What is normal for 9th grade math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

My kid did it over the summer at a private and it was terrible and really hard. It's too condensed to do in 6 weeks, even if it's daily for a few hours a day. You are better off starting Algebra in 6th or 7th.

Why are those the choices? What's wrong with algebra I in 8th grade and calculus in 12th grade?

Nothing is wrong with it but it's a much slower track than in public. That is the point. It makes no sense to say private goes deeper when each class lasts a school year. For kids that aren't math majors, it's a reasonable track. For kids who are, its not going to get them very competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is in the private school forum?…

My public school kid is completing Algebra II/Geometry in 7th grade. (Normal at her school is 8th grade.)

Glad I’m not paying $50k a year to be several years behind where she is now.

Algebra II/Geometry is *not* customary for 7th grade in public school! So, your child is going to take Calculus in 8th grade?

Someone is confused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

Algebra II/Geometry is the name of the course my 7th grader is in—last year’s course was Algebra I/Geometry. This is at BASIS DC, a public charter school.

I believe my 7th grader is taking the same course typically offered to 9th graders at SWW.

Ok, so what’s happening is that your school takes the 3-year progression of Alg I/Geometry/Alg II and compresses it into 2 years, which makes more sense as an acceleration method than squeezing all of Geometry and all of either Algebra into one year.

Regardless, that is not a typical math progression for either public or private, and does not represent a failing in any other school.

For "Algebra 2" and "Precalculus", there is a lot variation across schools/districts in what is included, and in what order, across these classes.

BASIS DC documentation says:
• Grade 5 Arithmetic B
• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra and Geometry I
• Grade 8 Algebra and Geometry II
• Grade 9 Pre-Calculus A
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus B
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB
• Grade 12 Math Capstone

Note the 2-year Precalculus program.

You could take the same curriculum and rename it:

• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra I and Geometry, part I
• Grade 8 Algebra I and Geometry, part II
• Grade 9 Algebra 2
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB


Or various other ways.
It reflects an "integrated" curriculum, where Alg 1+Geometry are done concurrently, and Algebra 2+Trig are done concurrently.

"Pre-calculus" is just "we ran out of names for classes, and it's not Calculus yet".

These aren't separable courses like European History vs US History vs Geography vs US Government. They are all related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

Algebra II/Geometry is the name of the course my 7th grader is in—last year’s course was Algebra I/Geometry. This is at BASIS DC, a public charter school.

I believe my 7th grader is taking the same course typically offered to 9th graders at SWW.

Ok, so what’s happening is that your school takes the 3-year progression of Alg I/Geometry/Alg II and compresses it into 2 years, which makes more sense as an acceleration method than squeezing all of Geometry and all of either Algebra into one year.

Regardless, that is not a typical math progression for either public or private, and does not represent a failing in any other school.

For "Algebra 2" and "Precalculus", there is a lot variation across schools/districts in what is included, and in what order, across these classes.

BASIS DC documentation says:
• Grade 5 Arithmetic B
• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra and Geometry I
• Grade 8 Algebra and Geometry II
• Grade 9 Pre-Calculus A
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus B
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB
• Grade 12 Math Capstone

Note the 2-year Precalculus program.

You could take the same curriculum and rename it:

• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra I and Geometry, part I
• Grade 8 Algebra I and Geometry, part II
• Grade 9 Algebra 2
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB


Or various other ways.
It reflects an "integrated" curriculum, where Alg 1+Geometry are done concurrently, and Algebra 2+Trig are done concurrently.

"Pre-calculus" is just "we ran out of names for classes, and it's not Calculus yet".

These aren't separable courses like European History vs US History vs Geography vs US Government. They are all related.

In other words, even though they name their classes to allow them to brag that 9th graders are in pre-calculus, they aren't that accelerated.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I asked a simple question and this devolved into a troll fest of public school parents trying to diss private schools and private school parents trying to diss public schools. It is all pretty pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

My kid did it over the summer at a private and it was terrible and really hard. It's too condensed to do in 6 weeks, even if it's daily for a few hours a day. You are better off starting Algebra in 6th or 7th.

Why are those the choices? What's wrong with algebra I in 8th grade and calculus in 12th grade?

Nothing is wrong with it but it's a much slower track than in public. That is the point. It makes no sense to say private goes deeper when each class lasts a school year. For kids that aren't math majors, it's a reasonable track. For kids who are, its not going to get them very competitive.

The thread is about "what is normal" not "what is the most advanced possible." Calculus in 12th grade is actually normal in public school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

Algebra II/Geometry is the name of the course my 7th grader is in—last year’s course was Algebra I/Geometry. This is at BASIS DC, a public charter school.

I believe my 7th grader is taking the same course typically offered to 9th graders at SWW.

Ok, so what’s happening is that your school takes the 3-year progression of Alg I/Geometry/Alg II and compresses it into 2 years, which makes more sense as an acceleration method than squeezing all of Geometry and all of either Algebra into one year.

Regardless, that is not a typical math progression for either public or private, and does not represent a failing in any other school.

For "Algebra 2" and "Precalculus", there is a lot variation across schools/districts in what is included, and in what order, across these classes.

BASIS DC documentation says:
• Grade 5 Arithmetic B
• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra and Geometry I
• Grade 8 Algebra and Geometry II
• Grade 9 Pre-Calculus A
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus B
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB
• Grade 12 Math Capstone

Note the 2-year Precalculus program.

You could take the same curriculum and rename it:

• Grade 6 Pre-Algebra
• Grade 7 Algebra I and Geometry, part I
• Grade 8 Algebra I and Geometry, part II
• Grade 9 Algebra 2
• Grade 10 Pre-Calculus
• Grade 11 AP Calculus AB


Or various other ways.
It reflects an "integrated" curriculum, where Alg 1+Geometry are done concurrently, and Algebra 2+Trig are done concurrently.

"Pre-calculus" is just "we ran out of names for classes, and it's not Calculus yet".

These aren't separable courses like European History vs US History vs Geography vs US Government. They are all related.

In other words, even though they name their classes to allow them to brag that 9th graders are in pre-calculus, they aren't that accelerated.

That's not entirely true. For 9th grade, BASIS offers two options: Kids who are weaker at math and need more time to shore up their Algebra II skills will take the 2 year math sequence posted above. Kids who are stronger in math take a single year precalc class (Pre-calculus AB), and then move on to AP Calc in 10th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

There is no reason for any child to take math over the summer to "get ahead." None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I asked a simple question and this devolved into a troll fest of public school parents trying to diss private schools and private school parents trying to diss public schools. It is all pretty pathetic.

Luckily, your got your answer in the first response. The rest is noise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It’s two separate classes. They are not “combined.”

And yet some places offer them combined. As a PP mentioned.

Many countries teach them combined. It's called spiral math. I didn't even know names of courses like geometry, trig, algebra or calculus - we just did 5th form maths and 6th form maths and so on, and each year built on the previous year and got increasingly harder.

[Anonymous]

These aren't separable courses like European History vs US History vs Geography vs US Government. They are all related.

Interestingly when I studied history in school, we did themes like leadership, nationalism, civil rights, the welfare state etc, and studied a couple of examples of each, comparing and contrasting. In senior year, we spent half a year on the politics and religion of Elizabethan England and half a year on the French Revolution. I guess they were teaching the method to study history, rather than cramming in as many facts as possible.

When my kids here did AP world history, European history, US history, and so on, I wondered how you could ever fit such huge topics in one course in one year. World History in one book? There are massive libraries and museums devoted to this stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

There is no reason for any child to take math over the summer to "get ahead." None.

Agree 1000%. How warped is a previous parent who says "It's best for a kid to HAVE to take a summer math class." Best for who?
It's just so f-ing messed up.
I've had kids in both public and private high schools. My current private school kid can get into the same colleges as my public school kid and friends did without this who acceleration mess.
They can cap out in Calculus and then go on to a top 20 schools. No rushing and taking summers and double classes and 1, 2, 3 years of math post Calculus. STOP THIS INSANITY!

At our Big3 there are kids who don't even take Calculus. And you know what? I personally know 3 who GOT INTO TOP 20 COLLEGES THIS YEAR after maxing out in pre-calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is in the private school forum?…

My public school kid is completing Algebra II/Geometry in 7th grade. (Normal at her school is 8th grade.)

Glad I’m not paying $50k a year to be several years behind where she is now.

Glad I can easily afford to pay $50k per year for tuition. I also don’t need to post on a private school forum pretending that taking Algebra II/Geometry in 7th grade is a flex. My private school children will take Calculus BC in 12th grade. They don’t need to take math electives their senior year (or load up on APs (because they’re not offered at our school)) to be competitive. That’s what public school students have to do.

I hope that your children enjoy the education for the unwashed masses they’re receiving.

that would suck if your kid is into STEM. Most STEM oriented kids in our public take BC Calc in 11th, and MVC/diffeq in 12th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

There is no reason for any child to take math over the summer to "get ahead." None.

Agree 1000%. How warped is a previous parent who says "It's best for a kid to HAVE to take a summer math class." Best for who?
It's just so f-ing messed up.
I've had kids in both public and private high schools. My current private school kid can get into the same colleges as my public school kid and friends did without this who acceleration mess.
They can cap out in Calculus and then go on to a top 20 schools. No rushing and taking summers and double classes and 1, 2, 3 years of math post Calculus. STOP THIS INSANITY!

At our Big3 there are kids who don't even take Calculus. And you know what? I personally know 3 who GOT INTO TOP 20 COLLEGES THIS YEAR after maxing out in pre-calculus.

How does your Big 3 counselor tick the box that the student has taken the most challenging courses when they didn't take calc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)

But this sequence is not typical.

Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.

It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.

Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.

It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.

Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.

There is no reason for any child to take math over the summer to "get ahead." None.

Agree 1000%. How warped is a previous parent who says "It's best for a kid to HAVE to take a summer math class." Best for who?
It's just so f-ing messed up.
I've had kids in both public and private high schools. My current private school kid can get into the same colleges as my public school kid and friends did without this who acceleration mess.
They can cap out in Calculus and then go on to a top 20 schools. No rushing and taking summers and double classes and 1, 2, 3 years of math post Calculus. STOP THIS INSANITY!

At our Big3 there are kids who don't even take Calculus. And you know what? I personally know 3 who GOT INTO TOP 20 COLLEGES THIS YEAR after maxing out in pre-calculus.

legacy? athlete? URM? Obscure major?