Struggling in Hon Precalculus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:OP does your child supplement outside of MCPS? I looked at that test and I saw at least three topics that are not covered by MCPS Alg. 2 so it's odd that your child could magically get 100% of those questions right.

OP here. Like I posted elsewhere DS does AoPS. This is the first year he is not going to do it because of another activity.

IMO, your two options are go to regular Precal or stay in honors, with or without a tutor, and don't worry about the grade too much. He's absorbing the material which will mean higher level classes will be fine.

The OP said “struggling massively”. That’s the opposite of being fine.

Read the updates.

Yeah, things really improved from Thursday night to Sunday.

She explained what she meant by that. To me it sounds like the teacher is unnecessarily piling on tests that don’t allow enough time for a kid who understands the content.

+1
Although I don't agree with describing the teacher as "piling on" because it's unclear to me the teacher is doing anything wrong or excessive but just that the student works a bit more slowly than other students despite having a great grasp of the material.

I don't know why that other PP is obsessed with putting down OP and her child and finding flaws in her story.

My kid has had a similar issue and if his teacher had as many tests would also have a D. But his teacher doesn’t. And many other kids in the class (all kids with a very strong history of being high achievers in math) are saying the exact same thing. They know the content, but they just can’t do it fast.

I think you are the magnet parent on other threads. The experience your child is having in magnet math is not comparable to regular Precal Honors.

Why? Is magnet precalculus that different from honors precalculus? Btw several magnet parents have posted about the precalculus teacher.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP is determined that struggling massively in precalculus in 9th grade is no big deal and the student only needs some support from tutoring despite many posters warning her that this could be a sign for deep and wide gaps in understanding. To not know the definition of a function in honors precalculus is a huge red flag, definitely not typical of a student doing advanced programs like AOPS as OP claims. That’s her prerogative, but I think she’s in for a rude awakening later on.

Why do you care so much that you keep posting bashing her? She's taking this seriously. She tested her child on the content just as you advised, using the very test that you linked to.

Enough with the sock puppets, OP. How would you know this unless you really are the OP?

I'm not the OP. My child is doing really badly in Algebra 2 after getting As in all previous classes so I am following this thread closely. My child is on grade level, not accelerated.

NP. Alg 2 is when math gets hard. Definitely get a tutor. It can be very dispiriting for kids to struggle through math - they quickly lose confidence and say it’s boring, their teacher hates them, etc. I have one who loves math and none who struggles !!

*one who struggles, sorry :-)

Thank you for the advice! It's been a really awful start to the year and we're still troubleshooting. The teacher is very demanding, but I think it is good and in the longrun DC will learn more than with an easier teacher.

Absolutely!! That’s a good way to look at it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP does your child supplement outside of MCPS? I looked at that test and I saw at least three topics that are not covered by MCPS Alg. 2 so it's odd that your child could magically get 100% of those questions right.

OP here. Like I posted elsewhere DS does AoPS. This is the first year he is not going to do it because of another activity.

IMO, your two options are go to regular Precal or stay in honors, with or without a tutor, and don't worry about the grade too much. He's absorbing the material which will mean higher level classes will be fine.

The OP said “struggling massively”. That’s the opposite of being fine.

Read the updates.

Yeah, things really improved from Thursday night to Sunday.

She explained what she meant by that. To me it sounds like the teacher is unnecessarily piling on tests that don’t allow enough time for a kid who understands the content.

+1
Although I don't agree with describing the teacher as "piling on" because it's unclear to me the teacher is doing anything wrong or excessive but just that the student works a bit more slowly than other students despite having a great grasp of the material.

I don't know why that other PP is obsessed with putting down OP and her child and finding flaws in her story.

My kid has had a similar issue and if his teacher had as many tests would also have a D. But his teacher doesn’t. And many other kids in the class (all kids with a very strong history of being high achievers in math) are saying the exact same thing. They know the content, but they just can’t do it fast.

I think you are the magnet parent on other threads. The experience your child is having in magnet math is not comparable to regular Precal Honors.

Why? Is magnet precalculus that different from honors precalculus? Btw several magnet parents have posted about the precalculus teacher.

Yes, extremely different.
Magnet Precalc is actually Alg 2 + Precalc, and it is 3 instead of 4 semesters, and it has more proofs and problem solving. "Example, formula, proof, practice, apply in complex problems"

Honors has more topics than regular, so it goes a little faster and touches on harder topics, but it still is surface level study, focused on "example, formula, practice more examples" like regular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is determined that struggling massively in precalculus in 9th grade is no big deal and the student only needs some support from tutoring despite many posters warning her that this could be a sign for deep and wide gaps in understanding. To not know the definition of a function in honors precalculus is a huge red flag, definitely not typical of a student doing advanced programs like AOPS as OP claims. That’s her prerogative, but I think she’s in for a rude awakening later on.

Why do you care so much that you keep posting bashing her? She's taking this seriously. She tested her child on the content just as you advised, using the very test that you linked to.

Enough with the sock puppets, OP. How would you know this unless you really are the OP?

I'm not the OP. My child is doing really badly in Algebra 2 after getting As in all previous classes so I am following this thread closely. My child is on grade level, not accelerated.

NP. Alg 2 is when math gets hard. Definitely get a tutor. It can be very dispiriting for kids to struggle through math - they quickly lose confidence and say it’s boring, their teacher hates them, etc. I have one who loves math and none who struggles !!

People say, variously, that math "gets hard" in Algebra, Geometry (but it doesn't count because you can stumble through and then forget about it), Algebra 2, and Precalc.

Maybe it just depends on the individual, and their teachers, and how accurate, I the student paced their progression through the courses.

[Anonymous]

The cognitive leap is really into abstract math. You can fake it in Algebra 1 but it gets harder to do so in Algebra 2 and even harder in Precal. You never hear about anyone saying it gets even harder in Calc.

By the time you are at that level you are either doing okay or really badly and won't do much higher level math again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cognitive leap is really into abstract math. You can fake it in Algebra 1 but it gets harder to do so in Algebra 2 and even harder in Precal. You never hear about anyone saying it gets even harder in Calc.

By the time you are at that level you are either doing okay or really badly and won't do much higher level math again.

You cannot dismiss people this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP does your child supplement outside of MCPS? I looked at that test and I saw at least three topics that are not covered by MCPS Alg. 2 so it's odd that your child could magically get 100% of those questions right.

OP here. Like I posted elsewhere DS does AoPS. This is the first year he is not going to do it because of another activity.

IMO, your two options are go to regular Precal or stay in honors, with or without a tutor, and don't worry about the grade too much. He's absorbing the material which will mean higher level classes will be fine.

The OP said “struggling massively”. That’s the opposite of being fine.

Read the updates.

Yeah, things really improved from Thursday night to Sunday.

She explained what she meant by that. To me it sounds like the teacher is unnecessarily piling on tests that don’t allow enough time for a kid who understands the content.

+1
Although I don't agree with describing the teacher as "piling on" because it's unclear to me the teacher is doing anything wrong or excessive but just that the student works a bit more slowly than other students despite having a great grasp of the material.

I don't know why that other PP is obsessed with putting down OP and her child and finding flaws in her story.

My kid has had a similar issue and if his teacher had as many tests would also have a D. But his teacher doesn’t. And many other kids in the class (all kids with a very strong history of being high achievers in math) are saying the exact same thing. They know the content, but they just can’t do it fast.

Why would more tests change the average grade?

Does the teacher have a bunch "task" homework the goes in the 90% bucket with "assessment" quizzes?
(Homework can be either in the 10% "practice/prep" bucket, or the 90% "task/assessment" bucket.)

Feels super dodgy to put homework, which is easily cheatable, in the same bucket as in school tests. Honest kids would get hurt by cheaters making the homework look too easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The cognitive leap is really into abstract math. You can fake it in Algebra 1 but it gets harder to do so in Algebra 2 and even harder in Precal. You never hear about anyone saying it gets even harder in Calc.

By the time you are at that level you are either doing okay or really badly and won't do much higher level math again.

That kid on the other thread, who tested out of precalculus and hopped into Calculus, and set a goal to get a B, thinks math got hard in Calculus.

But he might have gotten a bad grade in a precalculus class with this harsh teacher, even if he could pass the exit test.

[Anonymous]

It's kind of ridiculous that MCPS can't point to a standard example test and say "a student with a grade of X in math course Y would score about Z% on this test."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's kind of ridiculous that MCPS can't point to a standard example test and say "a student with a grade of X in math course Y would score about Z% on this test."

It does. It’s called syllabus, curriculum, and grading policy.

Usually homework is a good indication of what will be on the test.

What’s ridiculous about this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He is not at Blair. He is in Wootton.

Does Wootton has a math help club? I know that Whitman does. He should either go to that or go to the teacher during lunch or after school for help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Does Wootton has a math help club? I know that Whitman does. He should either go to that or go to the teacher during lunch or after school for help.

If your child does go let him set his expectations low. My child went once and the helper was nice but could not solve the problem she was stuck on and this was Geometry.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Just came back to say that every time I posted I identified myself as OP. I am not a magnet parent and I am not puppeteering this thread .My son is far from being a genius and I am taking this issue very seriously. He obviously has gaps somewhere. I am no chucking it up to test anxiety, I think it’s that there is not enough time on quizzes to get through the problems and he is rushing and making mistakes by getting confused between definitions. Not sure how the leap to test anxiety was made. Also, the poster who keeps calling me out for puppeteering is obviously not familiar with AoPS. Even when you don’t master the material you are still advanced to the next level. His Algebra 1 AOPS and MCPS was 100% virtual. The poster is also not familiar with MCPS middle school math where you can retake quizzes so if he was struggling somewhere, I would not even know as his grades were good. Hon Algebra 2 was available at Frost last year, it was not on HS campus, so they were allowed retakes, late submissions etc. That’s why I previously stated that I think the gaps are from Algebra 2. Algebra 1 and Geometry at AoPS ran concurrently with MCPS. Algebra 2 material was different from MCPS. I don’t know how different but that’s what my son was saying. I do believe that the amount of work in Hon Precalculus is ridiculous. To the poster who keeps accusing me of puppeteering….dude, this is a discussion about a math class, not supposed to be a controversial topic. Please chill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Just came back to say that every time I posted I identified myself as OP. I am not a magnet parent and I am not puppeteering this thread .My son is far from being a genius and I am taking this issue very seriously. He obviously has gaps somewhere. I am no chucking it up to test anxiety, I think it’s that there is not enough time on quizzes to get through the problems and he is rushing and making mistakes by getting confused between definitions. Not sure how the leap to test anxiety was made. Also, the poster who keeps calling me out for puppeteering is obviously not familiar with AoPS. Even when you don’t master the material you are still advanced to the next level. His Algebra 1 AOPS and MCPS was 100% virtual. The poster is also not familiar with MCPS middle school math where you can retake quizzes so if he was struggling somewhere, I would not even know as his grades were good. Hon Algebra 2 was available at Frost last year, it was not on HS campus, so they were allowed retakes, late submissions etc. That’s why I previously stated that I think the gaps are from Algebra 2. Algebra 1 and Geometry at AoPS ran concurrently with MCPS. Algebra 2 material was different from MCPS. I don’t know how different but that’s what my son was saying. I do believe that the amount of work in Hon Precalculus is ridiculous. To the poster who keeps accusing me of puppeteering….dude, this is a discussion about a math class, not supposed to be a controversial topic. Please chill.

Ok, OP, if you suspect there were gaps in Algebra 2 then TAKE OUR ADVICE to drop him to on-level pre-calc and SLOW DOWN.

A D in the class is very telling. If it was a C, I can you trying to tough it out, but a D is big, flashing red flag that he's in over his head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cognitive leap is really into abstract math. You can fake it in Algebra 1 but it gets harder to do so in Algebra 2 and even harder in Precal. You never hear about anyone saying it gets even harder in Calc.

By the time you are at that level you are either doing okay or really badly and won't do much higher level math again.

That kid on the other thread, who tested out of precalculus and hopped into Calculus, and set a goal to get a B, thinks math got hard in Calculus.

But he might have gotten a bad grade in a precalculus class with this harsh teacher, even if he could pass the exit test.

Skipping Precalculus to hope for a B in Calculus is one of the dumbest things anyone can do.