Reply to Algebra 2 in 8th Grade

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Algebra 2 in 8th grade is actually not that advanced. A student who takes Algebra 2 in 8th grade is above average, but not necessarily college material.[/quote]

Okay, no. This has to be the poster in the college forum insisting that you need 8th grade Algebra II have have any chance at a college degree. It is very advanced. Because many 7th graders and most 6th graders to not have the necessary brain development to really understand abstract math, like Algebra. Nothing to do with smart. Everything to with cognitive development. If your kid isn't ready, forcing the issue means they will never get the foundational concepts to apply to higher math, no matter how much you push and tutor. And this is the type of sh*t that ends with 1/3 of TJ's incoming class needing math remediation.

That said, I would agree that you can force your kid to do a lot of things until they burn out or fail. Which is where a lot of kids whose parents are so hyper competitive that they push advanced math too early are headed. I'm sure some are prodigies.  But many more have pushy parents forcing summer school geometrY. In which case, they can watch all the kids who were "behind" and took Algebra in 7th and 8th, when it was developmentally appropriate for them, go on and succeed at the math they can't do, because they never fully grasped the basics.

Besides, 8th grade Algebra II is 1th grade Multivariable Calc and 12th grade differential equations at GMU.  How many people actually need differential equations?  I asked my engineer husband, and he listed 3-4 types of engineers, some types of physicists, and of course mathematicians. And radiologists (something to do with ionizing radiation). I wouldn't know, because I managed to, against all odds, become a successful professional and never go beyond BC Calculus (which I have not used since my final exam). [/quote]

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