Is 8th grade pre-algebra or algebra?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ds is in grade 7. He s currently taking algebra 1. He s thriving. I tried talk him out of it but he wants to take it and the teacher thought he d do well.

This isn’t what you need to worry about. It is at the other end of your child’s academics when confronted with upper level math courses and possibly struggling there. The data is there in FCPS that shows a huge number of students taking less demanding courses in 11th and 12th grade because they aren’t prepared for the rigor due to acceleration and memorization vs. understanding.

Or because they don't want to, even if they are highly capable. Kids and families choices once students finish algebra 2.

Why does it bother you what someone else chooses for their child?

Because we have a problem in this area where kids needlessly accelerate in mathematics for no reason and in doing so many suffer from a lack of understanding of content because they aren’t prepared due to memorization. Students struggle and get frustrated for no apparent reason.

And we used to live in a world where you can graduate high school and get a decent job in car factory or whatever where accelerated math is not needed. But we don't live in that world now. Our business leader told us that low end job will be shipped to China and India and we are supposed to upskill and do the high end jobs like designing and inventing and financing and consulting. That's why everyone is "needlessly accelerate in math".

Of course in China, they just call it math. Pre-algebra at 7th grade is standard cirriculum in Chinese middle school. Geometry at 8th grade is also stanard there.

NP here. I’m Korean American. Kids are doing algebra in elementary school, not middle school in Korea. Whenever a kid comes from Asia, they run circles around the kids in math here.

I always tell my kids they are lucky to live in America.

They also spend significantly more hours in school, after school, and at Saturday school. Also depends on if your family can pay for all that extra education. If they can't, like another PP said, they are not running circles around anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My ds is in grade 7. He s currently taking algebra 1. He s thriving. I tried talk him out of it but he wants to take it and the teacher thought he d do well.

This isn’t what you need to worry about. It is at the other end of your child’s academics when confronted with upper level math courses and possibly struggling there. The data is there in FCPS that shows a huge number of students taking less demanding courses in 11th and 12th grade because they aren’t prepared for the rigor due to acceleration and memorization vs. understanding.

I agree with this. High school level classes taught at the middle school level are severely watered down. Especially in world language. If you have a student who is exceptionally gifted in math, it won't matter. It's the average math students that may struggle as the math rigor intensifies.

I know this is a bit off topic, but does the bolded mean kids should wait until HS to take a language rather than take it in MS? My kid wants to do band along with two half year electives, rather than a language as a second full year elective. I assume this is common? I wish it wasn’t either/or but if 9th grade language courses don’t assume much of any prior knowledge I guess it’s ok? It’s weird to me because I didn’t do a language ins ES bit in MS it was pretty rigorous, and I then continued it in HS and took the AP course. Can kid start a new language in HS and do well in AP down the road?

[Anonymous]

DS is in language immersion and has had 2 years of language at MS, the class is not watered down. The kids we know in HS have said that the class in HS is far easier than it was in MS. They are supposed to be teaching the HS curriculum, same for math.