Compacted Math- what happens if you don't get in?

[Anonymous]

OP-- I know how you feel. If you truly believe he can handle it, I would force the issue. What will end up happening is that math will move very slowly for him until Algebra. He will be with kids who need to move at a slower pace, and this may be very frustrating for him. I would push it with the school only if you have a realistic and firm belief that he can handle more advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really Appreciate the responses. Very much so. I am so shellshocked at the fact that a test in 3rd grade determines whether or not you get to take Algebra early and whether or not you are in group with kids who will challenge you academically or you get stuck in the tedious Curriculum 2.0 cycle doing the same type of problem a million times with a group of kids at a different level of learning than you before you can finally move on to something new and challenging. The latter of which which is definitely the case for him now.

Unfortunately, I became aware of the importance of this test two weeks ago when a friend of mine impressed on me how it determines everything. By then, it was on my radar but too late. It seems so extreme! You are determining a child's middle school fate years out based on a few questions. When it comes to colleges later, this sort of thing will matter, very much so. My son's friends who said they got the question right, all have tutors. The teacher said the questions are things they hadn't learned in class yet. In fact, my son said they finally learned it last week and it was so easy for him the minute he saw it. So the kids who got it right, learned through private tutoring. I wish I had known. I feel like we failed him by not paying for a tutor. But he is doing so well at school, we felt like he didn't need it. He has never struggled. Some astute parents realized the importance of jumping ahead in the curriculum even if all is well. So sad and worried for him. He works so hard.

My son is in compacted math. We don't have a math tutor. You didn't fail your child. Please don't internalize that.

[Anonymous]

I do not believe most parents have their kids tutored in math to prep for this. No way. Definitely not my DC, nor any of her friends (I'm pretty sure) currently testing.