Reply to If they accelerated math, did you regret it later?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yep.  My kid is in APS.  Did Intensified Algebra 1 in 7th, Intensified Geometry in 8th, Intensified Algebra II/Trig in 9th, and then we demoted her to regular Pre-calc in 10th (rather than Intensified Pre-calc) and Calc AB in 11th.  She's taking AP Stats now -- many of the kids she was on the same track with are now taking Multivariable Calc (and took Calc BC in 11th instead of AB).  She was pulled into the higher math classes in 6th grade because of a perfect SOL score, and I wholly regret that decision.  It's been many years of stress for all of us and she now thinks she "isn't good at math" because she couldn't pull As in the advanced classes.[/quote]
Why are you assuming that she wouldn't have struggled just as much with the higher math if she took it a year later?  Also, why are you assuming that she would think she is "good at math" if she can see that a lot of other kids are on a higher math track?

Some kids are the types who didn't really understand pre-algebra and needed more foundational math.  [b]But others understood things perfectly, and then struggled with greater abstractions and higher level thinking when reaching algebra II.  Waiting a year isn't a guarantee that your kid will sail through higher math classes with no struggles.  [/b]

Likewise, some kids are the types who feel like they're not good at math if they struggle on the highest track.  But other kids feel like they aren't good at math even if they're getting As, simply because they know they aren't on the highest track.

There is no easy answer.  [/quote]

I personally experienced this and saw it even moreso with others on the Algebra II by 9th grade track.

And then I knew kids who were bored in the Pre-Calculus by 9th grade track.

Not sure what would have easily distinguished all of us in 6th grade or earlier.[/quote]
You can't, people are wired to develop at their own pace. Abstraction is always hard to grasp, that's why extra time and effort on the student is needed, extra time to cover the difficult material in the classroom, and of course highly qualified teachers who are allowed to teach to the level of their classroom students striving for understanding. When the 'honors' or AP classes speed up to hit x topics in y days, that is when the students suffer. A few students continue to thrive and understand mainly because they were lucky enough to develop a love for the subject at an earlier age and spent much more time with the concepts via various avenues, continuing to get positive feedback, etc. Higher level math concepts aren't easy to understand; they require much more time and effort compared to many other things that are taught in school. Schools and curriculums adapt to this mainly by watering down the content, or speeding through it in a superficial way. In some sense they have to, otherwise way more kids than acceptable will fail the tests. Which is the problem in the first place: the focus on testing and comparison with others is killing students interest and motivation in the subject.[/quote]

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