IM in 4th grade?

[Anonymous]

I was searching through the history and found a few cases of students taking IM in 4th grade. Granted, this is highly unusual. If anyone knows how the school accommodated this, would you be willing to share? We are looking at our son being in this situation in the future and I am not excited about sending my will-be-9-year-old by then to the middle school for math. Are there any other options? Even online options that he could do possibly?

[Anonymous]

You can supplement all you want, but I would not expect an easy time convincing anyone to send your 4th grader to IM under Curriculum 2.0.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can supplement all you want, but I would not expect an easy time convincing anyone to send your 4th grader to IM under Curriculum 2.0.

+1 Also, there is no IM in ES, so your son would have to go to the MS if they allow it. There are lots of online options--try EPGY or CTY.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I'm not thrilled about him taking IM as a 4th grader. But he was moved from his first grade math into 3rd grade math this year and is recommended for 4/5 as a second grader next year. That would lead to IM in 4th grade, which the office of acceleration and enrichment wanted us to understand could have it's drawbacks, which I understand. We're trying to visualize/plan how to have his math instruction impact the rest of his school day as little as possible.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone had experience with MCPS letting their child take a CTY class instead of an MCPS math course?

[Anonymous]

Our kid did compacted 4/5 as a 3rd grader and the logistics of sustaining the acceleration are a huge hassle (but better than him continuing to be miserable sitting through a slow presentation of math he already knows).
We have so far had no luck getting independent or online study approved.

[Anonymous]

Yes, that's a little crazy ... Unless you hope he graduates early and goes to MIT. The end game is also ugly. Algebra in 5th (at MS), Geometry in 6th (at MS), Alg 2/Precalc in 7th (at MS), calc in 8 th (at HS) and then 4 more years of required math through the HS. I can only imagine this working at Blair.

Is your child miserable without this acceleration? There is the regular 4th and 5 th grade math track rather than compacted. If heading to MS for math, plan to go to an early morning class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone had experience with MCPS letting their child take a CTY class instead of an MCPS math course?

I asked this and was told no by my school principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kid did compacted 4/5 as a 3rd grader and the logistics of sustaining the acceleration are a huge hassle (but better than him continuing to be miserable sitting through a slow presentation of math he already knows).
We have so far had no luck getting independent or online study approved.

Did you child go to the local middle school for IM as a 5th grader?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, that's a little crazy ... Unless you hope he graduates early and goes to MIT. The end game is also ugly. Algebra in 5th (at MS), Geometry in 6th (at MS), Alg 2/Precalc in 7th (at MS), calc in 8 th (at HS) and then 4 more years of required math through the HS. I can only imagine this working at Blair.

Is your child miserable without this acceleration? There is the regular 4th and 5 th grade math track rather than compacted. If heading to MS for math, plan to go to an early morning class.

OP here- Agreed, it's a little crazy. We asked for a meeting to discuss his math placement when he started complaining that he didn't like math and didn't want to do his homework, where before he loved anything to do with math. We thought they might bump him to 2nd, but we were very surprised they put him in 3rd. He does love it though, and the teacher reports he is one of the top students. Math is certainly his favorite part of the day, but the long-term repercussions are intimidating to say the least. Yes, he would probably have to end up at a magnet, but it just seems to early to think about that when he's in first grade!

[Anonymous]

Kids generally take the middle school bus and arrive at the middle school for math during first period. You could also drop your child off if your son would be uncomfortable on the bus with the older kids.

I do know of one 4th grader in IM right now and she likes the math but not being with the 6th and 7th graders. That is another thing to consider, IM is a mixed age class so some of those children will be a lot more mature than your son. Family feels trapped that there is not a better option.

[Anonymous]

OP, I wouldn't worry about the endgame just yet--you'll drive yourself crazy and lots can change between now and then since your son is only in first grade! Put him in the class that seems appropriate and worry about the rest later. I will say, though, that as things currently stand, you won't be able to avoid traveling to MS in ES, and then to HS in MS. Even at TPMS/Clemente the highest class offered for 8th grade is Alg 2. (And that assumes your child will even get into TPMS. While he probably would, it's not a guarantee and the acceptance rate is something like 1 in 10.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids generally take the middle school bus and arrive at the middle school for math during first period. You could also drop your child off if your son would be uncomfortable on the bus with the older kids.

I do know of one 4th grader in IM right now and she likes the math but not being with the 6th and 7th graders. That is another thing to consider, IM is a mixed age class so some of those children will be a lot more mature than your son. Family feels trapped that there is not a better option.

OP- This is my concern. Trying to be the only 4th grader in a class of 6/7th graders seems like a disaster. It seems there are enough 5th graders in the magnets taking IM that they could pull a class together for 4/5th graders who need to take IM. I'm sure transportation is a struggle either way.

[Anonymous]

It's a really frustrating set up, I wish MCPS would provide actual enrichment so kids could stay with their peers. Our repeated requests never got us much more than Sudoku puzzles. There is so much math in the world outside what is included in the standard curriculum, but the teachers don't seem to have access to appropriate materials.

We chose acceleration, but it really does trap you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I wouldn't worry about the endgame just yet--you'll drive yourself crazy and lots can change between now and then since your son is only in first grade! Put him in the class that seems appropriate and worry about the rest later. I will say, though, that as things currently stand, you won't be able to avoid traveling to MS in ES, and then to HS in MS. Even at TPMS/Clemente the highest class offered for 8th grade is Alg 2. (And that assumes your child will even get into TPMS. While he probably would, it's not a guarantee and the acceptance rate is something like 1 in 10.)

Thank you, and I agree. I appreciate the acceleration/enrichment office trying to give us a big picture, but thinking about high school for a first grader seems excessive. So much could change. What we do need to decide now is whether to accept the 4/5 recommendation for next year, or refuse it and put him in regular 4. His math teacher and principal seem to think he really belongs in the 4/5 and that he'd be frustrated in 4.