Algebra I - 7th grade expectations

[Anonymous]

DD has been in level IV AAP throughout, scored in the 98th percentile last year on the IAAT with zero tutoring. She is self-motivated and works hard, but 7th grade has been unexpectedly challenging. In her own words, she can work her way through the assignments but it is very time consuming. She typically has an hour+ of homework/night for math. She’s frustrated that she doesn’t have time to review and study upcoming material because she has used up all her time working through equations. She has a B+ at the end of the 1st quarter, but received a D on the first exam of the second quarter. She feels like the teacher is moving too quickly through teaching the material, not that she is incapable of doing it. How can we best support her? (She is not alone, more than half the class is in the same boat as far as we can tell, with 1-3 kids who are excelling.)

[Anonymous]

It could be that she just hit a hard topic on that last test?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD has been in level IV AAP throughout, scored in the 98th percentile last year on the IAAT with zero tutoring. She is self-motivated and works hard, but 7th grade has been unexpectedly challenging. In her own words, she can work her way through the assignments but it is very time consuming. She typically has an hour+ of homework/night for math. She’s frustrated that she doesn’t have time to review and study upcoming material because she has used up all her time working through equations. She has a B+ at the end of the 1st quarter, but received a D on the first exam of the second quarter. She feels like the teacher is moving too quickly through teaching the material, not that she is incapable of doing it. How can we best support her? (She is not alone, more than half the class is in the same boat as far as we can tell, with 1-3 kids who are excelling.)

A lot of math teachers can’t teach. The solution is Mathnasium.

[Anonymous]

DS is also AAP 7th Algebra I and facing similar issues. He has never taken math enrichment and was consistently among top math performers in class w/o it. Unfortunately, his algebra teacher isn’t fully teaching the curriculum, and is treating it more like review.

We hired a tutor bc he is starting to hate math, which is his favorite and strongest subject. I’m pretty annoyed about the whole situation but we aren’t finding solutions at school. Many in his class are having the same challenges.

[Anonymous]

DS is taking Algebra in 7th and not having issues. His friends who worked hard in 6th grade are working hard for Bs this year in Algebra. It is a high school class that moves at a fast pace. It is an honors class so there are extensions. It could be that it is a stretch for your child. It is a stretch my kids friends but they don’t seem upset by it. You can get a tutor or the answer might be to move to 7th H.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD has been in level IV AAP throughout, scored in the 98th percentile last year on the IAAT with zero tutoring. She is self-motivated and works hard, but 7th grade has been unexpectedly challenging. In her own words, she can work her way through the assignments but it is very time consuming. She typically has an hour+ of homework/night for math. She’s frustrated that she doesn’t have time to review and study upcoming material because she has used up all her time working through equations. She has a B+ at the end of the 1st quarter, but received a D on the first exam of the second quarter. She feels like the teacher is moving too quickly through teaching the material, not that she is incapable of doing it. How can we best support her? (She is not alone, more than half the class is in the same boat as far as we can tell, with 1-3 kids who are excelling.)

A lot of math teachers can’t teach. The solution is Mathnasium.

+1

I don't know about Mathnasiun but I have been very unimpressed by DS's math teachers so far. Either they can't teach or they are choosing not to.

[Anonymous]

Mastering math is all about consistent practice. AAP Level IV is too basic, and students aren’t provided with enough practice problems to build a deep understanding. It is not until student gets to Algebra 1 they realize the gaps in learning. Many students have been successful with learning Algebra 1 in 6th grade because they had sufficient depth in the prerequisite math in previous years. At the other end of spectrum, there are kids enrolled in algebra 1 in 8th grade and still fail miserably because of shallow math learning in previous years masked by inflated grades.

[Anonymous]

What school is this?

[Anonymous]

Some kids do better with the early years of arithmetic but not so great with more advanced math.

[Anonymous]

There are a few kids who take algebra in 7th who are just really good naturally in math and excel without having done any enrichment.

Now add to that all the kids who are are smart kids who have done a lot of math enrichment including doing AOPS pre-algebra or the first half if the AOPS algebra book in 6th or the summer beforehand. Or they have been doing kumon since preschool or Russian math or Singapore math at home.

So half the class is not going to struggle while half will especially if you don’t have the best math teacher. Algebra is too important not to have a firm grasp on. I would have her retake in 8th. Or move down a level, supple t at home then retake in 8th. Or get a tutor and put in the hours needed to do well.

[Anonymous]

Someone, whether it's you or a tutor, needs to watch her do some problems and understand the gaps. What isn't she getting? Why is homework taking so long?

I found that my student didn't know how to methodically lay out her work. She was making stupid mistakes and getting lost because she was trying to skip steps. This is okay when the problems are easy and less okay as the math gets harder. I think it comes from too many years of online tests instead of paper math tests. We've been working on learning to methodically show your work and not do many steps in your head and it's helped.

[Anonymous]

We have a friend whose AAP kid is 7th H and is taking 6th grade RSM because he found 7th H too much.

DS was in RSM from 4-6 grade because he liked math and wanted more than he was getting at school. It was 2 hours of class and 30-60 minutes of homework. It gave him extra practice and additional exposure to concepts. School became practice for him.

Programs like RSM and AoPS provide practice and exposure that shore up foundational skills. I would enroll your kid at RSM, it will help. Or get a tutor. Or drop a level and shore up the foundational skills.

[Anonymous]

Lots of posts blaming the teachers. There are bad apples in every profession, but this is also such a reflection of our times.

Taking Alegebra I Honors in 7th is an accelerated path. It’s not for everyone. I’m sure your child is very bright, but that doesn’t mean this level of acceleration is appropriate for them. It’s a high school level class and things get real at that point… it’s a big departure from elementary school whether you were doing well in AAP LIV or not.

This is not a humble brag, but my 8th grade DC has a 100 in that class. They feel bad about themselves that they waited until 8th, but they also see most of the 7th graders in the class struggling, as it’s the first time those kids have had to really work at something. You can be very smart and not ready to take a high school credit class your first year out of ES. And that’s okay. The math only gets much harder from here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of posts blaming the teachers. There are bad apples in every profession, but this is also such a reflection of our times.

Taking Alegebra I Honors in 7th is an accelerated path. It’s not for everyone. I’m sure your child is very bright, but that doesn’t mean this level of acceleration is appropriate for them. It’s a high school level class and things get real at that point… it’s a big departure from elementary school whether you were doing well in AAP LIV or not.

This is not a humble brag, but my 8th grade DC has a 100 in that class. They feel bad about themselves that they waited until 8th, but they also see most of the 7th graders in the class struggling, as it’s the first time those kids have had to really work at something. You can be very smart and not ready to take a high school credit class your first year out of ES. And that’s okay. The math only gets much harder from here.

We are in APS so it’s a little different but I agree they place too many children in Algebra I in 7th grade. My kid is just naturally gifted at math. He can do the classwork and the homework during class and gets 100%. There are a few other kids like him but many are struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mastering math is all about consistent practice. AAP Level IV is too basic, and students aren’t provided with enough practice problems to build a deep understanding. It is not until student gets to Algebra 1 they realize the gaps in learning. Many students have been successful with learning Algebra 1 in 6th grade because they had sufficient depth in the prerequisite math in previous years. At the other end of spectrum, there are kids enrolled in algebra 1 in 8th grade and still fail miserably because of shallow math learning in previous years masked by inflated grades.

+1 million. My 7th grader in Algebra 1 gets the Algebra 1 concepts just fine and completely falls flat on making stupid math mistakes sometimes. We noticed this starting in 6th and I fully blame it on her 4th and 5th grade teachers not giving much practice as homework because (and I'm quoting one of them here) "we don't want to grade it."

Yes, I should have given extra homework at the time, but I assumed because she was doing well she was mastering it. She'll end up being fine but it was a little bit of a shock when we noticed.