Applied Investigation into Mathematics 6

[Anonymous]

Our middle school just has Math 6 and AIM. Interesting how schools are doing different things..... I seriously wonder what happens to these kids in HS. Unless its dumbed down I would think VERY few kids should be taking Calculus in 11th grade.

[Anonymous]

Not all 6th graders are in IM. In our MS, successful on-level 7th Grade math students are in IM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our middle school just has Math 6 and AIM. Interesting how schools are doing different things..... I seriously wonder what happens to these kids in HS. Unless its dumbed down I would think VERY few kids should be taking Calculus in 11th grade.

It really is the standard trajectory for college bound students, and it doesn't cause issues. Many students take calc as a junior, but there are three options and MCPS allows credit for any/all of them: calc with applications, AP calc AB, AP calc BC. My oldest DC took calc AB junior year, calc BC senior, and still found calc in college more rigorous and rewarding. It's also common for students with less interest in math to take Calc with Applications as a junior, followed by AP Stats as a senior. My impression, is MCPS pushes off too much of high school math into pre-calc. Which means it's not a bad idea to rush a little to get to pre-calc by 10th grade, and then stretch out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not all 6th graders are in IM. In our MS, successful on-level 7th Grade math students are in IM.

This is how it used to be in MCPS a few years ago. Only the top math students were taking IM in 6th grade. At many schools it now looks like AIM has taken the place of the math for "advanced" learners and IM is standard for most other kids.

The concern with all of the push to advance students in elementary, at least in the past, is that many students were missing core foundational skills which impacted them as they moved into higher level math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got a letter saying my son was accepted into this class. The description seems similar to Investigations into Mathematics. He’s my only so I don’t know anyone with older children in the area to ask questions. Is this Applied class a lot harder? Do students who take that course take a different kind of math in 7th and 8th than Investigations into math (not applies)?

And I know this is far down our road, but how will taking this class in 6th affect his high school math choices? He does well in compacted math, but isn’t the top math student in his class and it’s a struggle for him sometimes. Looking for thought and advice from anyone who has children who have been through these classes. Thank you.

At least at my son's school, it doesn't seem too hard for the kids who are supposed to be in it.

This. My compacted math kid has been in it since 6th and never complained. He's actually occasionally gotten less than an A on an assignment which I take to mean he's being challenged enough. As for down the road, if he continues, he will be in Honors Alg 2 in 9th grade and then Pre-Cal/AP Cal/AP stats or AP B-C Cal (if I remember correctly from various meetings attended).

[Anonymous]

At my daughter/son's school, the kids who are in IM are actually smarter than the AIM kids. They are in IM and their friend is in AIM but they got a higher score on their map-m by at least 10 points than their friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my daughter/son's school, the kids who are in IM are actually smarter than the AIM kids. They are in IM and their friend is in AIM but they got a higher score on their map-m by at least 10 points than their friend.

Tell us more!

[Anonymous]

Just curious... did your letter come from the middle school or did it come from current teachers? My son's teacher mentioned he'd be in AIM but then sent home paperwork for IM. I then learned only the middle school can put children into AIM vs. IM and to wait for an official letter from MCPS. I'm finding middle school course enrollment very confusing!

[Anonymous]

I believe the county is doing away with AIM, and only IM will
be offered going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the county is doing away with AIM, and only IM will
be offered going forward.

This is what we were told as well. Although they did say that the new IM will use the AIM curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the county is doing away with AIM, and only IM will
be offered going forward.

This is what we were told as well. Although they did say that the new IM will use the AIM curriculum.

So what will be the enriched options for 6th graders, then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school they just renamed regular IM to this class. Everyone that would have been IM is in this class instead.

In terms of long term this path gets kids to calculus in 11th grade. Remains to be seen how that will all pan out. From talking to some HS math teachers sounds like not well....

What do the HS math teachers you've talked to say? Why not well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the county is doing away with AIM, and only IM will
be offered going forward.

This is what we were told as well. Although they did say that the new IM will use the AIM curriculum.

So what will be the enriched options for 6th graders, then?

All the 5th graders in 5/6 math will have the same enriched option, IM. There won’t be a different class for the highest achieving kids.

[Anonymous]

Does this path still exist:

6th - 6th grade math
7th - IM
8th - Algebra 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does this path still exist:

6th - 6th grade math
7th - IM
8th - Algebra 1

They did present this option at our home MS open house.