Alg 2/Honors Pre Calc disconnect

[Anonymous]

Anecdote from Honors Precalc in RM:
Teacher writes formula on the board. At least 3 kids in class have no clue what the formula is (asking each other). Teacher says "you know this from Algebra 2" and deletes the formula immediately moving on to next topic. On top of that teacher does not speak English well and does not answer questions.
FWIW, this is anecdotal from DC, but language issue is real and known commodity. We dropped to regular precalc after first test.

[Anonymous]

The pace of instruction is faster, but also perhaps the teacher's educational methods and grading style are harder for your kid to manage, OP.

Neither of my kids had trouble in Honors Precalc. However, the one with a specific disability in math hit a wall in AP Calc BC, and part of it was a very inflexible teacher who refused to hand out tests back, contrary to policy.

Pick a really good tutor, OP. It's worth the money.

[Anonymous]

Lots and lots of kids move down to 'regular' from honors when they get to pre-calc. My kid is in it now. They have a test tomorrow that the teacher called a 'placement test.' After grading, he plans to contact some kids' parents to suggest they move down.

[Anonymous]

Khan Academy but you have to match modules to the class yourself.

$6 textbook used from Thrift books of Half Price Books or Better World Books, but you have to match sections it the class yourself.

[Anonymous]

Some people just don't "get" math, so eventually their brain fills up with a long list of arbitrary rules and facts and they can't remember anymore "math trivia" and they forget the old math facts.

Some people understand math conceptually, and can advance much farther because learning new math is like learning new words in everyday English.

[Anonymous]

Math is poorly taught. Not talking about PreCalc, but look at it from the younger grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Explain it to me like I’m a 5 year old. How did my kid get straight As in Alg 2 last year and has failed every graded assignment (exit tickets and quizzes) in Honors Pre Calc so far? And yes, starting tutoring this week.

It’s a completely different course than Algebra 2. This is similar to how some kids get As in Algebra 1, but struggle with Geometry. Honors Precalculus requires more abstract reasoning and is taught at a faster pace than Algebra 2. Your kid may also be discovering gaps from the past 3 years where math instruction has been filling in/over-supporting kids post-pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Many kids skate through math and they finally get to challenging level and hit a wall. The class is hard. It just is. Nothing is wrong with your kid.

[Anonymous]

It should go back to kids needing a placement test for honors level classes. Students can be correctly challenged and we wouldn’t have these threads repeat annually.

[Anonymous]

Lots of possibilities beyond your child just discovering girls. Lol.
1. It does get more abstract so the concepts are harder to grasp.
2. Teacher stinks and the teacher last year was good at teaching the material. This can make a huge difference.
3. Teacher is skipping around and not following the order of how it's supposed to be taught in MCPS. This happened to one DC. Teacher thought she could teach better and it made more senses to move around modules. It threw off most of the class because she didn't understand they didn't have the foundation for the later modules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Explain it to me like I’m a 5 year old. How did my kid get straight As in Alg 2 last year and has failed every graded assignment (exit tickets and quizzes) in Honors Pre Calc so far? And yes, starting tutoring this week.

It’s a completely different course than Algebra 2. This is similar to how some kids get As in Algebra 1, but struggle with Geometry. Honors Precalculus requires more abstract reasoning and is taught at a faster pace than Algebra 2. Your kid may also be discovering gaps from the past 3 years where math instruction has been filling in/over-supporting kids post-pandemic.

Sure but OP's kid is struggling with the Algebra review material

[Anonymous]

MCPS Math is just SO, SO, SO bad. Don’t assume that because your kid got As so far that they actually know/understand the material.

The school system wants to push the kids through and say they’re ‘succeeding’ but the Math proficiency stats say otherwise.

OP, find a tutor ASAP so that your kid can learn the material. It stinks that you have to do this (Equity, anyone?) and it will make the Achievement Gap worse, but you have to do what you have to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS Math is just SO, SO, SO bad. Don’t assume that because your kid got As so far that they actually know/understand the material.

The school system wants to push the kids through and say they’re ‘succeeding’ but the Math proficiency stats say otherwise.

OP, find a tutor ASAP so that your kid can learn the material. It stinks that you have to do this (Equity, anyone?) and it will make the Achievement Gap worse, but you have to do what you have to do.

Right?! That favorite word of MCPS, but do they know what it means?

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind this level of math is best suited for brains that are 16+ years old. Most who are taking it are not 16+yrs old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Keep in mind this level of math is best suited for brains that are 16+ years old. Most who are taking it are not 16+yrs old.

Are students being accelerated to keep up with the Asians??