How to push for math enrichment at school

[Anonymous]

For those whose kids got further math enrichment at your school, how did it happen? Did you push for it or did the school approach you? My DC scored over 590 by the end of 2nd grade, got it AAP for 3rd this year, and their last MAP was over 280. I believe the materials in class are not challenging enough. How should I proceed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those whose kids got further math enrichment at your school, how did it happen? Did you push for it or did the school approach you? My DC scored over 590 by the end of 2nd grade, got it AAP for 3rd this year, and their last MAP was over 280. I believe the materials in class are not challenging enough. How should I proceed?

I meant to say 590 Iready

[Anonymous]

You pay your enroll them in outside enrichment. The school is not going to enrich your kid more than putting them in AAP nxt yr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You pay your enroll them in outside enrichment. The school is not going to enrich your kid more than putting them in AAP nxt yr.

You pay *to* enroll them

[Anonymous]

We enrolled DS in AoPS and then RSM. He has loved the math competition class and continues in it as an 8th grader. Great program for him.

The school is not going to be able to do much. The kids who are ahead might get extra worksheets on computer assignments but it is not going to be anything meaningful. It gets better in MS but isn't challenging. I will say that Geometry in 8th grade is the first time DS has said math at school is engaging. He has studies a lot of geometry through the math competition class but they don't focus on formal proofs and the like, so that has been new to him. It hasn't been hard but the more formal learning has at least been newish. He covered pretty much all of Algebra in his math competition class, the school class formalized the learning and provided some structure but not much new material. It wasn't hard for him.

We did not do geometry in the summer, DS had camps he wanted to do and friends to hang out with. We didn't see the point of massively accelerating. He does math competitions for additional challenge and fun, the AMCs, IMC, Math Kangaroo, Purple Comet and the like. He participates in Mathcounts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You pay your enroll them in outside enrichment. The school is not going to enrich your kid more than putting them in AAP nxt yr.

Or you buy supplemental books to do the enrichment at home. Either way, the only way smart kids in the US are getting math enrichment is outside of school hours and on their parents' dime.

Asking teachers to differentiate is useless, they either can't or won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those whose kids got further math enrichment at your school, how did it happen? Did you push for it or did the school approach you? My DC scored over 590 by the end of 2nd grade, got it AAP for 3rd this year, and their last MAP was over 280. I believe the materials in class are not challenging enough. How should I proceed?

Never in a million years in a public school will anyone aproach you and ask if you would like academic enrichment for your child. You should look for a good private school if *school-based* enrichment is really important to you, otherwise accept you will have to be the one to provide it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You pay your enroll them in outside enrichment. The school is not going to enrich your kid more than putting them in AAP nxt yr.

You pay *to* enroll them

Agree. School won't do it. Sorry. It sucks and this is a problem with public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those whose kids got further math enrichment at your school, how did it happen? Did you push for it or did the school approach you? My DC scored over 590 by the end of 2nd grade, got it AAP for 3rd this year, and their last MAP was over 280. I believe the materials in class are not challenging enough. How should I proceed?

What grade? A 280 MAP in 3rd grade is extraordinarily unlikely, so if true it’s enough for a broader conversation with the school admin if there are similar strengths in other subject areas. A 590 math iReady in 2nd indicates 2-3 grades higher and most schools, even with AAP, cannot accommodate for that. You could ask for grade skipping opportunities, common within profoundly gifted. Outside enrichment is always a good option, especially if the focus is on math.

[Anonymous]

Definitely reach out to the school. My child has similar test scores for 2nd and 3rd grades and the school approached us asking for our agreement to put her 1 year ahead in math. My understanding is that the school also needs permission from the central office to do so. They also mentioned there are 2-3 other kids in fcps doing the same thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely reach out to the school. My child has similar test scores for 2nd and 3rd grades and the school approached us asking for our agreement to put her 1 year ahead in math. My understanding is that the school also needs permission from the central office to do so. They also mentioned there are 2-3 other kids in fcps doing the same thing.

This is very much school dependent. My kid scored a 529 on the iReady in Second grade and the school did nothing for him. They didn't talk to us about moving him up a grade or anything that they could do to support him. We ended up in AoPS in 3rd grade, due to COVID and the math that year being awful. We moved to RSM in 4th grade and he found math competitions and the class at RSM. That is how he has kept engaged in math.

Some schools are more proactive, essentially the 20 or so schools that used to look for kids to take Algebra 1 in 6th grade. Most schools do nothing. It is on the family to figure out how to engage their kid if their kid is interested in more then what is being offered at school. This is not a math only thing, this is true for kids who love to read and are reading and comprehending above their peers. It is the same for science and history and all the subjects. Public schools are not meant to meet every kid where they are at, they are meant to provide a basic level of education to everyone so everyone is prepared for the work force and to participate in society with some basic educational background. Anything beyond that is a plus, so what FCPS does do is a nice to have, even if many of us think that it is not enough. It is actually more then what plenty of other school districts provide.

You will probably need to look for outside enrichment to engage your child. I always recommend math competitions because the math is different in its approach and is more engaging and creative. It also means that topics that are or will be covered in school are taught but in a different manner and not always in totality so there might be something for your kid to learn in math class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those whose kids got further math enrichment at your school, how did it happen? Did you push for it or did the school approach you? My DC scored over 590 by the end of 2nd grade, got it AAP for 3rd this year, and their last MAP was over 280. I believe the materials in class are not challenging enough. How should I proceed?

What grade? A 280 MAP in 3rd grade is extraordinarily unlikely, so if true it’s enough for a broader conversation with the school admin if there are similar strengths in other subject areas. A 590 math iReady in 2nd indicates 2-3 grades higher and most schools, even with AAP, cannot accommodate for that. You could ask for grade skipping opportunities, common within profoundly gifted. Outside enrichment is always a good option, especially if the focus is on math.

In our district, being 2 grades above means you can ask for a gifted student IEP accommodation.

I would do private enrichment instead as others have mentioned.

You can use IXL.com to track and document areas of relative strength and weakness.

[Anonymous]

We have an 8yo with a 250 MAP who's consistently tested multiple grades ahead in both math and reading. We've run into steady resistance when asking for more rigor or real differentiation. The usual playbook is familiar: delay for "more data," introduce new gating criteria (lack of explanations, social maturity, etc.), redefine "support" to avoid actual acceleration, hide behind policy, and validate concerns without changing anything. So you should expect some pushback and be ready to advocate.

We're grateful for what FCPS offers in advanced academics. The issue is that AAP isn't built for edge cases. Public schools optimize for the median, not outliers that meet grade-level standards. Teachers are already stretched.

I’ve come to see my role as filling the gap between what the system can reasonably provide and what my child actually needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have an 8yo with a 250 MAP who's consistently tested multiple grades ahead in both math and reading. We've run into steady resistance when asking for more rigor or real differentiation. The usual playbook is familiar: delay for "more data," introduce new gating criteria (lack of explanations, social maturity, etc.), redefine "support" to avoid actual acceleration, hide behind policy, and validate concerns without changing anything. So you should expect some pushback and be ready to advocate.

We're grateful for what FCPS offers in advanced academics. The issue is that AAP isn't built for edge cases. Public schools optimize for the median, not outliers that meet grade-level standards. Teachers are already stretched.

I’ve come to see my role as filling the gap between what the system can reasonably provide and what my child actually needs.

I agree with all of this.

[Anonymous]

Is your child already in AAP? If not, you missed the deadline. You can ask for them to push your child in (I did, and they agreed).

If your child is already in AAP, then it's your job to get outside enrichment.