Summer Geometry as Rising 8th Grader

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I'd appreciate any insight of the wisdom of a 7th grader who is finishing up Algebra I taking Geometry over the summer so she can take Algebra II as an 8th grader.

Kiddo is a solid A math student (not a "prodigy" IMO) and I have no doubt she can handle the class (both summer geo and Alg II in 8th). She's open to doing it, but not effusive about it. The question is, is it worth it? To my surprise, her FCPS middle school does have a class for Alg II in 8th, so there's no extra travel needed. Don't want to deprive my kid of an opportunity but nor do I want to do it just because other parents have unthinkingly forced this upon their kid.

Advantages I've heard:

--Better to minimize the temporal gap between Alg I and II, to minimize how much material is forgotten.
--"Looks better" on a college application
--Better prepared for SAT, because more math earlier = better.

Possible disadvantages:

--No real point academically. It means you can take multivariable/linear as a junior rather than a senior, but so what? No obvious continuation class.
--No benefit for college admissions. Its all about the grades, not how early you took the classes.
--Worse prepared for SAT, because geometry is all over the SAT and a kid is apt to forget a lot of it by SAT-time if taken over 5 weeks in a middle school summer, sandwiched between two full-year Algebra courses.

Welcome any input from anyone who's faced this Q or has insight into it.

[Anonymous]

Most students including mine that took Geometry in summer, already knew most the content ahead through enrichment or math contest participation, and the summer course acts as a refresher. All the advantages you highlight are valid. But most importantly, student would have many different pathways to complete not just multivariable but also ap statistics by senior year for a solid math foundation in high school. Of course, all this depends on the student's interest and appetite for in-depth math learning.

[Anonymous]

Did your child ask to take Geometry? If not, then don’t have your child take Geometry. If yes, then ask if your child wants to spend 5 weeks doing one summer class and not have much time for anything else during that part of summer vacation.

There is no real benefit to doing Geometry in the summer. As the PP said, it makes some sense for the kids who have taken math enrichment and have already completed Geometry at a program like AoPS, RSM, or Curie. Even then, you are giving up 5 weeks for travel or doing much of anything because you have to attend class, complete assignments, and take daily quizzes and exams. I believe that there are in person exams during the summer as well.

[Anonymous]

One of the kids in DC's boys scout pack was cleared for Algebra 1 in 6th grade, and never required summer math enrollment, and progressed at normal pace doing year long math, completed multivariate as well as statistics by their senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the kids in DC's boys scout pack was cleared for Algebra 1 in 6th grade, and never required summer math enrollment, and progressed at normal pace doing year long math, completed multivariate as well as statistics by their senior year.

How is that helpful for the OP with a rising 8th grader? Or the vast majority of families whose kids will not qualify for Algebra in 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the kids in DC's boys scout pack was cleared for Algebra 1 in 6th grade, and never required summer math enrollment, and progressed at normal pace doing year long math, completed multivariate as well as statistics by their senior year.

How is that helpful for the OP with a rising 8th grader? Or the vast majority of families whose kids will not qualify for Algebra in 6th grade.

vast majority of families may not even be aware that Algebra 1 is an option for 6th graders

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I'd appreciate any insight of the wisdom of a 7th grader who is finishing up Algebra I taking Geometry over the summer so she can take Algebra II as an 8th grader.

Kiddo is a solid A math student (not a "prodigy" IMO) and I have no doubt she can handle the class (both summer geo and Alg II in 8th). She's open to doing it, but not effusive about it. The question is, is it worth it? To my surprise, her FCPS middle school does have a class for Alg II in 8th, so there's no extra travel needed. Don't want to deprive my kid of an opportunity but nor do I want to do it just because other parents have unthinkingly forced this upon their kid.

Advantages I've heard:

--Better to minimize the temporal gap between Alg I and II, to minimize how much material is forgotten.
--"Looks better" on a college application
--Better prepared for SAT, because more math earlier = better.

Possible disadvantages:

--No real point academically. It means you can take multivariable/linear as a junior rather than a senior, but so what? No obvious continuation class.
--No benefit for college admissions. Its all about the grades, not how early you took the classes.
--Worse prepared for SAT, because geometry is all over the SAT and a kid is apt to forget a lot of it by SAT-time if taken over 5 weeks in a middle school summer, sandwiched between two full-year Algebra courses.

Welcome any input from anyone who's faced this Q or has insight into it.

The number of Algebra 2 kids in 8th grade that went from good at math to a B student at math is not negligible.
Geometry in 8th grade is really more than sufficient for any STEM pathway.

If you have a burning desire to short circuit a class, I think geometry would be among my last choices. Geometric proofs are pretty important to grokking math.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand the point of flying through math classes so there’s nothing left to take at the end of high school. Do these kids really get a strong math foundation this way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the point of flying through math classes so there’s nothing left to take at the end of high school. Do these kids really get a strong math foundation this way?

You mention it every thread involving math and it really isn’t an option. Most schools don’t offer it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the point of flying through math classes so there’s nothing left to take at the end of high school. Do these kids really get a strong math foundation this way?

You mention it every thread involving math and it really isn’t an option. Most schools don’t offer it.

Um, this is my first post on the subject. And what does it matter that most schools don’t offer it? Clearly some do.

[Anonymous]

Despite whatever the "arms race" people may think, elite college admissions offices aren't all that impressed if someone super accelerated in math. It doesn't move the needle compared to other bright students with strong applications who didn't super accelerate in math, but instead did something else. They want to see Calculus on the transcript. Anything else is marginal benefit compared to other classes (ie other APs) an applicant could have taken

Accelerating in math forces a child to take math beyond calculus because colleges want to see a math class all 4 years. If your child doesn't care much for taking AP statistics or multivaiable calc, you've forced them into it

It doesn't help with the SAT, instead they'll have to brush up on material they took years earlier

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I'd appreciate any insight of the wisdom of a 7th grader who is finishing up Algebra I taking Geometry over the summer so she can take Algebra II as an 8th grader.

Kiddo is a solid A math student (not a "prodigy" IMO) and I have no doubt she can handle the class (both summer geo and Alg II in 8th). She's open to doing it, but not effusive about it. The question is, is it worth it? To my surprise, her FCPS middle school does have a class for Alg II in 8th, so there's no extra travel needed. Don't want to deprive my kid of an opportunity but nor do I want to do it just because other parents have unthinkingly forced this upon their kid.

Advantages I've heard:

--Better to minimize the temporal gap between Alg I and II, to minimize how much material is forgotten.
--"Looks better" on a college application
--Better prepared for SAT, because more math earlier = better.

Possible disadvantages:

--No real point academically. It means you can take multivariable/linear as a junior rather than a senior, but so what? No obvious continuation class.
--No benefit for college admissions. Its all about the grades, not how early you took the classes.
--Worse prepared for SAT, because geometry is all over the SAT and a kid is apt to forget a lot of it by SAT-time if taken over 5 weeks in a middle school summer, sandwiched between two full-year Algebra courses.

Welcome any input from anyone who's faced this Q or has insight into it.

What are your qualifications for "not doubting" that she can learn geometry in 6 weeks?

If she's going to forget it by SAT, then she isn't really learning it in 6 weeks.

If she has so little interest and ability in math that she didn't learn much geometry on her own before the summer term started, and will forget algebra if she takes geometry for a year, why do you want to pile even more math classes onto her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I'd appreciate any insight of the wisdom of a 7th grader who is finishing up Algebra I taking Geometry over the summer so she can take Algebra II as an 8th grader.

Kiddo is a solid A math student (not a "prodigy" IMO) and I have no doubt she can handle the class (both summer geo and Alg II in 8th). She's open to doing it, but not effusive about it. The question is, is it worth it? To my surprise, her FCPS middle school does have a class for Alg II in 8th, so there's no extra travel needed. Don't want to deprive my kid of an opportunity but nor do I want to do it just because other parents have unthinkingly forced this upon their kid.

Advantages I've heard:

--Better to minimize the temporal gap between Alg I and II, to minimize how much material is forgotten.
--"Looks better" on a college application
--Better prepared for SAT, because more math earlier = better.

Possible disadvantages:

--No real point academically. It means you can take multivariable/linear as a junior rather than a senior, but so what? No obvious continuation class.
--No benefit for college admissions. Its all about the grades, not how early you took the classes.
--Worse prepared for SAT, because geometry is all over the SAT and a kid is apt to forget a lot of it by SAT-time if taken over 5 weeks in a middle school summer, sandwiched between two full-year Algebra courses.

Welcome any input from anyone who's faced this Q or has insight into it.

Just by the way you phrased the advantages and disadvantages, it sounds like you have already decided that it's not a great idea to accelerate that much.

Remember, most of the country is taking algebra in 8th or 9th grade.

[Anonymous]

Mine will be taking it but only because he already had two years of geometry instruction at RSM, and this class will be mostly review/checking the box to be allowed to move to the next level. If this was all brand new material to him, I wouldn’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

I'd appreciate any insight of the wisdom of a 7th grader who is finishing up Algebra I taking Geometry over the summer so she can take Algebra II as an 8th grader.

Kiddo is a solid A math student (not a "prodigy" IMO) and I have no doubt she can handle the class (both summer geo and Alg II in 8th). She's open to doing it, but not effusive about it. The question is, is it worth it? To my surprise, her FCPS middle school does have a class for Alg II in 8th, so there's no extra travel needed. Don't want to deprive my kid of an opportunity but nor do I want to do it just because other parents have unthinkingly forced this upon their kid.

Advantages I've heard:

--Better to minimize the temporal gap between Alg I and II, to minimize how much material is forgotten.
--"Looks better" on a college application
--Better prepared for SAT, because more math earlier = better.

Possible disadvantages:

--No real point academically. It means you can take multivariable/linear as a junior rather than a senior, but so what? No obvious continuation class.
--No benefit for college admissions. Its all about the grades, not how early you took the classes.
--Worse prepared for SAT, because geometry is all over the SAT and a kid is apt to forget a lot of it by SAT-time if taken over 5 weeks in a middle school summer, sandwiched between two full-year Algebra courses.

Welcome any input from anyone who's faced this Q or has insight into it.

What are your qualifications for "not doubting" that she can learn geometry in 6 weeks?

If she's going to forget it by SAT, then she isn't really learning it in 6 weeks.

If she has so little interest and ability in math that she didn't learn much geometry on her own before the summer term started, and will forget algebra if she takes geometry for a year, why do you want to pile even more math classes onto her?

This. If the student didn’t see geometry before, compressing everything over the summer is not a good idea. I agree summer math courses should just be a review for formalizing receiving credit.

For kids that do algebra 2 in 8th, 800 on the SAT math portion should be very easy, because they keep spiraling through the math curriculum and there’s no “forgetting”.

OP should consider that math through middle and high school will not only be what’s taught in the class, but also some outside enrichment dedicated to review, more challenging material, other types of math not typically covered in the classroom etc. in my view summer is better spent on those things than rushing to skip ahead one year.