AIM 6th Grade Math - Can you catch-up over summer if not in compacted math?

[Anonymous]

My son loves math and has found it really easy over the years. He was not placed in compacted math in 4th grade because he often got frustrated or upset if a math problem did not come easily to him. During the pandemic and online school we discovered that my son had undiagnosed ADHD and Anxiety. He panics on tests, and is easily distracted or overwhelmed. Therefore, his MPA scores were just below the schools threshold for compacted math. Things are improving and we are slowly figuring things out.

However, he still complains that math is easy. It is his favorite subject that he now dislikes because it is too easy. He desperately wants to be in advanced math and understands that options in middle school and is okay if he doesn't succeed in AIM. He has even asked to take a math course this summer to catch-up.

Is there a course or math camp he can take this summer that will help him catch-up in math and have him placed into AIM in Middle School? I just want to give him a shot.

I think it will be good for him to have an adult believe in him and support him if he wants it that badly.

ps: I am not a crazy math parent. The advanced math pathway is actually quite frightening to me.

[Anonymous]

"My son loves math and has found it really easy over the years. He was not placed in compacted math in 4th grade because he often got frustrated or upset if a math problem did not come easily to him."

I think you need to resolve this dichotomy to understand what's going on and help him.

[Anonymous]

Have him do Khan Academy for 5th-6th grades. That covers the content to be prepared for 6th grade AIM.

It is not unusual to be frustrated with some math problems, but gently remind him that even professional mathematicians get frustrated. Getting help at these moments is key so he doesn't lose his passion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My son loves math and has found it really easy over the years. He was not placed in compacted math in 4th grade because he often got frustrated or upset if a math problem did not come easily to him."

I think you need to resolve this dichotomy to understand what's going on and help him.

If you read the whole post, it sounds like she did.
My son was in compacted but then we switched to private for middle which doesn’t follow that path. So we enrolled him in a virtual self paced math class. It’s been wonderful. In person, he finishes his homework several days ahead of time, but his teacher allows him to work on his extra math. Since it’s self paced, he can go as fast or as slow as he needs to. He also had issues of inattentiveness and anxiety and this worked for him.

[Anonymous]

Is 6+ an option in your school? AIM is really fast and challenging even for a math loving kid. 6+ will give him acceleration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is 6+ an option in your school? AIM is really fast and challenging even for a math loving kid. 6+ will give him acceleration

Also, don’t underestimate the new challenges of middle school for a kid with ADHD. Much bigger demand on executive functioning skills. Ask me how I know

[Anonymous]

The central office recommends kids for AIM (I was just told this by a middle school). Maybe others know if a school is likely to place a child in AIM against the recommendation of the central office, if the parent requests it and shows something like additional math progress over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Montgomery College offers summer youth classes. Perhaps there is a math class he could take?

[Anonymous]

He should do 6+ and 7+ which combine three years into two (math 6, math 7, and math 8). That will put him a year ahead of the "regular" track.

[Anonymous]

Ask your child's teacher or principal if they have recommendations for what you can do

[Anonymous]

Talk to parents of high school seniors applying to colleges: there is absolutely no reason to rush your child through a math program. None whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

While I think having a kid jump a level of math in the summer is typically not a great idea I think it's great your child loves math and is motivated to do it himself.

So I would agree you should do what you can to help him over the summer and then support him next year. It's really hard to get kids this age interested in school and if getting him into AIM will do it you should.

Good luck OP

[Anonymous]

It was a few years ago but AIM is a lot of review and putting things together so if he's already strong in math it should be fine. A lot of word problems.
Assuming he's good at basic operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, basic graphing of xy coordinates and that kind of thing. It does not get hard or confusing for most kids if you have a strong foundation until Q4 when they do functions and point-slope form if memory serves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a few years ago but AIM is a lot of review and putting things together so if he's already strong in math it should be fine. A lot of word problems.
Assuming he's good at basic operations, fractions, decimals, percentages, basic graphing of xy coordinates and that kind of thing. It does not get hard or confusing for most kids if you have a strong foundation until Q4 when they do functions and point-slope form if memory serves.

Are you sure you aren’t thinking of IM? AIM was new last year I think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The central office recommends kids for AIM (I was just told this by a middle school). Maybe others know if a school is likely to place a child in AIM against the recommendation of the central office, if the parent requests it and shows something like additional math progress over the summer.

This is only partially true. Central office recommends which kids should automatically go to AIM based on the universal review for the middle school magnet lottery. If your child was not placed in the lottery but is in compacted 5/6, the middle school will review the pathway that your child’s 5th grade teacher recommended and will likely use that recommendation. You can ask the teacher what she recommended (you won’t otherwise be notified). I don’t think teachers generally put recommendations for students to skip levels in math pathways unless data is super compelling (strong performance on class assessments and MAP this year) PLUS parent advocacy. I recommend you get in touch with the mccpta gifted Ed committee (they have a Facebook page) because they have a document with contacts and steps to advocate for math placement. There are absolutely supposed to be on ramps for kids to move up levels but mcps is super murky about this and you can’t count on the school to drive the process.