Math acceleration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you want your child to be years ahead?

So we can complete globally. Duh. The indian republican guy had a point you know.

They don’t need to be three years ahead to be efficient in math. If a student is good at math and is very interested in it then let them take the top levels starting in middle school. If they succeed at the AP math classes they can get a perfect SAT math score and go to MIT. Their math education will continue and they will have the necessary background.

I don’t think it’s helpful to give stress to kids when it can be avoided. There are probably a handful of kids at schools who can easily move faster than the others but a large majority will benefit from being on the standard track for good math students.

Oh no, let us not stress our precious little angels. The Indians can do that with their children. When ours are working in the field for their Indian masters, maybe you will rethink?

India has 1.5 billion people. About 40% of Indian teens continue on to high school. Only about 8% of Indians in their home country graduate from high school.

India is near the bottom in every study on countries education rank. According to a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), the quality of India’s education ranked 90th in the world, with skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving ranked among the lowest (Source: WEF, 2021). The US ranks 13th give or take depending on study. The top ranking countries are in Northern Europe not Asia.

The largest broad subject area at undergraduate level is Arts (34%), followed by Science (15%), Commerce (13%) and Engineering & Technology (12%)​. At the postgraduate (master’s degree) level the top broad subject area is Social Science (21%) followed by Science (15%) ​and Management (14%), and at PhD level the largest number of students are enrolled in Engineering &Technology (25%) followed by Science (21%)​.

When most people compare Indian kids to American kids they are comparing kids from India who moved to the US. India’s schools are outdated and teach mostly rote learning. India is not a country to admire in any way. The Indians born in a certain caste leave the country wealthy.

India doesn’t bother educating most children after the 8th grade. The poor and rural kids have no chance or opportunities to move up the ladder. India is a dismal country that can’t take care of their own citizens. Stop thinking American Indians are typical average Indians. They aren’t.

[Anonymous]

We’re in APS, no formal differentiation until middle school when they take pre-algebra. My kid will probably take algebra II summer after 8th and start in pre-calc. I do not know where his math aptitude came from, he’s just naturally good at algebra

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you want your child to be years ahead?

So we can complete globally. Duh. The indian republican guy had a point you know.

They don’t need to be three years ahead to be efficient in math. If a student is good at math and is very interested in it then let them take the top levels starting in middle school. If they succeed at the AP math classes they can get a perfect SAT math score and go to MIT. Their math education will continue and they will have the necessary background.

I don’t think it’s helpful to give stress to kids when it can be avoided. There are probably a handful of kids at schools who can easily move faster than the others but a large majority will benefit from being on the standard track for good math students.

OP mentioned high school freshmen in geometry. That's "the standard track for good math students" in FCPS, in that the lower half of AAP will be on that track. The upper half will take Algebra 2 in 9th. The really exceptional 20-30 kids in the county will take Pre-Calc. Seems pretty reasonable.

That makes sense.

How does math progression work from middle to hs? prealg, Alg 1, Geometry, Alg 2, precal...? I think different counties or states do the Alg/Geometry/AlgII division differently.

[Anonymous]

My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re in APS, no formal differentiation until middle school when they take pre-algebra. My kid will probably take algebra II summer after 8th and start in pre-calc. I do not know where his math aptitude came from, he’s just naturally good at algebra

It's weird that you're all "I don't know how this happened! He's just good at math!" yet you have him taking an entire year of math over the summer so he can accelerate...

He's moving ahead in math because you're having him do more math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you want your child to be years ahead?

So we can complete globally. Duh. The indian republican guy had a point you know.

They don’t need to be three years ahead to be efficient in math. If a student is good at math and is very interested in it then let them take the top levels starting in middle school. If they succeed at the AP math classes they can get a perfect SAT math score and go to MIT. Their math education will continue and they will have the necessary background.

I don’t think it’s helpful to give stress to kids when it can be avoided. There are probably a handful of kids at schools who can easily move faster than the others but a large majority will benefit from being on the standard track for good math students.

5s and an 800 is far from sufficient for MIT. For that you need MOP placement or thereabouts.

[Anonymous]

We are not in the DMV. Where we are, differentiation only starts in 6th grade, when there is advanced math and regular math. For 7th, a few go to algebra 1, many go to advanced 7th grade math (followed by algebra 1 in 8th), and most go to regular 7th grade math (with algebra 1 in 9th).

To get into algebra 1 in 7th grade, you have score "advance" on the state test, get an A in advanced math, score in the IAAT 95%ile or higher, and have a teacher rec. So the kids who make it to algebra are pretty prepared.

As to whether they have to do outside instruction to "catch up," a lot of the kids we know have done Kumon or are in the gifted program, but my 7th grade daughter (in algebra) has never done any tutoring/enrichment and is not in the gifted program. She just has a knack for math, and I also think she had good classroom math instruction in elementary school. She is sailing along easily but she does have to work to understand concepts and is bringing homework home for the first time.

(Our gifted program is different from AAP from what I gather. They do not accelerate, but rather in elementary school the kids go to "gifted school" one day a week and do different electives)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read about high school freshman placing into geometry, but when does the math acceleration start? Everything right now is at grade level and there is no grouping. Are people working ahead in 3rd grade, or is everyone really waiting until 6th and 7th? It seems like they need to start in elementary a year ahead in order to be a year or two ahead for high school, unless people are working ahead during middle school summers.

This varies by school system - in privates it varies by school.

My school, back in the day, split the class based on the 7th grade math teacher’s arbitrary decisions. Her pets were put on fast track, Others on the slow track. I had the top math test score my year, but she did not like me, so slow track. However, karma, her grandchild has dyscalculia. I feel sorry for the grandchild, but not for the math teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re in APS, no formal differentiation until middle school when they take pre-algebra. My kid will probably take algebra II summer after 8th and start in pre-calc. I do not know where his math aptitude came from, he’s just naturally good at algebra

It's weird that you're all "I don't know how this happened! He's just good at math!" yet you have him taking an entire year of math over the summer so he can accelerate...

He's moving ahead in math because you're having him do more math.

He’s driving it because he loves math. It was his plan, I’ll just write the check.

[Anonymous]

It's different for every kid. There are kids who take summer school in high school to skip ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

Ok? This is not typical and honestly not necessary. Students like this can have major problems when they’re at MIT or another top university and there are students on her level or higher who went the normal route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

Ok? This is not typical and honestly not necessary. Students like this can have major problems when they’re at MIT or another top university and there are students on her level or higher who went the normal route.

A student who went the normal route (precalc in 12th) will have a harder time getting into MIT, and once there will be unlikely to place out of first semester calc, much less MVC or even more advanced math courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

Ok? This is not typical and honestly not necessary. Students like this can have major problems when they’re at MIT or another top university and there are students on her level or higher who went the normal route.

It depends, if your kid is having to do a lot of studying and tutoring to make it through these classes sure they are likely to struggle. There are always some kids who can finish the homework while at school and just blast through math classes. They probably won’t have an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

Ok? This is not typical and honestly not necessary. Students like this can have major problems when they’re at MIT or another top university and there are students on her level or higher who went the normal route.

A student who went the normal route (precalc in 12th) will have a harder time getting into MIT, and once there will be unlikely to place out of first semester calc, much less MVC or even more advanced math courses.

A student that is doing precalc in 12th grade isn’t going to MIT. They aren’t even going to look at your application if you haven’t completed calc BC, but for best chance you should be taking BC junior year and another math senior yr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My STEM PhD husband didn't do all the math our daughter is doing in high school, simply because it wasn't offered. You cannot compare generations like this when it comes to education. Decades ago there wasn't all this acceleration available to most kids.

DD is in precalc in 9th, OP. She got there because she tested into algebra 1 in 6th. In 8th grade she was bused to her high school for algebra 2. She will take AP Calc BC next year, and then MVC and another math class. Also AP Physics C, both semesters. She has a list of 14 or so APs that she's working through - she's the competitive type.

Ok? This is not typical and honestly not necessary. Students like this can have major problems when they’re at MIT or another top university and there are students on her level or higher who went the normal route.

About 15% of FCPS students will take Algebra 1 H in 7th grade. Some of them find it easy, my son never has homework and has a 102% in the class. Some of them find it challenging. Some will earn B's and their parents have to decide to let them continue on or expunge the grade and retake the class to make sure that their kid really knows that material. Some of his classmates are taking Geometry this summer because they want to be in Precalc as 9th graders, most of those kids are applying to TJ and think there is a benefit. Most of those kids will do fine in Geometry. The ones that might struggle have parents who will get them tutors for any math class they need the support in.

But no one thinks that it is typical to be in precalc as a 9th grader and the vast majority of families, ours included, don't think it is necessary.