how many 6th graders are taking Algebra I at Rachel Carson MS?

[Anonymous]

I have a very bright, math smart kid applying to TJ this year from Carson. He's in AAP and 8th grade geometry honors, and I did not sign off on further acceleration, even though he was "ready" for it. Math needs a strong, solid foundation. Zipping through core concepts to get kids into Algebra faster is a terrible idea. So is the phenomenon at Carson of taking online summer school geometry to get to Algebra II in 8th. The fact is that 95% of the parents pushing this at Carson (especially the summer school option) are trying to boost TJ credentials. And then 1/3 of TJ students end up needing math remediation (which should make you shudder about the state of the kids who miss the TJ cut). Instead of saying your kid needs to go an inch deep and a mile wide, encourage them to dig deep and really explore and understand the concepts they have. We did CTY a math reasoning class instead of summer school geometry, and the summer before that a cryptography class. And right now, DC is reading Martin Gardener logic problem books for fun. You can give your child an enriching, challenging math experience without skipping steps, which just hurts them in the long run. Unless your primary goal is to be able to brag to the other parents that your child has to schlep to the MS for math or is spending the summer staring at a computer for hours a day cramming geometry concepts. In which case, carry on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who plan to go to college usually take it in 6th or 7th grade, so they are on track to take Calculus 10th or 11th grade. This is because it's now competitive to get into college, even a state college. Going to college and getting a degree is not a walk-in-the-park like it used to be. It's very competitive and only the smartest people hold Bachelor's Degrees.

You clearly haven't interviewed recent college grads. There are so many kids whose parents write their papers, etc. for them. If you have a certain amount of money, your kids will go to college and will have a bachelor's degree, whether or not they take algebra in 6th/7th grade

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who plan to go to college usually take it in 6th or 7th grade, so they are on track to take Calculus 10th or 11th grade. This is because it's now competitive to get into college, even a state college. Going to college and getting a degree is not a walk-in-the-park like it used to be. It's very competitive and only the smartest people hold Bachelor's Degrees.

You clearly haven't interviewed recent college grads. There are so many kids whose parents write their papers, etc. for them. If you have a certain amount of money, your kids will go to college and will have a bachelor's degree, whether or not they take algebra in 6th/7th grade

What papers are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The kids who plan to go to college usually take it in 6th or 7th grade, so they are on track to take Calculus 10th or 11th grade. This is because it's now competitive to get into college, even a state college. Going to college and getting a degree is not a walk-in-the-park like it used to be. It's very competitive and only the smartest people hold Bachelor's Degrees.

You clearly haven't interviewed recent college grads. There are so many kids whose parents write their papers, etc. for them. If you have a certain amount of money, your kids will go to college and will have a bachelor's degree, whether or not they take algebra in 6th/7th grade

What papers are you talking about?

No the PP, but I'm guessing that s/he is referring to the helicopter parents who write their kids' term papers, and do other schoolwork for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous[b wrote:]The kids who plan to go to college usually take it in 6th or 7th grade, so they are on track to take Calculus 10th or 11th grade. [/b]This is because it's now competitive to get into college, even a state college. Going to college and getting a degree is not a walk-in-the-park like it used to be. It's very competitive and only the smartest people hold Bachelor's Degrees.

You clearly haven't interviewed recent college grads. There are so many kids whose parents write their papers, etc. for them. If you have a certain amount of money, your kids will go to college and will have a bachelor's degree, whether or not they take algebra in 6th/7th grade

What papers are you talking about?

No the PP, but I'm guessing that s/he is referring to the helicopter parents who write their kids' term papers, and do other schoolwork for them.

This is absolute and utter BS. You can take algebra in 8th grade and still get to calculus in high school. Stop spreading crazy nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on my kids, I wouldn't say Algebra 1 in 6th grade is "very advanced". More advanced yes, but they are definitely not math geniuses.
All the 6th graders appear to be adjusting well as far as grades go.

Not unusual for 8th graders at Carson to take Algebra 2 at 8th grade. Unusual would be the ones who take precalc while in 8th grade - they have to go to HS for classes

High school sequence would be:
Precalc
Calc BC (Stats AP as elective)
Multivariable Calc
Linear Algebra

Yes, that is correct. Just because someone takes Calculus their freshman or sophomore year does not mean they are college material.