LCPS Curriculum and Instruction committee 3/10 meeting about advanced math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I kind of see where LCPs is going with the math , but as usual they are leaning towards too extreme.

I have a 10th grader who is finishing up AP BC calc. He started with Algebra 1 in 6th grade with a full class of 6th graders. He is now one of only TWO Children who have managed to not drop out over the years. A 90% fail rate is pretty bad. It is very clear that parents have pushed their kids beyond their abilities and wasted everyone’s time.

For 11th grade he’s taking multi variable calc. For this there is ONE class in the entire county offered at woodgrove and the rest of the students have to log into the online live class. Even then the county only has demand for one full classroom.

Tracking your child in Algebra 1 in 6th grade statically sets them up for failure. I only suggest this if your child is truly gifted in math. Like savant level. What LCPs and Virginia should do is require rigorous testing that doesn’t allow for a waiver.

Tracking starting with Algebra 1 in 6th grade is not just a matter of having a smart hardworking child. It’s the equivalent of expecting your child to be a D1 athlete. You have to factor in true god given gifts to make it work.

Both my son and the other student will probably be the kid who gets into Harvard or MIT.

You are correct. And I will never have the kid who gets into MIT. My kids are good in math, and coaching them to be advanced three years would do nothing positive for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I just had some questions and I felt like this would help. I'm an 8th grader at a middle school in LCPS. I went into sixth grade doing Foundations of Algebra and was recommended to skip Pre-Algebra and go straight to Algebra 1 in 7th grade, which is what I did. I then took the online course for Geometry over the summer and I'm now in Algebra 2 in 8th grade. For context, im Indian; my parents push me alot harder. Obviously, I didn't really have a choice when choosing my math courses, but I don't mind. I'm confused on how my highschool math years will go, especially if I get into ACL. I definitely won't get into TJ though as I'm pretty sure I'm not smart enough. Can anyone help me?

What exactly are you confused about? If you got to Academy of Science or Engineering (which is I am assuming what you meant) your math curriculum is already set for you in 9th and 10th. In 11th I do think you chose if you want AB or BC Calc. Its all on the Academy website. If you don't go to the academies, you'd take AP Pre Calc, then AP Calc (your choice AB or BC) then MultiVar and then I think its maxed out so maybe you take AP stats.