Reply to Algebra I - 7th grade expectations

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Lots of posts blaming the teachers. There are bad apples in every profession, but this is also such a reflection of our times.

Taking Alegebra I Honors in 7th is an accelerated path. It’s not for everyone. I’m sure your child is very bright, but that doesn’t mean this level of acceleration is appropriate for them. It’s a high school level class and things get real at that point… it’s a big departure from elementary school whether you were doing well in AAP LIV or not.

This is not a humble brag, but my 8th grade DC has a 100 in that class. They feel bad about themselves that they waited until 8th, but they also see most of the 7th graders in the class struggling, as it’s the first time those kids have had to really work at something. You can be very smart and not ready to take a high school credit class your first year out of ES. And that’s okay. The math only gets much harder from here. [/quote]

Some teachers are just bad. Our MS has two teachers covering Algebra for 7th graders, one teacher with an amazing reputation and one who is nice but teaches nothing. If you get the latter and can't transfer, you either teach your kid algebra or get a tutor. [/quote]
Which i acknowledged. But in many cases, this isn’t the issue. Honors algebra in 7th (or earlier) is a rigorous path.lots of kids aren’t ready for that. It’s not the teacher’s job to make sure most kids are ready for that level of acceleration. There’s a curriculum designed to prepare kids for algebra and if you skip, you need to be gifted, enriched, or ready to work really hard to do well. 
In my DC’s honors algebra class, the 8th graders are crushing it and most of the 7th graders are struggling. Only the very bright math 7th grade kids are doing well, or those that had outside enrichment. That’s not an individual teacher issue, that’s an issue with kids not being ready to skip steps and dive into more advanced math. 
I skipped chemistry in high school and went to AP Chem directly because my gifted friend did. I was a top student, but not exceptional and certainly wasn’t doing chemistry enrichment outside of school. I ended up doing very well in the class and on the exam, but I had to work really hard for it because I didn’t have the building block knowledge of chemistry as a foundation. Wasn’t the teacher’s job to get me there, I had chosen to skip a step. [/quote]

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