rest of the class. My daughter's kindergarten class was ready to read, and by January most every child in the class was reading and writing well. The teacher was able to go further with that class. However, talking to her teacher, after a new year started, she told me that her new class wasn't as ready....

I just talked to my 6 year old granddaughter this morning, she's in Year 2 and they are already doing spelling tests. This is more in line to 1st grade here, on average.

deftoneuk

we find that here in Texas, the schools are keen to push the younger kids harder, but when the kids get older they only focus on the standardised testing, as opposed to trying to maximize the childs potential.

nethead

Yes, you've got a point. I think things start to fall apart in middle school, but get slightly better in high school again. Not sure why, probably the age of the kids in middle school.

AmerLisa

Have you ever been in a middle school, with all that attitude?

nethead

Yes! I have a 16 year old daughter, I know all about attitude.

Yorkieabroad

Never mind states or even school districts, it varies even within schools!
I have 1st 3rd and 5th graders and their experiences through the same school have been very different. The older 2 (boys) had the same 1st grade teacher, who was fantastic. If the kids "got" something, she moved on. I wonder if this is what the OP meant by "not bounded"? Both of them were at 3rd grade math level before they left 1st. Fortunately, they moved into classes with equally talented teachers, who continue to move them on - the 5th grader is doing OK on basic algebra.

Unfortunately, their 1st grade teacher has now moved up to an "overseeing" role and is not "available" to the 1st graders any more which is great for her, but a shame for us! So my youngest hasn't been so lucky....she had a great KG teacher who had her up to doing basic multiplication (also helped listening to the big bros learning it) but she has a different 1st grade teacher who teaches the whole class to the lowest common denominator. The teacher seems incapable of accepting that kids learn at different paces, and she sets the same work for all. I spend quite a bit of time in school, and her lessons are dull dull dull.....I have to say, this is a bit disappointing as my daughter (and quite a few of the other kids too) is/are bored silly, which is when the potential for trouble starts!

Anyway, that was just a way of saying expect lots of variation! We have some UK friends who arrived a year ago with (then) 2nd and 5th graders who had been in (according to the parents) a top notch school in Bedford - can't remember the name. The kids were slightly ahead on reading, and writing, and a bit behind on maths and science, but with help from some good teachers, it took them less than a grading period to get level. The parents reckon they were pleasantly surprised at the standard of schools here.