Math in HS: go down a level and take honors or stay ion track but regular class?
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Anonymous
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I would absolutely redo geometry and do honors there. I don’t get this thing of kids trying to accelerate or stay accelerated unless they are super super strong math kids.
From a college perspective they directionally care about two thing - what was the grade and was it honors. I made this call in high school years ago and redid geometry in 9th and my math grades were better than they would’ve been as was my happiness and sanity and I went to HYP so never was a problem. . Now in my DCs class I see all these kids reaching to accelerate and some just got midterm assessments back with Ds and Cs. Why is that good for anyone. |
Anonymous
| I would repeat geometry. I think a kid who can’t handle Honors Algebra 2 is being set up for trouble in a calculus in 11th grade track. |
Anonymous
| My DS took Algebra 1 Honors in 8th grade in FCPS - which is the math level that most college bound students follow in FCPS. He went to a private Catholic high school and had to take a math placement test. He didn't score high enough to go into Geometry so he took Algebra 1 Honors again in 9th grade. I probably could have made a fuss and gotten him into regular Geometry - he scored right below the cutoff for the placement exam. At the time, he was not happy about having to repeat the material. He ended up getting A's in each math class in high school: Algebra 1 Honors, Geometry Honors, Algebra 2 Honors and Pre-Calc Honors. My DS is majoring in math in college. If you ask him, he would say he was really glad he repeated Algebra and it really gave him a very solid foundation. |
Anonymous
This is a sign he needs to ditch the track. 9-12 grades are all that matter for college. A good math foundation is essential. Have him take honors in the same math. Get solid in it, get the A. He will have more time for his other courses and it will be an easier transition to high school. Our entire school system took away that intense accelerated path because the majority of kids on it end up doing worse in later years than the kids with a very strong foundation early. |
Anonymous
We were in APS. My oldest took Intensified Algebra I twice (7th and 8th) at his public MS. He had As, but the 7th grade math teacher was awful. When he went to take a placement after 7th to qualify it for Catholic high school- he bombed it. There was stuff on there that he never was taught. I made him retake Algebra (the most important fir foundation) even though he had an A in it. He then started Honors Geometry in 9th- and got back on track so to speak. A lot of this accelerated middle school math is sh@t. |
Anonymous
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The problem is that it's geometry. There's no reason to repeat geometry and repeating it won't help much for algebra II. Repeating algebra I makes sense, but that's going way back-- would they even offer the honors version in HS?
So I think you're stuck with algebra-- either honors version or regular version. |
Anonymous
+100000000 This is the main point. Geometry is not going to be of much help for his future math classes. You are essentially throwing away a year's worth of learning by repeating geometry. Geometry is a one off kind of subject that stands alone. If you said repeating Algebra 1 or 2, it would be a terrific choice. Child would be getting a good grounding on something that is going to be important in his later math classes. I would say talk to any math teacher or professor you know. They might be able to explain better to you. Please dont make this mistake. |
Anonymous
| This is not about accelerating or not, it is about getting a solid grounding on a subject that is going to be critical for later on courses. |
Anonymous
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A B in Honors is the same as an A in regular, so why switch? If your student is looking to go to a selective college, than non Honors math will be a bad influence on their academics.
Retake geometry if you want, to stay on honors, and avoid being overwhelmed later in high school. Use the easy time to practice algebra 1 and get a head start on algebra 2. |
Anonymous
That's what I was thinking, too. In FCPS I think you'd have to expunge the Geometry grade in order to retake it and that wouldn't make sense if the kid is doing well (but I've heard of kids expunging Bs). Of my 3 kids, one was 1 year accelerated, but the other 2 are two years (Algebra 2 in 9th grade). At my kid's FCPS school, they cautioned against moving between regular and honors for math classes - still can't say I understand why, but they did. I think if I were in your shoes, assuming kid does well in Geometry, I think I'd have them do regular Algebra 2 OR prep over the summer and stay in Algebra 2 Honors (but only if they were motivated to do so). Repeating a class they do well in just to stave off a future class doesn't make a lot of sense. |
Anonymous
+1. Have never understood the parents pushing to have their kids in "advanced math" when the kid is struggling. IMO, if a kid is above grade level or in honors, they should be able to get an A/A- fairly easily without tutoring, otherwise, they might be better served going back a level. In reality, you want your kid to understand math and actually like it, not hate it. Even if they are a Humanities/Social science major, many jobs will still use it. Because a kid who struggles in math will grow to hate it, whereas one who actually learns at their level might grow to love it. Just think, back 25-30 years ago, most kids did not even get to Calculus in HS, it was reserved for only a select few students. Yet, we still produced engineers and doctors and statisticians and CS majors. Kids will be fine. |
Anonymous
When my oldest started HS, at orientation they told parents "if your kid did not get at least a B/B- in Algebra 1, we highly recommend they retake it (over the summer or the next year) to build that foundation for future math and chemistry and other sciences" This was in a district/MS/HS where 80% of kids were at least 1 grade level ahead (in fact the district attempted to push all kids 1 grade ahead in MS and it failed miserably as one would expect with at least 50% of those on-grade level kids). |
Anonymous
Because they were strong in it and not struggling when the acceleration started, and then things got harder in algebra I. There is no non-honors version to drop down to in middle school, and it doesn’t make sense to drop back to repeat a class you did well in, or to plan to repeat a class you are getting B’s in. That is our story. |
Anonymous
Understand there is nothing to drop back to in MS. But if my kid was 1 or 2 grades ahead, and struggled to get even a B in Algebra 1, I'd have them stick with it, get them a tutor. Then at the end of the year, I'd re-evaluate and decide if the foundation is strong enough to continue or should they retake Algebra 1 (hint: if they couldn't take the 2 semester exams and earn an B+ or better, I would have them repeat). I'd argue that yes it does make sense to retake Algebra 1 even if you got a B, if it was a struggle to get that B. Kids that are 1-2 grades ahead should be able to get A/A- in the math classes. If not, they should repeat or at least retake over the Summer before advancing IMO. I had one 2 grades advanced kid, and they never had below a 99% in their math classes until they hit Calculus. Even then it was a 96/97% in AP AB Calc. Had they struggled, I would have seriously made them retake in summer school or simply retake the next year. The foundations for Algebra 1 & 2 are too important to gloss over. |
Anonymous
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I would say if your kid isn't planning on a STEM major, do geometry honors in 9th so their final math comfortably ends at Calculus senior year.
If they are, get a tutor and do Algebra 2 honors. It's easier to go from honors to honors than do regular Alg 2 then move to Pre-Calc honors (can be done but it's harder). And my 9th grader loved having one class with upper classmen--good way to learn more about school/future teachers, etc. |