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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The interesting thing about the above PP is that her child will definitely make it based on the lowered standards this year. The question as to whether the child SHOULD take it and whether the child will e ready for Calculus in 11th is a whole other story. I have heard that some schools are placing up to 75% of kids in the program- they must not have a good memory of the old curriculum.[/quote]
That PP here.

If DC makes it to CM, I am not going to discourage DC because I think DC would want to be in the higher math track.  I think DC feels a bit of pressure from older sibling and friends being in CM.  Funny thing is that this is the kind of pressure cooker environment I didn't want for my kids and why we chose to not live in a W cluster.

I had a chat with my kids about taking advanced math, and that taking Calc in 11th grade would mean they'd have to take a "harder" math class in 12th grade.  What if they don't want to major in some STEM field in college?  That extra math class in 12th grade would be pointless, and maybe even still pointless for STEM major since I have heard that some colleges prefer the students take calculus in college rather than HS.

I do recall the issues pre-CM with too many kids being pushed too quickly.  I am indeed concerned that we are going to end up with the same issues.  Sure, kids should be challenged, but is taking Algebra in 8th grade/Calc in 12th grade not challenging enough for the majority of students?

However, I have read that 2.0 Algebra is a lot easier than Algebra pre 2.0.  The "harder" part of Algebra is covered in later math classes.  So, perhaps taking Algebra in 7th is actually not as challenging as we think.  The concern here is that, if Algebra now doesn't cover all of Algebra like it used to, then will the next four to five years of math have to be accelerated for the students to cover everything they need to?  Will there be gaps in knowledge?  If this is the case, then I would prefer my DC not be in CM.

A student can always drop out of CM and go back "on track", but then that student will probably feel a bit humiliated.  Again, goes back to that "pride" thing.[/quote]

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