Honors pre-calculus
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Anonymous
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How much of a difference is there between honors and regular pre-calculus? My kid is very intimidated by honors pre-calculus. They have been in honors math classes since middle school and have always had As, but have needed help at times.
Thanks for any input. |
Anonymous
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I don’t know but my weak math kid who scores a B in Honors Algebra 2 was a straight A student in Honors Pre-Cal.
FWIW-Not a strong math student at all as only scored a 610 in math SAT. |
Anonymous
Pace mainly. Also depth in some units. I would say let them try Honors, but if it feels overwhelming they can switch to regular precalculus after 1st quarter. A lot of kids do that. |
Anonymous
That is VERY unusual as the honors pre-calc is known as the make-it-or-break-it class. OP- have your child start in honors. You have a full month to drop down to the regular level. If after a couple of weeks your child continues to feel overwhelmed, agree to switching- there is no need to add the extra pressure. |
Anonymous
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“Help at time” is ambiguous.
If your child understands algebra and geometry (can explain a randomly chosen topic studied a while back, not just regurgitate last week’s lesson) and is on a track to make a credible applies to a STEM program or a top tier academic college, then honors Precalc is fine. |
Anonymous
| Go play on Khan Academy for a preview. |
Anonymous
Really maybe my kid matured then. Definitely felt Algebra 2 was “harder”. |
Anonymous
Agree with the PP. Honors pre-calc was challenging for both kids who did well in Honors Algebra 2. In fact, I've seen a lot of kids moving down to regular pre-calc after a few weeks. |
Anonymous
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There is an important difference between pre-calc and the other MCPS math classes. People should only answer if they know specifically about pre-calc (and not assume it's the same as, say, Honors Alg II).
I have a kid studying applied math at an Ivy. She tells me that honors pre-calc was the hardest math class she took in HS (harder than AP calc). Lots of kids who took 'honors' all the way through decide to move down for pre-calc. Honors pre-calc sets you up so you can go straight into BC calc (skipping AB calc). (At least at our HS.) Regular pre-calc has a bit less content, so you go into AB calc first, and then go to BC. (Again, at least at our HS.) For most advanced classes, I agree with a PP's advice to try the advanced one first and then move down if necessarily. I'm not sure I'd say the same for this, but it's not a terrible strategy. Just make sure you move down if the kid is struggling. |
Anonymous
| QO got rid of honors pre-calc and now only has AP. |
Anonymous
| I wish our school offered AP Precalc. Probably a better fit for my kid than honors. |
Anonymous
| Honors precalc is notoriously the hardest math class outside multivariable. |
Anonymous
| Is the difficulty of the class true consistently across moco high schools. What about the Ws? |
Anonymous
| Must be school dependent. My 610 SAT math student found Honors Algebra 2 to be significantly harder than Honors Pre- Cal and AB Cal. Interestingly I found that was true when I was in HS too. If you could survive Honors Algebra 2 you could survive anything. |
Anonymous
| FWIW my student scored a 3 on AB test |