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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Citation for this?  I was actually present at 2022 Mathcounts Nationals and spoke with parents and coaches.  And you were.....?   
You're full of shit.  The kids there are accelerated to the maximum level allowed by their school districts.  Most areas are more willing to accelerate kids than FCPS is.  That being said, even FCPS has maybe 10 kids per year taking pre-Calc and Calc in 8th.  Kids would get nowhere in Mathcounts without knowing Algebra, Geometry, and even Algebra II (and number theory, and Counting and Probability, and other stuff outside of the regular math curriculum).  [/quote]

There is a difference between 8th grade precalc and 5th grade algebra.  I would expect FCPS has even more than that in precalc.  LCPS has individual schools with whole sections taking Algebra 2 w trig, though they don't let you take calculus right after that.

I've competed at nationals, no one on my team had algebra before7th grade.  That was a while ago and the contest is tougher now(though the top student scored 12 points higher than 2nd place, and 20 higher than the 5th place kid who moved up to 1st.)  Even this year, I know several kids in Virginia who nearly made nationals last year and thus a decent chance this year, none had algebra before 6th in school.  I think you are giving too much weight to the kids you saw, and the majority are not taking algebra in 5th grade.  There are a bunch of states where 30 score is enough to advance, and some even 20.[/quote]
Your information is out of date. BothMathcounts and AMC 10/12 cranked up the difficulty in the last 5 years in a way that, for better or worse, favors more highly accelerated kids.  There also are more schools permitting hyper acceleration than ever before.

You did move the goalpost there.  The original assertion was that a kid taking Algebra I in 7th and geometry in 8th could be competitive in VA.  They simply can’t be.  A kid doing Algebra in 6th and then doubling up later is competitive. A kid stuck learning nothing in school but hyper accelerated at AoPS (like many FCPS kids) could be competitive.  A kid who hasn’t even finished geometry would have no chance.

My observation was that every kid at Nationals fit into one of these categories. 1. Hyper accelerated at school.  2.  Bored and wasting time in school math but hyper accelerated at AoPS.  3. Representing a weak, non competitive state.

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Since we are on this topic (which is somewhat farther than OP's original question), many of the top 50 kids (and certainly most if not all of the countdown round qualifiers) are also USAMO/USAJMO qualifiers. No way they qualify and do well in those if they aren't hyperaccelerated at school (or they are homeschooled) or at AOPS.  Indeed Mathcounts is approaching AMC-10 (Q1-15) in difficulty according to my kid (who made Nationals and JMO last year in 7th). School algebra 1/2 or even Geometry is just the beginning for these contests, especially if speed is paramount.[/quote]

So how do your kid (and perhaps other DCs that are aiming for MathCounts nationals or JMO in middle school) get the math courses tailored to their level?  Are they taking the alg2/trig/calc and high school math contests courses at AoPS and settling with being bored for 1 hour a day in middle school?

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Actually, they are doing pre-Calculus now in 8th grade and work on contest problems and proofs on their own. The discussion groups on AoPS are quite active and apparently more fun than taking a class.[/quote]
What did their school math pathway look like?[/quote]

Geo in 6th, Alg 1 & Alg2 in 7th, Pre-Calc in 8th. We know at least one other kid (in the FCPS system) who is taking Diff. Eq in 9th (having finished Multivariable Calc in 8th and AP Calc in 7th) and several who are on the path to taking AP Calc in 9th.[/quote]

Is Geo in 6th virtual, or in person? What about alg2/precalc?  And how did you broach the topic with the principal/AART/teacher?  I thought that FCPS was loathe to advance students beyond the regular "advanced" math track.

I ask because My DC is several years ahead of the AAP curriculum and is bored to tears in class. We told him to just use that time to practice... But if there's a better route, I'd love to hear it.  TIA.

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