Algebra in 7th v 8th
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
That's a fine choice, but high school Statistics is also an option for doing Geometry in 8th and not wanting to go beyond Calc AB. Also, Calc AB then BC is a relatively soft path to Calc BC, since you get the extra year to prepare. |
Anonymous
|
If your kid is math-y do it, OP! My oldest is not but I let her do the advanced math track (I didn't do anything, they just placed her there) and while she does get Bs and B+'s in math, she likes the challenge.
My school district drastically increased the standards for the advanced math track last year, so I explained the situation to my son (who is math-y) and he was very motivated to learn some higher-level math concepts. He just did some Khan academy exercises during the last portion of his fifth-grade year. I don't know what your school district's standards are but don't assume you're going to have to do a ton of outside work. |
Anonymous
|
My son qualified to take Algebra in 7th but I heard the teacher was not that great and there wasn't a physical textbook but random pages online that they did. So I had my son do Honors 7 math plus AOPS Algebra after school. Honors 7 math was so easy he never really had homework so he had plenty of time to do AOPS instead.
So when he took Algebra in 8th it was a review and left him with really solid algebra skills. He took the next level algebra class in the evenings. He then took geometry in between 8th and 9th. So when he was in 9th and doing Honors Algebra 2 he had already been exposed to it the year before. He noticed some of his classmates who did Algebra in 7th really struggled in algebra 2 because they were shaky in some algebra topics. |
Anonymous
|
Op, have you worked backwards, looked at what math she would be taking in 12th? In each scenario.
|
Anonymous
This makes me sad. You had a great time with AoPS Algebra, and you noticed that school Algebra was insufficient for others. So why settle for the inferior summer version of school Geometry? I recommend doing something like AoPS Geometry to enhance that. |
Anonymous
DP. That post made me sad for a very different reason. |
Anonymous
It kind of makes me laugh because their kid did SOOOO much outside tutoring to ensure math was easy. The kids in Alg. 2 who took alg in 7 may have to do a little bit of tutoring and find it hard, but the time they put into math overall is probably less AND they learn how to do something difficult. I see both as decent lessons about growing up. |
Anonymous
What's so funny about taking time to learn? "Finding it hard" isn't the gift you make it out to be, when it's a very basic level of material and it's a cracked foundation for the future. AoPS is a lot harder than school, but it builds the strong foundation you need to succeed. |
Anonymous
+1. The AoPS curriculum (and probably RSM, too), is a lot harder. Kids whose only exposure to math is getting an A in an accelerated school Alg IH/Geom IH class are orders of magnitude behind kids who get all blue in AoPS. In everything: reasoning, speed, mathematical writing, breadth... In short, they don't know what they're missing - and unless they go in a mathy field, may never know. And if they do, their college professors will wonder why they chose this field. |
Anonymous
Not even blue. Basic green is much harder than school curriculum. Alcumus is computer adaptive, so as soon as a student shows basic comprehension on one topic, AoPS/Alcumus stops asking the questions that schools ask and starts each topic with harder questions. AoPS shows school homework as the intro examples in the text and then immediately move on to novel applications in the homework. |
Anonymous
DP. For anyone who is taking this seriously, don't. Taking Algebra privately the prior year is not necessary to learn and do well in Algebra. Same for Algebra II. And it's not necessary to do Aops or RSM before going into a math, science, or engineering field. |
Anonymous
That poor kid didn't take time to learn. He took Algebra I two years in a row (maybe that counts as taking time) then jumped ahead to Algebra II but taking Geometry over the summer (which is the opposite of taking time and is a brutal class that wrecked everyone in the family's summer). |
Anonymous
NP. AoPS and RSM classes are not meant to be taught before doing the school version, and they're not meant to be a means for acceleration. Ideally, they should be a supplement, where a kid is taking Algebra in school and simultaneously taking AoPS Algebra to give the extra rigor and fill in any foundational gaps. I agree that it's not necessary to do AoPS or RSM before going into a STEM field, but it would undoubtedly help the kid have a greater understanding of the math and a much stronger foundation. In school math, too many kids become experts at applying the right algorithms to get the right answers without having a real understanding of the material. That will not work in AoPS classes. |
Anonymous
That's overstating the case. Many schools do not provide math education of the level the student is ready for. External schools fill in the gap. This is especially true for the RSM 3-year geometry sequence, we're most schools don't even offer that as an option. But it's also true at the many schools that won't teach Prealgebra before 6th grade, and don't provide accelerated classes or double classes once Math 8 starts. |
Anonymous
We do RSM, and it is on track with what my kid (in the advanced track in MCPS) is doing in school through 7th (though RSM is much more challenging than anything MCPS offers in the accelerated courses). But after that RSM is a year ahead. The reason is that RSM breaks geometry into 3 years - you take it along with pre-algebra/algebra classes in 6th-8th. So in 8th grade my kid will finish geometry in RSM and also do algebra 2 in RSM, while in MCPS she will do Geometry that year. She won't take Algebra 2 until 9th in MCPS. |