Reply to 100% on Iowa. Should DC take a summer math class?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous]DC is really gifted in math and loves it.

Would a summer math class like geometry between 7th and 8th be worth it?[/quote]
There is only one reason why anyone would attempt such an awful thing, and that is purely because of acceleration purposes, which is a very superficial reason that is completely orthogonal to learning math for joy and understanding.

Based on your description, I frankly believe it would even actually risk [i]hurting[/i] your child's natural love for math. Additionally, practically speaking, K-12 students in the USA are [i]extremely weak[/i] in geometry because of how it is taught in school, and trying to do it all in a summer would almost surely hurt your kid down the road. Even worse, summer geometry barely passes as math, given that it will be very procedural and rote based, in addition to stress inducing because of the super frequent testing (I believe it happens on a daily basis due to the highly compressed schedule). Instead, you want your kid to slow down and cover math [b]slowly and deeply.[/b], with the goal of mastering a few select interesting topics, as well as increasing problem solving skills along the way. Discrete math such as combinatorics or number theory (AoPS offers both as others mentioned), are not only inherently beautiful, but they can also be used to introduce rigorous reasoning and formulating proofs. If you don't want an actual class, attend a math circle if you can find one (although there may not be anything in the summer), short of that try to introduce your kid to some of the math contest questions where they can learn from doing interesting problems as found in Mathcounts (although in my view that isn't as efficient as learning some of the subject material first). Brilliant.org also has a lot of wonderful and interesting material at their level, but does not have full blown classes like AoPS.[/quote]

Although this post is thoughtful, I disagree with the point of view. You can study mathematics slow and deep, but also fast and shallow if it fits your student’s goal. If the goal is to learn the tools for understanding science (physics, chemistry, biology) it can be argued that a shallow understanding of calculus is more useful than a deep exploration of number theory. I’d argue that the usefulness of geometry in science is far less than algebra, so skipping through it over a summer class would be ok.

Personally I am somewhat doubtful on how important contest math is for mathematical education. The skill of working on a problem under one hour time constraint, is almost never needed in a real job, and arguably working in a team, and good communication is a better skill to develop. [/quote]

DP.  I agree with you if you're talking about a college student or a late high school student with specific goals.  In the context of an 11-12 year old who loves math, it's way off base.  Slow and deep gives future options.  Fast and shallow does not.

Contest math in and of itself is not important.  Problem solving is.  Many kids excel at the perfectly manicured problems given to them in class, but struggle the moment they have to think on their own a bit.  AoPS classes will help a kid with thinking outside the box and using all of their tools to be able to solve problems.  [/quote]

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