algebra 1 - which year?

[Anonymous]

Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Disagree. If STEM, then 7th or 8th. Same for college, although 9th could work, depending upon the school and/or major.

[Anonymous]

If taking it in 8th, which class do they take in 7th? Math 7 honors or can they also take regular math 7 but still take algebra 1 in 8th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If taking it in 8th, which class do they take in 7th? Math 7 honors or can they also take regular math 7 but still take algebra 1 in 8th?

They can take either Math 7H or Math 7 in 7th and move on to Algebra I in 8th. IME, the main difference is that kids who take Math 7 usually take standard Algebra I, while kids in 7H move on to Algebra I H.

If your child is not in advanced math in ES, it is possible to skip to Math 7H and then move on to Algebra I H. You just have to do a little prep work to cover the topics your child needs that would have been missed in 7th grade math since they essentially won't be taking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

What is the goal here? To demonstrate that your child took the most advanced math possible? To make sure that your child mastered the basics? To get college credit for HS classes? To get admitted to a Top 20 school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

This response and that of the first responder are correct if you are going down the STEM path or looking at highly selective colleges. While you may still major in STEM or get into a highly ranked college by waiting a year or two to take Algebra I you are lowering your odds of doing so.

This path also allows student to take AP statistics.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea whether my rising 7th grader will want to go down a STEM path or where she will want to go to college. I’m worried about her learning what she needs to do well in algebra 1 when she finally takes it. I have heard that Math 7 honors is a better preparation for Algebra 1 so I’m wondering if I should push for that even though my child took regular math in 6th. On the flip side, im worried that she will be overwhelmed in math 7 honors because she only took regular math in 6th…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

This response and that of the first responder are correct if you are going down the STEM path or looking at highly selective colleges. While you may still major in STEM or get into a highly ranked college by waiting a year or two to take Algebra I you are lowering your odds of doing so.

This path also allows student to take AP statistics.

This is what students take who've taken Calc their junior year. It would make more sense for students to take Calc their senior year so they would have calculus fresh in their minds and they could go straight to the next level math class in college but college's make everyone retake calculus anyway, so it isn't an issue. (The reason that colleges make everyone take calculus again is because they know kids didn't learn it that well the first time. AP classes are not what they used to be.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

This response and that of the first responder are correct if you are going down the STEM path or looking at highly selective colleges. While you may still major in STEM or get into a highly ranked college by waiting a year or two to take Algebra I you are lowering your odds of doing so.

This path also allows student to take AP statistics.

This is what students take who've taken Calc their junior year. It would make more sense for students to take Calc their senior year so they would have calculus fresh in their minds and they could go straight to the next level math class in college but college's make everyone retake calculus anyway, so it isn't an issue. (The reason that colleges make everyone take calculus again is because they know kids didn't learn it that well the first time. AP classes are not what they used to be.)

Lots will have calc 2 fresh in their minds. Algebra in 7th is the 'standard' for the advanced track

[Anonymous]

FCPS has a big push for all kids to take algebra in 8th (if not earlier).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do most FCPS kids take algebra 1 in 8th or 9th? If 8th, do they first have to take honors math in 7th?

It depends on what you child is going to pursue in college and what level of school you wish them to attend. If STEM then 7th, if not STEM then either 8th or 9th is fine, unless seeking a top 30-40 college then the answer is back to 7th.

Algebra 1 H in 8th is fine for STEM and top 30-40 college. Many people think 7th is necessary and then they derail their chances by lower grades. As long as you get to Calc by your senior year you are as advanced as you need to be. Grades in those courses are far more important.

You're compared to students from your own school and there will be a bunch who both have it in 7th and have all As in math. 6th would make you an outlier, but there are some who do it. 7th means that you took advanced math and retained enough to do well on the IAAT and SOL, which should be the expectation from a kid in advanced math

This response and that of the first responder are correct if you are going down the STEM path or looking at highly selective colleges. While you may still major in STEM or get into a highly ranked college by waiting a year or two to take Algebra I you are lowering your odds of doing so.

This path also allows student to take AP statistics.

Evidence?
I don't think selective colleges make that fine-grained of distinctions. As long as your school regards your schedule as "most rigorous" which they will do if you take AP/IB courses in core subjects and take AP Calc. There may be a handful of elite STEM oriented that are looking for higher math (MIT, Caltech, CMU etc.) but if your kid has a shot there they likely would be taking Algebra 1 early because it's their passion--but expanding that range to top 30-40 or STEM in general just doesn't apply. This is what I've observed at my kid's HS which has a large portion of kids taking Algebra in 7th: taking algebra in 7th vs 8th doesn't seem to make any difference if the grades and high school course rigor are there. I do think taking algebra in 9th can be a hindrance in some schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea whether my rising 7th grader will want to go down a STEM path or where she will want to go to college. I’m worried about her learning what she needs to do well in algebra 1 when she finally takes it. I have heard that Math 7 honors is a better preparation for Algebra 1 so I’m wondering if I should push for that even though my child took regular math in 6th. On the flip side, im worried that she will be overwhelmed in math 7 honors because she only took regular math in 6th…

I have a rising 8th grader and we had this decision last year. We chose regular 7th grade math and she did well (had a good teacher) and was recommended for Algebra 1 in 8th grade. We'll see how she does, but at least this year she is used to middle school.