Math in HS: go down a level and take honors or stay ion track but regular class?

[Anonymous]

Some terrible advice here. Talk to someone at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would absolutely redo geometry and do honors there. I don’t get this thing of kids trying to accelerate or stay accelerated unless they are super super strong math kids.

From a college perspective they directionally care about two thing - what was the grade and was it honors.

I made this call in high school years ago and redid geometry in 9th and my math grades were better than they would’ve been as was my happiness and sanity and I went to HYP so never was a problem.
. Now in my DCs class I see all these kids reaching to accelerate and some just got midterm assessments back with Ds and Cs. Why is that good for anyone.

+100. I watched a video where an admission counselor showed the process of reviewing an admissions file and one of the first things they did was summarize the grades and rigor for each year like 9th 3 H(A), 1AP(B) and looked at that alongside the school profile to see what was offered like some schools may restrict how many AP and Honors classes.

Also, I had one child that placed into a high level math freshman year and dropped down to decelerate each year after that. I feel like there are knowledge gaps. In contrast their sibling didn’t do well on the placement test . At the time taking Honors Algebra 1 again in 9th seemed like the end of the world but they aced it, took honors geometry in the summer, worked their way up to taking AB Calc their senior year and overall has a better grounding in math. We also think the boost from Honors/AP (and getting good grades in those classes) really helped in college admissions - at state schools like MD that weighted GPA helped and at liberal arts schools seeing the coursework rigor helped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, your school is not going to make a class of 9th graders taking reg alg 2, because it is too complicated, and also, most 9th graders in Alg 2 would be in honors, since they are accelerated. But schools don't separate kids by grade, whoever can take the class will be in it.

I watched a meeting recording from last year and the kids were warned against taking Alg2 H (but the teachers admitted there are always kids who do still take it).
My child does ok in accelerated math but he isn’t super great or super enthusiastic about it (usually has a B). So I am not sure I should be pushing honors

May I ask why he’s on an accelerated track then? Alg 2 in 9th grade is 1-2 years ahead.

He tested into the accelerated track and it wasn’t a disaster or anything - he just can’t quite keep up (or so he thinks). He has a B average

A B average is fine for a 9th grader taking Algebra 2. That by itself is not going to hurt on a college application

Yea, but what happens later? Your kid is on a path to take Calculus in 11th grade? I would have him repeat Geometry. I pulled one of my kids back in 8th grade (repeated Algebra) and he is now excelling in math when it was a struggle before. His friends that stayed the accelerated track are struggling more and more each year. Foundation maters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that it's geometry. There's no reason to repeat geometry and repeating it won't help much for algebra II. Repeating algebra I makes sense, but that's going way back-- would they even offer the honors version in HS?

So I think you're stuck with algebra-- either honors version or regular version.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no, your school is not going to make a class of 9th graders taking reg alg 2, because it is too complicated, and also, most 9th graders in Alg 2 would be in honors, since they are accelerated. But schools don't separate kids by grade, whoever can take the class will be in it.

I watched a meeting recording from last year and the kids were warned against taking Alg2 H (but the teachers admitted there are always kids who do still take it).
My child does ok in accelerated math but he isn’t super great or super enthusiastic about it (usually has a B). So I am not sure I should be pushing honors

May I ask why he’s on an accelerated track then? Alg 2 in 9th grade is 1-2 years ahead.

He tested into the accelerated track and it wasn’t a disaster or anything - he just can’t quite keep up (or so he thinks). He has a B average

A B average is fine for a 9th grader taking Algebra 2. That by itself is not going to hurt on a college application

He has a B now, in 8th, for algebra 1/geometry. Not sure if he can keep the grade in 9th if he does honors.
I am told at our school the H level is where there is not much explaining going on - mostly practicing the concepts they should somehow be familiar with?! Not sure how that works

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would absolutely redo geometry and do honors there. I don’t get this thing of kids trying to accelerate or stay accelerated unless they are super super strong math kids.

From a college perspective they directionally care about two thing - what was the grade and was it honors.

I made this call in high school years ago and redid geometry in 9th and my math grades were better than they would’ve been as was my happiness and sanity and I went to HYP so never was a problem.
. Now in my DCs class I see all these kids reaching to accelerate and some just got midterm assessments back with Ds and Cs. Why is that good for anyone.

So I looked at the grades for Alg2 H and Alg2 and there are NO Cs or Ds in honors and more than a few in regular. Go figure!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that it's geometry. There's no reason to repeat geometry and repeating it won't help much for algebra II. Repeating algebra I makes sense, but that's going way back-- would they even offer the honors version in HS?

So I think you're stuck with algebra-- either honors version or regular version.

Yes, I hear you!
No Algebra 1 H.
I thought that maybe he would just mature and have an extra summer to practice algebra before starting Alg 2 H in 10th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem is that it's geometry. There's no reason to repeat geometry and repeating it won't help much for algebra II. Repeating algebra I makes sense, but that's going way back-- would they even offer the honors version in HS?

So I think you're stuck with algebra-- either honors version or regular version.

[phone]

This is the main point. Geometry is not going to be of much help for his future math classes.

You are essentially throwing away a year's worth of learning by repeating geometry. Geometry is a one off kind of subject that stands alone.

If you said repeating Algebra 1 or 2, it would be a terrific choice. Child would be getting a good grounding on something that is going to be important in his later math classes.

I would say talk to any math teacher or professor you know. They might be able to explain better to you. Please dont make this mistake.

I will talk to his current math teacher. I dug a little deeper and it looks like There is actually an option to take Alg2 in 9th and then Alg2 H as a sophomore
I will double check, it might be the way to go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A B in Honors is the same as an A in regular, so why switch? If your student is looking to go to a selective college, than non Honors math will be a bad influence on their academics.

Retake geometry if you want, to stay on honors, and avoid being overwhelmed later in high school.
Use the easy time to practice algebra 1 and get a head start on algebra 2.

Yes this is also an option!

[Anonymous]

OP here: I just realized that one of the options is to take regular Alg2 in 9th and then Alg2H in 10th. This may be the way to go for us.
I will check with his current MS teacher as well as with whoever does their orientation for HS, and then decide.
Thanks everyone! Before reading this topic I didn’t realize repeating Alg2 might actually be a good option!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would stay on current sequence. I know a lot of kids who don’t take honors level math because it gets really hard, and there’s a ton of work. So if he doesn’t like math, stick on the regular track. He’s already ahead anyway if he’s taking Alg 2 in 9th.

Thanks, noted!
However my other worry is that there will probably be older kids in his class who got to algebra 2 late and aren’t exactly interested in math.
Or do schools usually not group “overachieving” 9th graders together with “underachieving” juniors for example?

DD dropped down to regular level Algebra 2 in 9th and yes there were under achieving juniors in the class, but she was a star and it boosted her confidence so much. Now she is in pre calc and so many kids have dropped honors pre calc and are now in track.

[Anonymous]

OP, just make sure your kid is challenging himself appropriately. So if in regular math, take honors English or honors Spanish. It is all about balancing his schedule. No need to max out honors in every class in 9th grade, if this is too much for your son. The school guidance counselor should help with class selection. As long as his classes increase in rigor each year, he should be fine. By 11th and 12th he should have more honors than in 9th and some APs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would stay on current sequence. I know a lot of kids who don’t take honors level math because it gets really hard, and there’s a ton of work. So if he doesn’t like math, stick on the regular track. He’s already ahead anyway if he’s taking Alg 2 in 9th.

Thanks, noted!
However my other worry is that there will probably be older kids in his class who got to algebra 2 late and aren’t exactly interested in math.
Or do schools usually not group “overachieving” 9th graders together with “underachieving” juniors for example?

DD dropped down to regular level Algebra 2 in 9th and yes there were under achieving juniors in the class, but she was a star and it boosted her confidence so much. Now she is in pre calc and so many kids have dropped honors pre calc and are now in track.

Thank you! Mine is the one who feels better “first in a village than second in Rome” so it might work well for him.
He thinks he is one of the weaker students in his upper track math class (which may or may not be true).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, just make sure your kid is challenging himself appropriately. So if in regular math, take honors English or honors Spanish. It is all about balancing his schedule. No need to max out honors in every class in 9th grade, if this is too much for your son. The school guidance counselor should help with class selection. As long as his classes increase in rigor each year, he should be fine. By 11th and 12th he should have more honors than in 9th and some APs.

Thank you so much! His other H option as a freshman is biology which he will take.
I don’t trust the school counselors very much simply because they don’t know him and they are overworked and often not too experienced.
I am trying to understand how easy the regular class is, and I just can’t. But I will try!

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry too much about the grade level of the students. There will be mixed grades in any HS math class. I am currently teaching regular Algebra 2. Every year I have 1-2 9th graders mixed in with mostly 10th and 11th graders and a few seniors. Do not assume the older kids will be slackers or trouble makers. Everyone learns math at their own pace. I’ve had very strong and serious Alg 2 students who were in 11th or 12th grade.

This year my students who are struggling the most and with the biggest behavior issues happen to be a handful of 10th graders. Everything has changed with open enrollment now.