algebra in 6th grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Maybe the evaluation is underway. It didn’t happen from the beginning of the school year.
Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

You might not know, which is the point. If you had a child who needed 5/6 in 4th grade, you would probably have been approached.

MCPS is, in my mind, doing the right thing by keeping that track small. There are a lot of parents in this district who will push for their child to be on the most accelerated path, even if their child isn't a good fit. Math 4/5 is perfectly appropriate for most bright/gifted kids, and leads to Algebra in 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Maybe the evaluation is underway. It didn’t happen from the beginning of the school year.
Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

Yes, my child did that. I was told IM actually involvss a fair amount of review. I think more kids are capable of this than MCPS realizes/allows

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Maybe the evaluation is underway. It didn’t happen from the beginning of the school year.
Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

It may be too early to say. My 4th grade CES DC took 5/6 math, but didn't start it until third quarter. In fact we were not even contacted about 5/6 math until the day before the third quarter started.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Maybe the evaluation is underway. It didn’t happen from the beginning of the school year.
Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

It may be too early to say. My 4th grade CES DC took 5/6 math, but didn't start it until third quarter. In fact we were not even contacted about 5/6 math until the day before the third quarter started.

Which CES?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a current 5th grader, then you are entering at an interesting time. For a few years, there was no real path to get kids to Algebra by 6th. The most advanced track put them in Algebra in 7th (which is still a year ahead of the 'advanced' track in many other parts of the country).

Starting last year, they appear to have very low key reintroduced a pathway in which a very small number of kids do Math 5/6 in 4th grade, then IM in 5th grade, and then Algebra in 6th.

I cannot stress enough how limited this pathway seems to be, but even if your child is on the regular advanced pathway, they will take AP Calculus their Junior year, which is more than fast enough for the vast majority of kids.

It's very difficult to tell which schools are offering this path. Eastern MS was mentioned in a thread. I'm sure there are others. OP, if you are coming from outside MoCo start calling MS and ask whether they plan to have any 6th graders taking algebra. My son went to school with a kid who took Geometry and Algebra II at the same time in MS (Algebra II was his elective), so you might be able to use this kind of strategy to advance them as well. Our MS was co-located with a high school so he was able to take Algebra II first period, then easily get to MS for the rest of the day.

Maybe the evaluation is underway. It didn’t happen from the beginning of the school year.
Cold Spring ES has had this path since last year for half of the CES kids.

How about this year's 4th graders?
+1 I don't know any 4th graders at DCs CES taking 5/6 this year. Is it possible to take 5/6 in 5th grade and then Alg1 in 6th?

Yes, my child did that. I was told IM actually involves a fair amount of review. I think more kids are capable of this than MCPS realizes/allows

It does, and algebra contains plenty of review of IM, etc. Motivated students could easily skip without consequence. It's several years back, now but we asked about algebra in sixth, and our school said it was never done. DC instead took algebra 2 in summer school after 8th. Summer school is of course cursory, but DC is nonetheless doing great in calc BC this year. The HS math sequence is full of redundancy as the ES one is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only students transferred to MCPS or homeschooled get a chance to take Algebra in 6th grade. 95% Takoma magnet kids rake IM in 6th grade. Unless you can demonstrate your kid has extraordinary math skill, 99% MCPS students dont get a chance to take Algebra.

Not true re: only homeschooled or transferred students taking algebra.. My 6th grader was placed in algebra this year along with around 20 other 6th graders. It was not requested, it just happened - the guidance counselor called on the first day of school and recommended the switch. My child has been fine in the class so MS that is sometimes criticized on this forum for lack of academic rigor lol - not Eastern or Takoma Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Why so defensive? Lots of kids could probably handle algebra in 6th, and plenty do. Magnet kids in particular. No school will refuse administering a test, and yes, your child will be placed with kids a year older (which for math, really isn't a big deal). Just consider that in 8th grade he will then need to be bussed to the high school, and he will perhaps run out of interesting math classes in 10 -12th. MCPS requires a math class every year. There are options to take math classes at Montgomery College as well, when you're in high school.

but only the Rockville campus seems to offer any advanced math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why so defensive? Lots of kids could probably handle algebra in 6th, and plenty do. Magnet kids in particular. No school will refuse administering a test, and yes, your child will be placed with kids a year older (which for math, really isn't a big deal). Just consider that in 8th grade he will then need to be bussed to the high school, and he will perhaps run out of interesting math classes in 10 -12th. MCPS requires a math class every year. There are options to take math classes at Montgomery College as well, when you're in high school.

but only the Rockville campus seems to offer any advanced math

The Takoma Park campus offers multivariable calculus, biostatistics, and linear algebra. A quick search turns up exactly the same offerings at both Takoma Park and Rockville.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why so defensive? Lots of kids could probably handle algebra in 6th, and plenty do. Magnet kids in particular. No school will refuse administering a test, and yes, your child will be placed with kids a year older (which for math, really isn't a big deal). Just consider that in 8th grade he will then need to be bussed to the high school, and he will perhaps run out of interesting math classes in 10 -12th. MCPS requires a math class every year. There are options to take math classes at Montgomery College as well, when you're in high school.

but only the Rockville campus seems to offer any advanced math

The Takoma Park campus offers multivariable calculus, biostatistics, and linear algebra. A quick search turns up exactly the same offerings at both Takoma Park and Rockville.

I think those classes are already available at local HS.

[Anonymous]

My kid did it in 6th. But we transferred from Long Island and she tested in. She also tested in HS Spanish. Her LI school starts Spanish in Kindergaten so by grade 5 being doing it six years

Some public Long Island schools are way ahead of W schools and magnets

[Anonymous]

A few parents my sons age pushed for this and the kids had to go to a HS for Algebra 2 in 8th grade. Interestingly now at poolesville SMACS they test the kids (makes sense!). Now my son is in the same math class as these kids.

[Anonymous]

My son (now a junior) went to one of the HGC programs for 4th & 5th grade. He wasn't accepted to a magnet for MS, so he ended up at his home MS for 6-8th grade. They put him in IM7 for 6th grade, but it became clear very quickly that he already knew all the material (his teacher's opinion). The school agreed to move him into Algebra 1. He did get bussed to the local HS in 8th grade for Algebra 2. It wasn't too bad - he just took the HS bus in the morning, then was bussed back to the MS after 1st period Math. The hardest part was when the HS and MS calendars were mismatched for things like testing days when the HS rearranged the day's schedule. There were 5 other 8th graders doing this at his school as well. He took AP Calc AB in 10th grade and AP Calc BC this year. He got a 5 on his AP Calc AB exam last year. He is signed up for Multivariable Calculus and AP Stats his senior year next year (both are offered at his HS).

Montgomery County seems to accelerate math more elegantly than any other subject. My only wish is that they had realized from the start that my son should have been in Algebra 1. Missing the first quarter that year left him having to catch up.

For reference, my son was at Drew for the HGC program, Key for MS, and is now at Springbrook for HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son (now a junior) went to one of the HGC programs for 4th & 5th grade. He wasn't accepted to a magnet for MS, so he ended up at his home MS for 6-8th grade. They put him in IM7 for 6th grade, but it became clear very quickly that he already knew all the material (his teacher's opinion). The school agreed to move him into Algebra 1. He did get bussed to the local HS in 8th grade for Algebra 2. It wasn't too bad - he just took the HS bus in the morning, then was bussed back to the MS after 1st period Math. The hardest part was when the HS and MS calendars were mismatched for things like testing days when the HS rearranged the day's schedule. There were 5 other 8th graders doing this at his school as well. He took AP Calc AB in 10th grade and AP Calc BC this year. He got a 5 on his AP Calc AB exam last year. He is signed up for Multivariable Calculus and AP Stats his senior year next year (both are offered at his HS).

Montgomery County seems to accelerate math more elegantly than any other subject. My only wish is that they had realized from the start that my son should have been in Algebra 1. Missing the first quarter that year left him having to catch up.

For reference, my son was at Drew for the HGC program, Key for MS, and is now at Springbrook for HS.

What did your son do in ninth and tenth? (Just wondering about the MCPS math progression.)