Are there advantages to 7th grade Algebra and 8th grade Geometry?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, in addition to test scores, you also need to look at your kid overall -- does he do well in math? My ds is not a fantastic test taker (some processing issues on timed tests) but he is really a math kid. He was put into regular 6th grade math when we moved here from out of state because of the placement test score, but we moved him up to IM in two weeks because he was bored silly. He's now entering 10th grade and will be taking pre-calc this year, AP Calculus BC next year, and some advanced math class senior year.

If we'd gone by the test scores (and only listened to the school administration, rather than our kid and his first 6th grade math teacher, both of whom said he was bored and needed to be in the higher class) we'd have kept him back. Test scores are not the be all and end all.[/quoted]

You also have to be sure that if the schools are using test scores, they are looking a more than just one test on one day. My DS was being pulled out for an advanced math group as early as Kindergarten, was ID as gifted in math and always "pass advanced" in SOLs. But, on the day of the math placement test for middle school something was going on with him and he didn't score that well. Based on that alone he was placed in 6th grade math where he'd have been really bored. I asked the math coordinator to take another look at his whole math history and he was moved to the advanced track where he has done well. And he does not need hours of tutoring weekly as a PP said her child needs -- really, if that amount of tutoring is needed, maybe your child needs to be on a slower pace.

[Anonymous]

I graduated from an IB School, where kids who took algebra I in 7th grade followed the path of Algebra I -> Geometry -> Algebra 2 + Trigonometry -> IB Math I -> IB Math II -> Dual enrollment course at a either GMU, Marymount, GW, or NVCC (but nowadays there is an IB Further Math class offered instead of DE)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im in Loudoun. My son is doing Algebra 1 in 7th, Geometry in 8th. Thia tracka him to AP classes by 11th grade and opens the door to some AP computer science electives.

We keep him ahead of the curve , so math is never a struggle or painful, with 3hrs of supplemental one on one tutoring all school year. We also do 3hrs a week of toutoring all summer so he doesn't lose anything. This summer he's already worked well into Gometry, so the first quarter will be fine tuning what he's already been introduced to.

This is what messes things up! Her child isn't really ready for those classes. He's being pushed and pre-taught so he can keep up. This is not sustainable for your child. Nice that you get bragging rights, but that is not going to help him when he's facing apart emotionally from all of the pressure.

[Anonymous]

Falling not facing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Im in Loudoun. My son is doing Algebra 1 in 7th, Geometry in 8th. Thia tracka him to AP classes by 11th grade and opens the door to some AP computer science electives.

We keep him ahead of the curve , so math is never a struggle or painful, with 3hrs of supplemental one on one tutoring all school year. We also do 3hrs a week of toutoring all summer so he doesn't lose anything. This summer he's already worked well into Gometry, so the first quarter will be fine tuning what he's already been introduced to.

This is what messes things up! Her child isn't really ready for those classes. He's being pushed and pre-taught so he can keep up. This is not sustainable for your child. Nice that you get bragging rights, but that is not going to help him when he's facing apart emotionally from all of the pressure.

She doesn't trust her kid's ability to do it on his own. That is the part that will stick with him. And I bet he'd so fine with out the tutor.

[Anonymous]

Relax, OP.

Math goes excruciatingly slowly in elementary school around here, it's no wonder they had to make different paths for different students at the end of elementary! I know a few people on DCUM have difficulty wrapping their non-mathematical minds around this, but some students either enjoy math and want to learn as fast as possible, or don't care one way or another but find math easy so they're fine with the faster-paced track.

My son is in the second category. He finds his distractibility gets worse if the class goes too slowly, so Algebra it is in 7th grade. This isn't even the fastest track! We're scientists, did advanced math in our native countries, and find this completely normal.