My daughter's friend who is a rising 8th grader is in Multivariable calculus camp, WTF?

[Anonymous]

Op, leave the family alone. Some kids love math and are truly gifted ... no pushing required. Why are travel sports OK but not academics. How about you focus on your kid and stop judging others. And stop being a jerk, too.

[Anonymous]

My oldest has a math brain and while she had no desire to do regular camps she started while in middle school taking advanced math at our local junior college in summer 'for fun.' Just how she is wired. She ran out of credit classes in HS so our county actually ended up first sending her to state univ classes to hit requirements then the school petitioned on her behalf to superintendent to excuse the needed # of credits. The frustrating thing for her was that when she went to her college they didn't accept the college level classes she took (this was an ivy and apparently not unusual) so she took classes again and ended up pretty deep into advance math/theory which though 'easy' for her - was not in her area of study. She is smart but not a one dimensional 'genius' type and it certainly wasn't something we bragged about as it was just what she did

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS belongs to Davidson Young Scholars- he's not doing multi-variable calculus or anything close but there are definitely middle school aged kids who are capable. It's phenomenal really.

Multivariable calculus in middle school would imply that the kid has gone through Prealgebra, Algebra 1 and 2, aspects of trigonometry, and single-variable calculus and possibly other topics. Even if done cursorily, where does one find the time to go through all these topics in sufficient depth to get something out multivariable calculus? Are any school systems in the DC area equipped or willing to let a 2nd or 3rd grader go through Algebra 1 and so on? I know that DCPS isn't.

If a child is profoundly gifted they may not need the depth you're describing to be successful in advanced math. They can compress topics and intuitively understand advanced math concepts that many of us would require months or years to comprehend. People who are *this smart* don't learn in the usual, linear ways--they can learn rapidly, out of sequence, without much or any instruction, and in huge chunks seemingly all at once. It's hard to conceive, but there are kids out there like this--thank goodness if they decide to use to all of our benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS belongs to Davidson Young Scholars- he's not doing multi-variable calculus or anything close but there are definitely middle school aged kids who are capable. It's phenomenal really.

Multivariable calculus in middle school would imply that the kid has gone through Prealgebra, Algebra 1 and 2, aspects of trigonometry, and single-variable calculus and possibly other topics. Even if done cursorily, where does one find the time to go through all these topics in sufficient depth to get something out multivariable calculus? Are any school systems in the DC area equipped or willing to let a 2nd or 3rd grader go through Algebra 1 and so on? I know that DCPS isn't.

Actually, there are a couple of math phenoms at our school who work with a math specialist and have taken full on Algebra I in elementary school. DCPS absolutely can and does handle this. But it is rare.

My rising 5th grader did pre algebra last year in a JKLM with a teacher who decided to work with a couple of kids 1:1. They completed the entire formal curriculum over the course of the year. They're supposed to do algebra 1 this year in 5th but we're going to decline. My child isn't interested.

[Anonymous]

Why is it that nobody would bat an eye lash if a 13 year old was a top junior athlete, let's say in tennis, in 18 year old age group, and maybe even top US or world player, but when you think of a kid doing similar or better feat academically, people are outraged and parents are declared insane? Doesn't that point out that the whole society has messed up value of beliefs when it comes to education? And I am a mom of kids more interested in athletics too, so I support sports but wish that there was more emphasis on better education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that nobody would bat an eye lash if a 13 year old was a top junior athlete, let's say in tennis, in 18 year old age group, and maybe even top US or world player, but when you think of a kid doing similar or better feat academically, people are outraged and parents are declared insane? Doesn't that point out that the whole society has messed up value of beliefs when it comes to education? And I am a mom of kids more interested in athletics too, so I support sports but wish that there was more emphasis on better education.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that nobody would bat an eye lash if a 13 year old was a top junior athlete, let's say in tennis, in 18 year old age group, and maybe even top US or world player, but when you think of a kid doing similar or better feat academically, people are outraged and parents are declared insane? Doesn't that point out that the whole society has messed up value of beliefs when it comes to education? And I am a mom of kids more interested in athletics too, so I support sports but wish that there was more emphasis on better education.

+2. I agree with this but to derail the thread just a little bit -- there is indeed somewhat greater emphasis on encouraging and supporting children with sporting talent. However, the path to doing so is clear. To take your tennis example, it is straightforward to find a coaching clinic/private coach/tennis club. However, if a child shows talent in math, either one has to rely on the school system, which for their own, possibly justified, reasons might have a hard time serving such children or find some private entity to do so. At least in the DC area, most of these private entities are the "worksheet hell/drill and kill" variety. Are people aware of real resources for nurturing, say mathematical talent?

[Anonymous]

Follow the money. A lot of coaches and athletic clubs make big bucks training children like professional athletes. There is a quantifiable return on investment. Hence, athletic endeavours for children are littered all over the American landscape. Not so for academics and math! Show us the money and we will follow. This is the capitalistic American way.

[Anonymous]

Some kids are very advanced and they enjoy learning. My friend's kids are very gifted and they would be all over a camp like this. My only worry is that one of them is going to run out of math to study at school because he's so far ahead of his peers already. Might be better for him to slow down a bit on math and get more advanced on non-math subjects. I keep that opinion to myself, though.

[Anonymous]

Non Asians are low performers, meet your new bosses

[Anonymous]

You can't "push" a kid into multivariable calculus at this age. You can either do that kind of math or you can't. Her brain works differently from most people. Her parents sound wonderful for giving her the opportunity to be challenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Non Asians are low performers, meet your new bosses

I keep wating for that. It's like Y2K...
Everybody was so afraid of it, then... nothing happened.

[Anonymous]

I have a first grader that taught himself multiplication and is consistently tested in 99th percentile. Truly passionate about math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is it that nobody would bat an eye lash if a 13 year old was a top junior athlete, let's say in tennis, in 18 year old age group, and maybe even top US or world player, but when you think of a kid doing similar or better feat academically, people are outraged and parents are declared insane? Doesn't that point out that the whole society has messed up value of beliefs when it comes to education? And I am a mom of kids more interested in athletics too, so I support sports but wish that there was more emphasis on better education.

People bat all kinds of eyes at this.

People judge travel sports and athletes the harshest.

[Anonymous]

OP, please tell us where this camp is. My kids would love it, but I can't find it.