Anonymous wrote:At what grade should we consider formal supplements/enrichment for math? My kid is in 2nd grade and receiving gifted push-in supports, but I see this issue looming ahead and am wondering when we should start. 3rd? 4th?

Easier to just start now. It doesn't take that much time each day to do some extra work at home with a workbook. Waiting until later just means you'll have more to make up. FCPS AAP begins math acceleration in 3rd.

We’re doing it with a workbook in 5th just to make sure the foundation is there for pre algebra

At what grade should we consider formal supplements/enrichment for math? My kid is in 2nd grade and receiving gifted push-in supports, but I see this issue looming ahead and am wondering when we should start. 3rd? 4th?

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

My child is in 4th grade and is gifted in math. Said child has tested in the top percentiles of the math inventory and other standardized tests (we moved from out of state). We are so disheartened by how not challenging - and simply appallingly easy - math is for this child. How does a kid get prepared for pre-algebra in 6th grade with this slow, weak curriculum? We are frustrated; I very much did not expect this struggle for appropriate work.

My child is also gifted, during the Pandemic I homeschooled him about half an hour a day on math and he mastered several grade levels of content, then after schools re-opened, he went back in person, all the math work was so easy I couldn't believe it, talked to the RTG and classroom teacher, nothing improved. Basically going to school means socializing but learn nothing. We now moved to a new school. I can see why people who went to private all stayed at private. APS does not support advanced learners, period.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We put our then 5th grader into online Mathnasium once Covid shut everything down kept at it for a year, and then did their summer program this past summer. DC has always scored in the top 1% on all math standardized tests and is now in 7th grade Algebra 1 intensified, and having a pretty easy time with it. Tried to do Art of Problem Solving self-paced, and just was not as beneficial since it was up to the kid to guide themselves through the material. Kids will not know the order of operations and other basics unless you supplement their math knowledge.

Our Elementary and now Middle schools in APS are pretty good, but we always knew we needed to supplement reading, writing, and math - the core subjects.

So what exactly was it good for, babysitting???

I am not this PP, but I said exactly this this morning. What is the point of school if I have to supplement everything?!

Anonymous wrote:We put our then 5th grader into online Mathnasium once Covid shut everything down kept at it for a year, and then did their summer program this past summer. DC has always scored in the top 1% on all math standardized tests and is now in 7th grade Algebra 1 intensified, and having a pretty easy time with it. Tried to do Art of Problem Solving self-paced, and just was not as beneficial since it was up to the kid to guide themselves through the material. Kids will not know the order of operations and other basics unless you supplement their math knowledge.

Our Elementary and now Middle schools in APS are pretty good, but we always knew we needed to supplement reading, writing, and math - the core subjects.

So what exactly was it good for, babysitting???

We put our then 5th grader into online Mathnasium once Covid shut everything down kept at it for a year, and then did their summer program this past summer. DC has always scored in the top 1% on all math standardized tests and is now in 7th grade Algebra 1 intensified, and having a pretty easy time with it. Tried to do Art of Problem Solving self-paced, and just was not as beneficial since it was up to the kid to guide themselves through the material. Kids will not know the order of operations and other basics unless you supplement their math knowledge.

Our Elementary and now Middle schools in APS are pretty good, but we always knew we needed to supplement reading, writing, and math - the core subjects.

I'm the Beast Academy poster. I think you really do have to supplement in a formal way to challenge your kid and make sure he/she gets into pre-algebra. Part of me thinks that the Arlington way of doing it could be worse for equity because by waiting so long, it creates a big gulf between the parents who can supplement and those who can't.

For example, the MI will have questions that require knowing the symbol for absolute value (those lines on either side of the number). Your kid could be a math genius, but if no one taught your kid what those lines mean, your kids will get those questions wrong.

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid in 6th. From what I can tell, pre algebra is the save as 6th grade math. Talk to the gifted coordinator at her school and ask for extra work.

That sounds odd. Maybe they're still reviewing? The pre-algebra kids will need (or should) cover more to get kids ready for algebra.

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

My child is in 4th grade and is gifted in math. Said child has tested in the top percentiles of the math inventory and other standardized tests (we moved from out of state). We are so disheartened by how not challenging - and simply appallingly easy - math is for this child. How does a kid get prepared for pre-algebra in 6th grade with this slow, weak curriculum? We are frustrated; I very much did not expect this struggle for appropriate work.

In contrast to FCPS which begins acceleration in 3rd grade gradually, APS waits until 6th grade to accelerate so as not to miss late bloomers. The result is that content coverage moves slowly through elementary school in APS and then ramps up sharply in 6th grade for kids that take pre-algebra. If you know your kid wants to take 6th grade prealgebra, it's best to have them accelerate before coming into 6th grade, whether working with them at home or through an outside program. FCPS's path to 6th grade prealgebra is well suited for kids who want to accelerate whereas APS's is better suited for kids that are accelerated.

We’re in 5th and are doing a supplemental workbook. My kid has a lot of the math down so he certainly is learning this stuff at school

I have a kid in 6th. From what I can tell, pre algebra is the save as 6th grade math. Talk to the gifted coordinator at her school and ask for extra work.

We were in same position last year. We did a live online beast academy class it was great. Really got my kid motivated for higher level math

Have you discussed this with your child's teacher? We have been getting extra math work since K at two different APS schools (one "good" one "bad")

Hi,

My child is in 4th grade and is gifted in math. Said child has tested in the top percentiles of the math inventory and other standardized tests (we moved from out of state). We are so disheartened by how not challenging - and simply appallingly easy - math is for this child. How does a kid get prepared for pre-algebra in 6th grade with this slow, weak curriculum? We are frustrated; I very much did not expect this struggle for appropriate work.