Middle school doesn’t want to let my kid take a higher level math class!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not recommend taking geometry concurrent ly with any other math class. Terrible idea.

My son did Geometry and Algebra II concurrently in 10th grade, and it was fine.

[Anonymous]

Your thread title is wrong. It should say they don’t want him to skip a year of math completely.

[Anonymous]

Are parents really this out of touch with reality?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not recommend taking geometry concurrent ly with any other math class. Terrible idea.

My son did Geometry and Algebra II concurrently in 10th grade, and it was fine.

But OP is waiting her son to take Alg I and geometry together. A strong geometry program uses skills assumed you learned in Alg I. I think this would be a very bad idea. Algebra I is probably the most important K-12 math class- I wouldn’t want to risk my child have a weak understanding of it. Now also pair this with the idea that OPs kid isn’t going to take an actual separate Alg II and precalc class over 2 yrs…rather they are doing some hybrid version in one year. I don’t think your kid will be set up for success in calculus on this path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m surprised to see so many responses that are against this.

My kid is motivated and wants to excel at something. I’m not going to tell him he can’t try taking a higher level math class. Who would do that?

Are these responses coming from a place of fear? Are we so worried that our kids will fail that we hold them back from trying? If he fails I see it as a learning experience.

Does your school have enough classes to graduate? He’s on an advanced track. The only more advanced is starting in 6th.

No, they come from experience as I have a kid who started in 6th and calc bc as a sophomore.

OP here. Is your kid who took calc bc as sophomore in over his head or unhappy?

We live in a college town where high school students are able to take math at the college through dual enrollment, so there are no concerns about not having enough math credits to graduate.

I think what people are saying is partially this: lots of kids are great at math until it gets harder. You might be ok letting him advance today and possibly fail in middle school, but what are you going to do if he advances and burns out or has a shaky foundation in HS and there is no longer an off-ramp? Particularly if you are targeting selective schools. It feels like the risk might be greater than the reward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m surprised to see so many responses that are against this.

My kid is motivated and wants to excel at something. I’m not going to tell him he can’t try taking a higher level math class. Who would do that?

Are these responses coming from a place of fear? Are we so worried that our kids will fail that we hold them back from trying? If he fails I see it as a learning experience.

Less a place of fear and more a place of understanding that high school graduation requirements exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geometry is where students learn proofs. I would not minimize that. If your kid takes math in college there will be a lot if proofs and proofs teach rigorous thinking in general. Your kid is already plenty accelerated. If your kid needs more challenge, I’d sign him up for Art of Problem Solving.

Not true anymore. Eureka and Illustrative Math have proofs in every grade.

Geometry is just the main place for the two-column style.

[Anonymous]

This has to be a troll.

Calc 1 as a freshmen for a kid has no exposure to the advanced/enriched math world? But the school accelerates everyone by skipping precalculus?

This is like what parents do in suburban Indiana, because they aren't aware that enriched math exists

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I’m surprised to see so many responses that are against this.

My kid is motivated and wants to excel at something. I’m not going to tell him he can’t try taking a higher level math class. Who would do that?

Are these responses coming from a place of fear? Are we so worried that our kids will fail that we hold them back from trying? If he fails I see it as a learning experience.

Send him to calculus at a college over a summer after he self-teaches geometry.

Why? He can self teach and then take abstract analysis at the college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I would recommend finding a math competition program and direct him that way. The math is challenging and more creative. It is fun, develops good math skills, and will give him an excellent outlet for his interest in math. There are some great programs out there.

I've suggested this to my friends. It always turns out that such math is too hard and boring for them and they don't actually want to take all the years of math after they skip the foundations.

[Anonymous]

Ask college professors what they think of all this math fast tracking. It's making our kids dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Believe it or not our public high school doesn’t offer pre calc.
It’s algebra 2 trig, then calc 1.

What district?

What
Is there supposed to be a coma between algebra 2 and trig?

If not, then your district is either uniquely rigorous in a way I can't imagine the majority of students passing, or is doing a very barebones scratch the surface version of math, and your kid's time is better spent learning all the foundational math the school is skipping instead of rushing into advanced calculus and beyond

Take a practice SAT math for 1hr. What does your kid score?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some very bright kids in our district do Algebra 1 in grade 6, which sets them up to do calculus in grade 9. But they don't skip Geometry altogether (which both my kids found more challenging than Algebra I).

Another district that doesn't have precalculus?
What district?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not recommend taking geometry concurrent ly with any other math class. Terrible idea.

My son did Geometry and Algebra II concurrently in 10th grade, and it was fine.

its still a stupid idea.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is the equivalent of saying you are going to self study japanese 2 and enroll straight in japanese 3.

It's a bad idea. Unless there is a test to take to prove competency, there's no way to know you've learned enough to be successful at the higher grades.

By all means, accelerate. But do it through accredited programs that give you the high school transcript credit and have assessments to test basic competency before moving on.

--math teacher