question about 7th grade-MCPS
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My son has done very well in 6th grade. Mostly As with one to two bs, has not felt very challenged. Most nights he has no hw, already doing it in school. I met with the school counselor yesterday to talk about moving him into more honors classes, he is only taking honors english and advanced social studies an she said "7th grade is exponentially harder than 6th grade. Most kids who have grades like your son start to slip in 7th grade. I would keep him where he is."
Have other parents found this to be true? |
Anonymous
| Has he been taking a world language? Has he been in IM for math this year? |
Anonymous
| What is "more honors classes"? At our middle school, all the 6th graders are in "advanced" english and "advanced" world studies. Outside of being tracked to a higher math, what options are there? Is there an "advanced" science? |
Anonymous
|
We just had a "transition" meeting with parents of students in older grades. Apart from the math tracks, which were heavily discussed, the parents of older kids told us there was NO abrupt change in the quantity or quality of the workload between 6th and 7th grade in MCPS. We are at a school where English and World Studies are all "advanced" with Math being separated in IM or Math 6 for 6th grade (Algebra 1 or IM for 7th grade). IM is apparently the fastest-moving math class in middle school, since there are a lot of very different topics to cover, so whether the student takes it in 6 or 7th grade, it will go fast. It's not hard, but kids have to be alert. We were told that writing starts to get a little more demanding by 8th grade, where teachers expect kids to write essays of a few paragraphs without much prompting. |
Anonymous
there was an option for a more advanced math, a more advanced science, and moving to a faster paced language. |
Anonymous
| Is this MCPS? |
Anonymous
There is only one possible course for science. For math, your child can do Geometry in 7th and Algebra II in 8th grade (at the local high school). For languages, your child can test into any level he is ready for, but anything above level 3 (it may vary by school), and he would need to travel to the high school. Essentially, it's not the difficulty of the class that poses a challenge, but more getting bused to the high school, which is discouraged in 7th grade. |
Anonymous
I responded at 12:37. It is hard to really answer you without understanding what your child is doing in sixth grade, and what the school has recommended for seventh. When you say more advanced math, do you mean that he has taken math 6 ths year, and you want him to skip IM and take algebra in 7th grade? Or has he taken IM in 6th grade, and you want him to skip algebra next year? When you say moving to a faster paced language, do you mean he has been taking a full year 1A class this year? so he would take a 1A/1B class next year? That class would repeat what he learned this year in the first semester, so it would not necessarily feel more challenging to him. I am not aware of any advance science options outside of magnet middle schools, but perhaps your child is at a magnet middle school. As for your overall question about 7th grade being exponentially harder than 6th grade, I will say that DD has taken French 1A/1B and IM math as a 6th grader, along with the so called advanced english and world studies that all the kids at her school take. There have been 7th graders in her math and French classes. It has not been particularly difficult or time consuming. |
Anonymous
Not true about science. Even though there is only one science course listed in MCPS bulletin, the course with "34" is the one that is "advanced." I inquired to our guidance counselor b/c of "Gifted/Talented" designation on science on DC's report card. I think the on-grade level option is "33". Why MCPS won't use 2 course descriptions? No clue. It's MCPS so I never expect anything to make sense. |
Anonymous
Not in the bulletin I'm looking at: p.15, under Science http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/curriculum/middleschool/coursebulletin-2017.pdf Investigations in Science 7 (IS7) (3529) Only course for grade 7. Please post your source, OP. |
Anonymous
|
Does anyone get the feeling that OP is a troll?
Which is strange, because why would anyone troll over courses? What OP says doesn't add up, and he/she won't disclose what advanced classes her child is considering. |
Anonymous
Yeah, I have questions. Is OP a troll? Are OP and 15:00 (talking about advanced science) two different people? Is it possible that OP's kid is actually maybe below grade level, and has been recommended for math 7 instead of IM? |
Anonymous
I am OP. I am not troll, I am also not 15:00. My child is also not below grade level. I was not being specific because I was worried (maybe not rightly so) that the school counselor would figure out who I was. I didn't find the school counselor particular helpful or specific other than explaining that there were other options and telling me that was not what was recommended. I was trying not to call them out. It is amazing how quick people are to cry troll rather than assuming people have other motives. I guess I could have phrased my question differently and just asked if people thought 7th grade was much harder than 6th grade. Thank you to the people that responded. |
Anonymous
|
I am 15:00 and agree with OP that I am not the OP.
For the person who wanted my source, I already said it. It was my kid's guidance counselor. Here is the sentence from her message. "As a side note, “34” is code which we use with advanced students in Science." So perhaps that doesn't mean advanced level of science per se, but my DC is "labeled" as an Advanced student b/c of English and World Studies and is also taking science 7. My DC's science course is listed as "3529_3413" in Edline. My guess is the 13 refers to DC's section. OP, I was going to tell you in another message that I think my DC has had more HW this year, but not exponentially more. DC actually moved up from on-grade English to Adv English in the 2nd/3rd quarter this year, per the English teacher's suggestions. DC was in Adv World Studies for both 6th and 7th. |
Anonymous
|
My daughter found 6th grade really easy/boring (and was already in spanish 1ab and IM)
She stayed on that track in 7th, and no, it wasn't harder for her at all, except for a little struggle getting used to Algebra in the first quarter. Don't see the harm in moving your child up. |