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

[Anonymous]

I have a hyperaccelerated kid (AP calc in 8th). Acceleration is fine, if the kid is fully ready and has no foundational gaps. Skipping content once you reach Algebra is idiotic. For most kids, self-studying or using something like Khan academy means that the kid is glossing over the material and retaining very little.

No school anywhere is going to let kids skip core math classes. The kids who are far ahead either skipped ahead early in ES, or they completed accredited classes at a local college or CC. They are also generally math outliers and not just bright kids who want to jump ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hyperaccelerated kid (AP calc in 8th). Acceleration is fine, if the kid is fully ready and has no foundational gaps. Skipping content once you reach Algebra is idiotic. For most kids, self-studying or using something like Khan academy means that the kid is glossing over the material and retaining very little.

No school anywhere is going to let kids skip core math classes. The kids who are far ahead either skipped ahead early in ES, or they completed accredited classes at a local college or CC. They are also generally math outliers and not just bright kids who want to jump ahead.

This. Math builds in itself, so if you skip (or rush through) an entire years worth of material, you are screwed. You are lost in the new class, and then if you move back to the old class you have missed weeks and are behind there, too.

Our middle school allows self study over the summer but there are many hoops to jump through --take a qualifying exam, then self study with their materials, which ends up being about 5 hours a day, and then take the "Final exam" in August and pass it.

Very few kids do this and the ones that do are definitely math outliers. There is no way the school would just allow it for anyone who asked.

[Anonymous]

My son did AP calculus BC in 6th so you need to keep up OP

[Anonymous]

My kid had a smart, good at math, friend who wanted to be with the most advanced math kids in our HS so he took pre-calc over a summer so he could take Calc as a junior and then MVC as a senior.

This did not work out for him. He ended up not having an adequate foundation for Calc, had to drop down to AP stats as a junior and then was stuck trying to figure out what to take as a senior because he already had taken pre-calc but didn’t have a solid enough base for calculus. His desire to be in the top ultimately resulted in him being behind the group he would have been in if he didn’t try to get ahead by taking a class during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid had a smart, good at math, friend who wanted to be with the most advanced math kids in our HS so he took pre-calc over a summer so he could take Calc as a junior and then MVC as a senior.

This did not work out for him. He ended up not having an adequate foundation for Calc, had to drop down to AP stats as a junior and then was stuck trying to figure out what to take as a senior because he already had taken pre-calc but didn’t have a solid enough base for calculus. His desire to be in the top ultimately resulted in him being behind the group he would have been in if he didn’t try to get ahead by taking a class during the summer.

I would say that many of the FCPS kids who take geometry in the summer and succeed are kids who are doing outside enrichment. They have all been exposed to geometry concepts long before they took the class. The summer class is more jumping through a hoop then it is learning the material. Kids who take the geometry summer class, many because they have classmates doing it so they want to keep up with their friends, without that background find the class hard and a large percentage either drop the class or expunge the grade and retake it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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

There are plenty of non accredited ways to study math and objectively assess competency.

Credit matters if you want to be accepted into a program that demands it, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hyperaccelerated kid (AP calc in 8th). Acceleration is fine, if the kid is fully ready and has no foundational gaps. Skipping content once you reach Algebra is idiotic. For most kids, self-studying or using something like Khan academy means that the kid is glossing over the material and retaining very little.

No school anywhere is going to let kids skip core math classes. The kids who are far ahead either skipped ahead early in ES, or they completed accredited classes at a local college or CC. They are also generally math outliers and not just bright kids who want to jump ahead.

What’s the point of mentioning your kid is hyper accelerated in math? You don’t need to use every opportunity to brag about your kid. A lot of these kids are put on a regimen of extreme prepping, and/or taking less rigorous online classes etc. and usually don’t do that well in AP exams.

Schools let kids skip classes all the time, at my kids school it is based on map score, several kids skipped ahead to algebra in 7th, but likely they have taken outside classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I simply do not understand this mindset.

DS is 7th grade. He’s smart (not a genius) and motivated and likes math. He’s currently taking algebra 1.
He wants to be on track to take Calc 1 as a freshman. He would do this by self studying geometry and taking algebra 2 in 8th grade.

I met with the middle school today and the principal said absolutely not. The school doesn’t allow kids to “skip” classes.

DS wants to do this because his older brother who is 17 and older brother’s friends have inspired him. They love math and are on very accelerated pathways.

I’m floored that the middle school doesn’t encourage kids who want to do more and push themselves. Is this common?

DEMOCRATS.

The democrats are doing this to your child, and countless other children: read this:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/10/california-math-framework-algebra/675509/

Oh, I didn’t realize you were dumb.

That’s sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hyperaccelerated kid (AP calc in 8th). Acceleration is fine, if the kid is fully ready and has no foundational gaps. Skipping content once you reach Algebra is idiotic. For most kids, self-studying or using something like Khan academy means that the kid is glossing over the material and retaining very little.

No school anywhere is going to let kids skip core math classes. The kids who are far ahead either skipped ahead early in ES, or they completed accredited classes at a local college or CC. They are also generally math outliers and not just bright kids who want to jump ahead.

What’s the point of mentioning your kid is hyper accelerated in math? You don’t need to use every opportunity to brag about your kid. A lot of these kids are put on a regimen of extreme prepping, and/or taking less rigorous online classes etc. and usually don’t do that well in AP exams.

Schools let kids skip classes all the time, at my kids school it is based on map score, several kids skipped ahead to algebra in 7th, but likely they have taken outside classes.

A lot of people are blanket opposed to acceleration and will pile on anyone who wants to accelerate their kids. The point here is that I’m obviously not opposed to acceleration. I just think OP is going about it the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.

Many schools let kids skip classes before algebra. Very few let anyone skip anything after. I know a lot of accelerated kids. I don’t know any who skipped core high school math classes.

[Anonymous]

Strictly speaking, Arlington Public Schools didn't let DS skip core classes, but they provided self-paced distance learning for Algebra 2, Geometry and Pre-calc that he finished in 1 year. They pre-tested him to make sure this distance learning was a formality. This is not something we came up with - we just followed APS recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Instead of encouraging your child to skip math class, why not suggest that they take it in summer school?

Then there’s nothing the middle school can do to stop them from taking the advanced classes. Also, it’s much better to learn this stuff in a class than on your own. It can be really isolating otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are parents really this out of touch with reality?

Even just based on a lot of this thread, yeah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I simply do not understand this mindset.

DS is 7th grade. He’s smart (not a genius) and motivated and likes math. He’s currently taking algebra 1.
He wants to be on track to take Calc 1 as a freshman. He would do this by self studying geometry and taking algebra 2 in 8th grade.

I met with the middle school today and the principal said absolutely not. The school doesn’t allow kids to “skip” classes.

DS wants to do this because his older brother who is 17 and older brother’s friends have inspired him. They love math and are on very accelerated pathways.

I’m floored that the middle school doesn’t encourage kids who want to do more and push themselves. Is this common?

If posters here don't visit Colleges forum on this site, you might want to. The following thread (discussing students' math placement in colleges) https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1301110.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geometry is a graduation requirement. You can’t self study a graduation requirement.

NP. maybe not, but could take the class at NVCC or Montgomery College for a grade. School would be hard pressed to deny credit if DC obtained any sort of A or B.

[Anonymous]

OP might want to just home school and/or have DC start taking courses at NVCC or Montgomery College towards a 2-year degree.

In VA, if all the paperwork is filled out correctly and DC meets every requirement, they can have automatic transfer to a VA 4-year college.