Do I let my teen drop down to non-honors Alg 2?

[Anonymous]

Imo, Honors placement has to be earned, and the student has to do the work to maintain the privilege.

Though there is nothing wrong with trying it a tough subject to see what interests catch fire. And no shame in keeping a balanced schedule. Often best overall results happen this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. My DD dropped down. No regrets.

If I could do it all over again, I don't think I would have ever had them go the compacted math route.

I agree and we course-corrected with our second DD. She admits that she doesn't love math as much as her sister and was less interested in needing to do extra practice at home, which her sister is willing to do. No regrets. She is still on track for Calc senior year (Alg 1 in 8th.)

This is what we are doing with our 7th grader. Heard too many horror stories.

[Anonymous]

If she’s struggling with the content, like generally isn’t getting it in class, drop down. If she gets the concepts, just isn’t putting the time to do the homework, then I’d be more inclined to help her get organized.

How is she doing in other classes? She may be overall a good student and smart but that’s not the same thing as skilled in math. I dropped down to regular math classes also at this age bc I really was more smart in ELA and I didn’t want to put the work in bc I didn’t like it. My kids take after their dad and put the work in bc they like math.

[Anonymous]

More smart …smarter. Sheesh ok that was funny haha. I swear I do know grammar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most kids who are in super advanced math can’t actually do it. They are being propped up by parents or tutors.

It’s so sad. They don’t know how to read a math text. They forget basic things like how to find a range or what it represents. They can’t remember natural logarithms. They don’t know how to study on their own for a test. Fewer are even taking notes. —college professor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids who are in super advanced math can’t actually do it. They are being propped up by parents or tutors.

It’s so sad. They don’t know how to read a math text. They forget basic things like how to find a range or what it represents. They can’t remember natural logarithms. They don’t know how to study on their own for a test. Fewer are even taking notes. —college professor

This is how schools teach now. It's not the students.

[Anonymous]

Learning how to read a math text book is not a something most kids are encouraged to do. Hick my kids in Algebra 1 (7th grade) are not even allowed to bring their math book home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids who are in super advanced math can’t actually do it. They are being propped up by parents or tutors.

It’s so sad. They don’t know how to read a math text. They forget basic things like how to find a range or what it represents. They can’t remember natural logarithms. They don’t know how to study on their own for a test. Fewer are even taking notes. —college professor

This is how schools teach now. It's not the students.

In Alg 2 honors, the school expects solid mastery of basics and doesn't teach. The kid has to know her own gaps. If she doesn't, hard to fix. In the reg class (at least at our school), they walk through everything. In our case, Alg 1 during COVID, so who knew the gaps. I so wish I had pulled my kid from honors. The teacher "encouraged" a bunch of kids to move in mid-October, and our kid wasn't in that group so she powered through. In the end, she got a mediocre grade (and the grade bump doesn't make up for it) and wishes that she never took it. On the flip side, pre-calc is "easy" (so far) as she feels she is being spoonfed and, thankfully, she still loves math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. My DD dropped down. No regrets.

If I could do it all over again, I don't think I would have ever had them go the compacted math route.

What is compacted math? Taking algebra I in 7th?

It's doing Level 4/5/6 math in 4th and 5th grade. Leads to Algebra I in 6th or 7th or 8th, depending on performance in 5th and 6th (and sometimes early 7th) grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Learning how to study math is a skill - it really is different from studying for most other classes and it takes time to learn. Better to learn it now than in college (assuming your kid is planning to take math in college).

+1
School was easy for me through HS (and I went to a good private college prep school). I hit college and math kicked my butt because I had never had to study or struggle and literally didn't know how to do it. Studying in general is a skill, and studying math specifically is a skill. "Work harder" isn't helpful advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most kids who are in super advanced math can’t actually do it. They are being propped up by parents or tutors.

It’s so sad. They don’t know how to read a math text. They forget basic things like how to find a range or what it represents. They can’t remember natural logarithms. They don’t know how to study on their own for a test. Fewer are even taking notes. —college professor

This is how schools teach now. It's not the students.

In Alg 2 honors, the school expects solid mastery of basics and doesn't teach. The kid has to know her own gaps. If she doesn't, hard to fix. In the reg class (at least at our school), they walk through everything. In our case, Alg 1 during COVID, so who knew the gaps. I so wish I had pulled my kid from honors. The teacher "encouraged" a bunch of kids to move in mid-October, and our kid wasn't in that group so she powered through. In the end, she got a mediocre grade (and the grade bump doesn't make up for it) and wishes that she never took it. On the flip side, pre-calc is "easy" (so far) as she feels she is being spoonfed and, thankfully, she still loves math.

Is she in Honors or regular pre-Calc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Normally I would of course allow this if she was trying her best, doing the work, studying, and still struggling.

But that isn’t the case. She easily got A’s in previous middle school honors math classes and as a freshman is learning she can’t skate by like she always have. I have reminded her over and over again she needs to work/study harder but I am not seeing that at home. And I don’t want her to think dropping to non-honors is a an easy way out.

Anyone ever in a similar situation. Should I have a meeting/email with the teacher, look for a tutor, or anything else?

I would let her drop down until she learned to manage her new workload. She needs to learn to assess her responsibilities, prioritize, and then complete them. That life skill is more important, IMO, than whether a class is honors or not. Then she can push herself again next year if she chooses.

[Anonymous]

It is unclear if it is too hard for her or she just doesn’t want to work hard(er) than she has in the past.

I would email the teacher about her thoughts and how your daughter is doing and also have an honest conversation with your daughter about what SHE wants, not what you want for her. We all want our kids to live up to their potential, try their best, work their hardest at new things. But this isn’t something you can force. If she is unwilling to put forth the effort needed, there is nothing you can do but drop her down.

[Anonymous]

This is often the point where ADHD or learning disabilities are diagnosed. But maybe you're not there yet, particularly if you're seeing this struggle only in math.

My son with ADHD and a particularly disability in math (dyscalculia) struggled with time management an organization everywhere... and it was most apparent in math, because of the learning disability. However he did not wish to drop down. We got him tutors for math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Easy way out" - oh my. This post is craziness.

S/he implied that her teen is more intelligent than most kids. It probably is an easy way out.