Struggling in Honors Algebra 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every family we’ve spoken to has a tutor. This just doesn’t seem right.

it's a tough, fast paced class. Beware, though: precalc is worse!

[Anonymous]

Do the teachers have to follow a certain sequence in Algebra 2 or not ?
DD is working on precalculus concept in Algebra 2 class .

[Anonymous]

How/does regular Algebra 2 affect the remaining math/science sequence (which have been and expected to be at the honors level)?

[Anonymous]

I think you could still go onto regular precalc and then calculus AB or calculus applied.

[Anonymous]

DC not at Churchill but nearby and also hearing lots of students are struggling and the teacher has asked them how to help.
I don't think it helps they never finished Alg 1 due to schools being shut down and then did Geometry remotely. The curriculum moves quickly so there wasn't a lot of time for review.

Is this a new curriculum this year? I don't know but if it is that could be impacting it too because the old MCPS curriculum was junk so many kids in Alg 2 now don't have a good foundtion. No fault of theirs but the fault of MCPS.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if MCPS isn’t seeing how widespread the problem is with so many students relying on private tutors. Or they do but don’t care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the teachers have to follow a certain sequence in Algebra 2 or not ?
DD is working on precalculus concept in Algebra 2 class .

Yes there's a curriculum guide and from what we've seen they follow it closely. I think DD also had some kind of precal concept and linear algebra concept recently.

[Anonymous]

Is there a link to the curriculum guide?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a link to the curriculum guide?

There is this

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gor6TVCr0ohi1QNVROpI4fxYFD7_-n3jo9c_O_MGC50/preview

but I'm not seeing past Algebra 2 on this link

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a kid in the same situation. He says that it doesn't help a new concept is introduced on a Monday and already tested on the Wednesday - not always enough time to get your head around it. Also the tests are reflecting far more complex versions of what has been learned - so the teacher is not actually covering the entire content prior to the tests.

We have hired an MCPS math teacher to tutor weekly - to spend more time on each concept, work out the creases. We've had to do this before and it helps.

That is what differentiates honors from regular -- honors moves much faster and in honors the tests have more complex problems that expect the student to take what he learned and extend it. Unfortunately a lot of kids don't have a strong enough foundation and so they start to struggle when get to Algebra 2 honors and Precalc honors even more so. I'm sure the year and a half of distance learning didn't help matters either. Many kids have large holes in their knowledge and there is no adjustment to the curriculum this year to account for those holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you could still go onto regular precalc and then calculus AB or calculus applied.

For a lot of kids honors pre-calc is where they hit the wall. Both of my kids decided against honors pre-calc because they knew it would move fast and were glad they did. They both graduated after completing Calc AB. You don't need honors to make it it to AP Calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if MCPS isn’t seeing how widespread the problem is with so many students relying on private tutors. Or they do but don’t care.

That's mostly DCUM

[Anonymous]

honors pre-calc is a beast. If your kid is AT ALL struggling in honors algebra 2, move them down--it only get worse.

[Anonymous]

My kid (recent grad) struggled in honors precalc, but absolutely loved calc (with an AP 5). Calc made so much more sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid (recent grad) struggled in honors precalc, but absolutely loved calc (with an AP 5). Calc made so much more sense.

AP Calc also has a curriculum that is non- MCPS and a text book too. My kid who struggled through the MCPS honors math classes also found AP Calc much more manageable, and I think this was part of the reason.