Algebra 2 in 8th Grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

[Anonymous]

There are several classes available. Statistics is one. Kids don't have to take math their senior year either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are several classes available. Statistics is one. Kids don't have to take math their senior year either.

But that doesn't get you anywhere new. Most of the advanced math students I see already take AP Stats as an elective. One DC took it senrio year and one took it sophomore year. Not taking math senior year is insane for student that advanced. I just don't see the point of bringing Algebra to 6th grade if there is nothing at the end of HS, which is where it matters more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will they take senior year for math?

Haven't you heard? Every child whose parents push them into 8th grade Algebra II (often by making them take online Geometry between 7th and 8th, not because they track there naturally) is guaranteed admission to TJ. It's the golden ticket

What if TJ is not a consideration?

Then it's really hard to understand why a parent would accelerate a kid through math so quickly. The feedback parents are getting from DD's AAP Center is that HS teachers are upset about the push toward 7th, and now 6th grade Algebra because the kids who are rushed through the basics have holes in their learning that become apparent is post Algebra II math and end up needing remediation, and that they need to slow down and master the basics. Our Carson-feeder Center very actively discourages this. And, as PP pointed out, on this track, you are locking your kid into 2 years of post Calculus BC math. If your kid is the one out of several hundred who is so advanced in math that they really need Algebra I in 6th, then they belong in TJ. But the cynical part of me thinks that the increasing number of kids doing this (and especially the ones that cram Geometry into summer school to make it happen) have hyper competitive parents who want to make their kids (and by extension themselves) look good/ have bragging rights. I have a kid with a nonverbal IQ in the 99.5%, and he was fine with Center advanced math (he was pull from the normal advanced math for "extensions") and Algebra I honors in 7th. You would really have to be extraordinary for this track to not be enough. I also think a lot of the parents who accelerate are doing it to give their kids some TJ edge. That's a shame, because if they are shortchanging basic math (or Geometry by doing it as summer school) to get their kids there, they are probably harming their kids' ability to succeed in advanced math.

PP sums it up in a nutshell! (Not to mention, why do kids want to spend their summer spending hours at the computer doing online Geometry - perhaps a reason obesity one of the biggest current pediatric problems?)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

Quite a schlep for many in the county since AP CS is a class they can take at the HS- but it has a prerequisite and it not a math class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

Quite a schlep for many in the county since AP CS is a class they can take at the HS- but it has a prerequisite and it not a math class.

Computer science classes are considered a math class for BS programs in CS

[Anonymous]

And there are many CS classes to consider; all are post-AP CS classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

Quite a schlep for many in the county since AP CS is a class they can take at the HS- but it has a prerequisite and it not a math class.

Computer science classes are considered a math class for BS programs in CS

But not for other math intensive majors. So it is a reach. I still don't see how takling Algebra in 6th grade buys the student anything in the long run and I do see pitfalls in the short run and the long run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And there are many CS classes to consider; all are post-AP CS classes.

Our HS, McLean, offers a pre AP CS and a AP CS. There are no post AP CS courses offered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

Quite a schlep for many in the county since AP CS is a class they can take at the HS- but it has a prerequisite and it not a math class.

Computer science classes are considered a math class for BS programs in CS

But not for other math intensive majors. So it is a reach. I still don't see how takling Algebra in 6th grade buys the student anything in the long run and I do see pitfalls in the short run and the long run.

You are entitled to your opinion, as others are entitled to theirs. Does not mean any of these opinions are The Sole Correct Answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will they take senior year for math?

Haven't you heard? Every child whose parents push them into 8th grade Algebra II (often by making them take online Geometry between 7th and 8th, not because they track there naturally) is guaranteed admission to TJ. It's the golden ticket

What if TJ is not a consideration?

Then it's really hard to understand why a parent would accelerate a kid through math so quickly. The feedback parents are getting from DD's AAP Center is that HS teachers are upset about the push toward 7th, and now 6th grade Algebra because the kids who are rushed through the basics have holes in their learning that become apparent is post Algebra II math and end up needing remediation, and that they need to slow down and master the basics. Our Carson-feeder Center very actively discourages this. And, as PP pointed out, on this track, you are locking your kid into 2 years of post Calculus BC math. If your kid is the one out of several hundred who is so advanced in math that they really need Algebra I in 6th, then they belong in TJ. But the cynical part of me thinks that the increasing number of kids doing this (and especially the ones that cram Geometry into summer school to make it happen) have hyper competitive parents who want to make their kids (and by extension themselves) look good/ have bragging rights. I have a kid with a nonverbal IQ in the 99.5%, and he was fine with Center advanced math (he was pull from the normal advanced math for "extensions") and Algebra I honors in 7th. You would really have to be extraordinary for this track to not be enough. I also think a lot of the parents who accelerate are doing it to give their kids some TJ edge. That's a shame, because if they are shortchanging basic math (or Geometry by doing it as summer school) to get their kids there, they are probably harming their kids' ability to succeed in advanced math.

PP sums it up in a nutshell! (Not to mention, why do kids want to spend their summer spending hours at the computer doing online Geometry - perhaps a reason obesity one of the biggest current pediatric problems?)

That is a red herring. It doesn't take that long such that a kid gets no exercise or play time and become obese over the summer. I'm not "for it," but this doesn't advance the discussion. And lots of kids need summer school for a variety of reasons, advanced or remedial. And many jurisdictions have year round school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

Not anymore. They have enough to fill a class AT Frost.

This was not the case last year. My current 9th grader took Algebra 2 at Woodson as an 8th grader.

If your child does not go to TJ, what is the plan for math during your DC's senior year?

Computer science at GMU.

Quite a schlep for many in the county since AP CS is a class they can take at the HS- but it has a prerequisite and it not a math class.

Computer science classes are considered a math class for BS programs in CS

But not for other math intensive majors. So it is a reach. I still don't see how takling Algebra in 6th grade buys the student anything in the long run and I do see pitfalls in the short run and the long run.

You are entitled to your opinion, as others are entitled to theirs. Does not mean any of these opinions are The Sole Correct Answer.

I predict quite a bit of whining and hand wringing in a few years? Oh, what class can my child take? He has taken ALL of the available math classes and doesn't have one to take senior year. It will look awful on his college applications and he will never get in to xxxxxxxx. Woe is me.

You need 18 students to have a class and they are likely to raise it to 19 next year. No ifs ands or buts. Kids are shorted out of classes every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What will they take senior year for math?

Haven't you heard? Every child whose parents push them into 8th grade Algebra II (often by making them take online Geometry between 7th and 8th, not because they track there naturally) is guaranteed admission to TJ. It's the golden ticket

What if TJ is not a consideration?

Then it's really hard to understand why a parent would accelerate a kid through math so quickly. The feedback parents are getting from DD's AAP Center is that HS teachers are upset about the push toward 7th, and now 6th grade Algebra because the kids who are rushed through the basics have holes in their learning that become apparent is post Algebra II math and end up needing remediation, and that they need to slow down and master the basics. Our Carson-feeder Center very actively discourages this. And, as PP pointed out, on this track, you are locking your kid into 2 years of post Calculus BC math. If your kid is the one out of several hundred who is so advanced in math that they really need Algebra I in 6th, then they belong in TJ. But the cynical part of me thinks that the increasing number of kids doing this (and especially the ones that cram Geometry into summer school to make it happen) have hyper competitive parents who want to make their kids (and by extension themselves) look good/ have bragging rights. I have a kid with a nonverbal IQ in the 99.5%, and he was fine with Center advanced math (he was pull from the normal advanced math for "extensions") and Algebra I honors in 7th. You would really have to be extraordinary for this track to not be enough. I also think a lot of the parents who accelerate are doing it to give their kids some TJ edge. That's a shame, because if they are shortchanging basic math (or Geometry by doing it as summer school) to get their kids there, they are probably harming their kids' ability to succeed in advanced math.

PP sums it up in a nutshell! (Not to mention, why do kids want to spend their summer spending hours at the computer doing online Geometry - perhaps a reason obesity one of the biggest current pediatric problems?)

That is a red herring. It doesn't take that long such that a kid gets no exercise or play time and become obese over the summer. I'm not "for it," but this doesn't advance the discussion. And lots of kids need summer school for a variety of reasons, advanced or remedial. And many jurisdictions have year round school.

It's not. Kids Who are takIng geometry during summer school care not doing remediation. They are taking a class that should last 36 weeks in 8 (assuming a 2 week family vacation)-- so 4 hours a day. Plus homework. With little to no teacher interaction. It's hard to see this as anything other than cramming a class that is a fundamental math building block into much less time than it deserved. I have a very bright MS who does academic camps like CTY, and I can still think of nothing more dreadful than sitting him in front of a computer screen every morning and making him do geometry homework every afternoon during summer break. And for what? PPs have already shown that there just aren't advanced math classes that these students can take than aren't accessible to 8th grade geometry students. I see only two answers-- Perceived TJ edge (and the TJ test only covers Algebra and basic Geometry-- my 8th grade geometry student had no problem with it) and hyper competitive parents. But maybe I'm missing some other benefit of summer school geometry. Because I see only downsides-- a burned out kid spending all summer in front of a computer o whiz through a class and, almost certainly, end up with gaps in the fundamentals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Frost sends kids next door to Woodson

So they can get a taste of the pressure-cooker environment a year early. Super!