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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When my kid qualified for advanced math track in MS, I was unsure what to do. He'd consistently scored in 99th percentile on MAP in ES (our district's main criteria for advancement), but he certainly didn't love it so much he did a bunch of math outside of the school setting. Also, his es math wasn't particularly challenging, so it's not easy to determine how your kid will do until they are actually in the class.

We decided to have him placed on the advanced track since math was his favorite subject, we didn't want to close out the opportunity for MV Calc/LA as a senior should he want to pursue that. I will say up til this point it's been a good experience for him, though not all rosy.

Alg 1 was a breeze. He struggled a few units in geometry - first time he didn't make all As or Bs on every assessment, there was a C or 2 on some units - but he  did make all As on report card. I don't think the struggle was necessarily a bad thing.  Alg 2H  was challenging but, again, he asked the teacher for clarification when he needed it and made all As in math last year. I think a few struggles in an advanced class are better than coasting through easier/non-challenging classes.

Also, his high school offers off ramps from the advanced track should it come to that. He's currently in pre-calc and he/we can assess whether he should continue next year with AP Calc BC &gt; MV Calc/LA path or AP Calc AP &gt; AP Stats.

If the kid has the drive, has demonstrated ability in math in the present, and there are off ramps available, why not?

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Did your son find most in his class WERE doing outside math?  Was he only one actually learning the material in his class for first time?[/quote]

When he returned to school in 8th/geometry, (after Covid and doing all of 7th grade/alg 1 via zoom), it was the first time he realized SOME kids were studying outside of class, but definitely not all. The few kids who were taking classes/studying outside our district's curriculum are the ones who wanted to push further than the current publicly-offered "most advanced track."

For example, he heard about a kid in 8th who was already taking calculus at the the high school. He did ask me at the time to find out how this was accomplished and to see if he could advance another year. I didn't think this was the right path for him - precisely because he doesn't do math outside of school - and shut it down. Also my feeling was that he was already on a path to get to MV Calc/LA as a senior and honestly how much more do you need? I wish now that I'd at least asked him WHY he wanted to push ahead. Was it because he wanted to keep up with the other kids or because he truly loved math and wanted to do extra work outside of school. But that's done now and I can't take it back.

He's in 10th/pre-calc now and doing fine so far though now he feels just like a regular math kid and not advanced at all. He's trying out this year an accelerated science track (2 yearlong science classes (chemistry & phys) condensed into 1 year) and some of the sophomores in that class are already in MV Calc/LA. That sounds insane to me, but obviously there are kids out there who can handle that!

His teacher at the end of 8th grade/geometry year told the class collectively they'd be in high school with some kids who were crazy-smart, but not to let that deter them and just to keep focusing on your own achievement and trajectory. I do think his first experience with a bit of imposter syndrome in 8th grade geometry may be helping him take this all in stride now.

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