I'm with you! My dd5 is starting K in a few weeks and I am trying to stay calm - then every once in a while I get a bit freaked out. Yesterday, I was talking to a mom who was telling me that in our district they do not do any ability grouping for math until 5th grade. "How does that work exactly?" I asked... just that - everyone does the same thing for math K-4 at which point they are placed into a "high" or "low" group. I don't know - I just don't see how that is possible. I get the whole "ability grouping can destroy the self-esteem of some students" - I really do... but at the same time - wow. That could really get rough for my kid. When I visited the school last spring they had a shelf of books that ranged from bob books to harry potter and the teacher proudly explained that they have a program where students can select their own books according to their interest and ability level - so I was relieved about that... how strange that they would be so progressive about reading but not math?
