5th grade AAP students attending 6th grade math.
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Maybe we can get everyone so far ahead that they can skip right from grade school to college. Would certainly help our overcrowded high schools.... |
Anonymous
| The main criterion seems to be having parents who know this can be done and then requesting that the school do it. Some of the center schools around us do it, some do not. My own child's center did not, even though they certainly had their share of extremely bright math students who were head and shoulders above the rest. Those kids are at TJ now, so I guess it all works out in the end. Sometimes depth of comprehension is more important than racing ahead in a subject. |
Anonymous
| IMELDA, the school identified the kid. The parent did not ask for it. If you haven't been approached about this for your child, it is likely not right for him/her. |
Anonymous
| Argh, IME not IMELDA! |
Anonymous
|
I find that this only happens at schools when parents ask for it. The school will then ask some other students to participate, but it generally doesn't happen at a school unless at least one parent requests it for their own child. My child's AAP center did not do this, even though we found out later that a nearby center had 6th graders going to the middle school for math.
Really, it made no difference in the end. My child is at TJ with some of those children now. When they get to college, no one will care whether they went to the sixth grade class for math when they were in fifth grade. They will only care how well they do in class. |
Anonymous
I was wondering what IMELDA meant. 
|
Anonymous
|
OP, just FYI, this was what I noticed last year: My child was a sixth grader in an AAP center last year. Her sixth grade class was doing seventh grade math It was their standard curriculum. That's why the kids who were in her class are all either in seventh grade honors math or in Algebra 1 honors now, in seventh grade.
Two fifth graders were in her math class last year for most of the year. That means that these two fifth graders were effectively doing seventh grade math. I do not know if those two fifth graders were in fifth grade AAP classes or if they came from the general ed math classes. OP, find out the details of what "sixth grade math" really means in your AAP center (is it sixth grade curriculum or really seventh grade math?) or Level IV or whatever your school has. In our center, sixth grade math was mostly seventh grade math, so any fifth grader joining that class was pretty advanced. I wish I could tell you how these two kids were selected to be in the sixth grade class but I don't know; however, I suspect that they were so far ahead at the start of the year that the fifth grade teachers wanted them in the higher math class. I don't know if any specific tests were involved. If you have a fifth grader who needs challenging, talk directly with the teacher and perhaps ask to talk to the fifth grade and sixth grade math teachers together about how to proceed. |
Anonymous
Yes, what's the point of 7th grade AAP when they belong in 8th grade AAP? |
Anonymous
International Mathematics Excellence for Leadership Development Academy |
Anonymous
+100 It truly is ridiculous. I agree with PP who said depth of understanding is more important than how quickly a child can speed through math courses. All this rushing ahead for what? Last year at our center middle school the Honors Geometry teacher recommended that nearly 1/2 her students retake the class because they hadn't gotten the basic concepts. Too many kids are being pushed ahead in math too quickly. I think the kids allowed to take a year ahead in AAP (5th graders going to class with 6th graders, 6th graders being sent over to middle school to take Algebra) should be the very rare exception. Problem here is once someone hears another kid is doing it they whine and push for their own math whiz. Until last year, my high school son, who has always excelled at math, was on a high school team sponsored by a local university. The group took part in competitions at places like Harvard and Princeton. My son was having a ball until some nitwit parents decided their 6th graders should be on the team. My son eventually quit in frustration since whenever they had a meeting or a mathematician would come to speak, these kids couldn't sit still and would act up so it was hard to hear the lecture. Why they couldn't be doing Math Counts or even AMC at middle schools was beyond me....but I suspect a lot of it was the parents saying, "look my kid's so advanced he's in a high school math club." None of them seemed to care that these kids were actually ruining the experience for actual high school students who came fully equipped both intellectually and with the emotional maturity to truly appreciate the experience. Clearly, this hits a nerve for me. I understand wanting to challenge your child, but so often it seems like the people who want all these advanced opportunities don't stop to consider how their kids' participation impacts everyone else. |
Anonymous
Our center is one that sends a handful of 6th graders to the middle school for math. These kids are really brilliant in math. Everyone know it. No one else asks to have their kids be a part of that group, as it is crystal clear to everyone, parents and students, that these kids are just exceptional in math and heads and shoulders above the rest. I think if the group is small enough, no one questions who was or was not included. |