If your child doesn't start in Level 3 advanced math in 3rd grade, does that mean they are screwed if they get into AAP in a later grade? Like if my child gets into AAP next year or in 4th grade, would she be behind? |
All grade school math spirals. Your DC will be fine coming into Advanced Math in 4th or 5th grade and probably fine coming into 6th grade. |
If they are advanced, then they are advanced. |
???? |
Mine got in 5th grade. Great score on SOLs and Iowa tests. If they are advanced IN math, they are advanced. |
6th grade AAP teacher here. I had three kids jump up to adv math this year. They are doing fine. |
Thank you! |
Most kids do okay with the jump, but a few do struggle a bit.
I recommend the Khan Academy “Getting Ready for 6th Grade” math course for kids who are coming into my advanced 5th grade class without having had advanced 4th grade math. They have similar courses for lower grades. The content doesn’t map perfectly onto the VA standards, but it’s close enough. It’s mostly a confidence booster. 5th is a tricky year to start advanced math because the kids take the 6th grade math SOL— in 3rd and 4th, they learn advanced content but take the grade level SOL. |
AAP is all about providing early indications to parents, like where their student stands with respect to others. if you child doesnot start in level 3, it is an indicator that your child is behind other students who have started in Level 3. If you are interested, only if you are, you have the option to work with your child to improve their math capabilities. Once the capabilities are up, child is provided a chance to upgrade to the next level. |
Depends on the school if 1) they are actually good at identifying kids who are capable and 2) they do the bolded automatically |
If your child's bright enough to get into AAP, with package support form the teachers/school and validated from the committee, they'll do fine in whatever grade they do get in. Most kids are grade(s) ahead in math anyway, or are intelligent enough to pick it up almost immediately anyway if it wasn't already taught. |
Most kids are not grades ahead in math. Maybe it's just that we're not at a high SES center, but kids in our school range from incredibly bright to on the remedial track working diligently with tutors to keep up. We're at a school that was marked "moderate TJ mania" on the old TJ mania map, so it's not a slouch school either. Advanced is allowed to be advanced. There's allowed to be a range. It's OK if it's only a very select few kids who are on the crazy smart track, just like it's OK if there's only a select few kids who are going to play D1 college soccer. |
I think PP meant "most kids who get into AAP are grades ahead already or able to catch up quickly if they skip. And I agree. K-8 math is an extremely repetitive spiral. Skipping a year via joining AAP is not much different based on which specific year you skip. |
My friends whose kids were skipped would disagree, even the ones who ultimately thought the decision worked out well. All of them were very proud at how hard their kids worked to catch up. |