Does compact math get your ready for IM?
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Anonymous
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Compact math has got to be the slowest "enriched" math class I have ever seen.
My other child went thru the previous system and was on Math 7 in 5th grade and went to Algebra 1 for 6th. So we have no idea what IM is or if this new compact math class gets them ready for whatever IM is in 6th and Algebra 1 in 7th. We keep hearing some kids are able to move into IM in 6th that never took compact math. So if kids can go right into IM after completing 5th grade math - is IM just a review of 6th grade math the compact kids learned? Is there a way kids can skip IM and go to Algebra 1 in 6th? I just seems pretty random and no one at the math meeting could truly even explain what IM is. |
Anonymous
| IM is supposed to be 7th and 8th grade math (pre-algebra) combined. |
Anonymous
| There isn't a "new compact math class." Compacted Math 4/5 and 5/6 are the same this year as they have been the past several years. |
Anonymous
| If your kid is that advanced then they should be in a magnet. My child was in compact math 4th-5th and is now in AIM where they're learning 6th and 7th grade concepts. The class is perfect for her- challenging but not crazy impossible. That said, I'm not too impressed with compact math in general because the difficulty part of it is that they just go really quickly through concepts. I feel like kids really need to spend time practicing and perfecting the skills before they move on to the next topic. |
Anonymous
| What’s the difference between AIM and IM? Do all schools offer both? Parent of a 4th grader in compacted math |
Anonymous
| Many kids complain 4/5 is slow at the beginning and it is but once they get to 5/6 it can be a different story. Lots of Cs in DD's class and the teacher had to create remedial groups because none of the parents wanted to let their kids drop down. This is at a very high-performing school FWIW. |
Anonymous
This is the case with us too. 4/5 was easy for my kid. 5/6 got to be more challenging. Then IM in 6th goes very quickly. You really have to have the basics/foundation perfected before you get to 5/6 in my opinion. |
Anonymous
| My oldest took math 7 as a 6th grader followed by algebra. (A section of IM existed at the time, but it wasn't routine as the 2.0 rollout was underway.) My youngest was in the rollout year of the IM re-write. They did both cover the same pre-algebra topics. But lookout OP, not only are there now almost no students accelerated an extra grade (taking algebra in 6th), the entire sequence was re-written since your oldest went through. The pace doesn't pickup until pre-calc. |
Anonymous
The accelerated pathway is 4th (4/5 compacted), 5th (5/6 compacted), 6th (IM-pre-algebra which is 7/8 compacted) 7th (Algebra I) So no OP IM is not a repeat of 5/6. They take lots of things learned earlier in math and make them more abstract. Like if you have a number to the power of something in the numerator and the same number to the power of something else in the denominator how do you re-write the fraction using variables? IMHO, it's not that impossible to skip Math 6 if you have a child who is bright and can learn and practice on her own. This is why you see it happen occasionally. But it's another thing entirely to skip, completely skip (and I don't mean teaching your child all this at home) from pre-algebra and leap from Math 5/6 straight to Algebra. |
Anonymous
The very last students who went through MCPS pre-2.0 graduated last year. Some of those students were able to take pre-algebra while still in their home elementary school. My DC wasn't one of those, but in HS she had friends on this track. There are the parents who repeat the MCPS line, that this was too much acceleration, and students were missing fundamentals. And certainly that may have happened in cases. But for the most part, the students who had this opportunity did very well because of it. Both because they got to work on math at the level that kept them engaged and because they escaped without being guinea pigs for the 2.0 HS sequence. |
Anonymous
OP here. Yes, this was my daughter. She is a freshman in college. I didn't realize they were the last class that got to do that. We loved that math track prior to 2.0 and she did excellent in it. She even took 2 math classes junior year. I guess her Math 7 was considered pre-algebra and that is why she went into Algebra 1 at 6th. No one asked. That was where she was placed. So what people are saying is that now kids can skip Math 6 and go right into IM, but no one can skip IM. But that Math 5/6 goes too fast and doesn't allow them to digest the concepts. So it almost seems better to not take compacted math? I guess my biggest pet peeve is how slow the math is in elementary school. I mean the absolute first time my daughter was taught time was mid year 2nd grade. Multiplication wasn't until the very end of 3rd and only because she was in a pull away group. So if 4/5 is slow and 5/6 is too fast. Ugh!! I just wish they went at a move even pace. I wish they tracked the kids in math classes, than pull away groups. The smarter groups were hardly ever pulled. And the review books we had for my older daughter? My youngest couldn't do half of the old work books 2-4th grade. Not just the math workbooks she had in school (yes they actually had physical workbooks!!) But even the ones purchased from Barnes and Noble. So we really needed to supplement. I guess she just got the shaft being in 2.0. |
Anonymous
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A mom who was born abroad once drew a graph for me about the problem with math in the U.S.
Basically you have time on the x axis and the y axis is knowledge expected. From K-5 the line edges up very slowly. It's not exactly flat but you're not really moving too quickly. But then in 6th-12th you suddenly have to climb a steep mountain and that's where lots of kids start to fail. In her home country the build up was more like a straight line and steady so kids did not crash once they got to pre-Algebra or Algebra. |
Anonymous
I mean you didn't NEED to supplement. She didn't NEED do do all those outside workbooks. She would have eventually learned everything just not at the same time as your older kid. See there you go. You supplemented outside of school and now you are complaining that things are too slow. You had me but now you don't. You're one of those parents. |
Anonymous
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+1 At least own it if your child is ahead due to out of school enrichment. Don't pretend your child is some kind of genius who is bored to tears and needs to skip into a higher class because she was born that way and then let us know 30 posts down that it's because you taught her at home.
I don't see anything wrong with teaching at home or sending her to Kumon but it's weird you didn't mention that earlier. |
Anonymous
I heard similar things from an admin at mcps. Their explanation was that it's intentional that the slope is almost flat then exponentially climbs during the late middle school years. It was purposefully by the greats mcps minds because they want to ensure that kids have a solid foundation with the early years. Therefore, they keep it very slow and drill kids on five different ways to multiply 3x4. They have to draw it draw it out onto different charts, demonstrating mastery of different methods. Explain it by words. As a math major, I feel this is pretty dumb! My kids are so confuse trying to do the different methods that they actually make more careless mistakes. Furthermore, they know different ways of solving 3x4 but they get so little practice with fluency as part of the curriculum. Now, I tell them to tolerate the method, but at home we teach them the overall concept and focus on fluency. |