Anonymous wrote:OP, what did your child have on the CogAT Q? I believe that is what can potentially get you to move ahead (beyond normal AAP track). At has been years now but it was offered to me DS and we declined. It puts you on track to go to the middle school for Algebra in 6th grade and we were not interested in that, nor taking Calculus in 10th grade.
This. Moving grades in ES, if your ES will entertain the idea, will mean that your child will need to attend Algebra 1 at the local MS or online. You need to decide if it is worth it for your child to accelerate another year. It could require you to provide transportation from the MS to the ES if you make that choice. I think some of that is schoold ependent. There seem to be a few ES that have enough kids taking this path that Algebra 1 might be taught at the ES but that is mainly hearsay. The number of 6th graders in Algebra 1 is small, it is not a path the schools are excited to use.
We choose not to ask to pursue that path, it was not offered by the school even though DC had the necessary Quant scores and SOL scores. Our kid enjoys the math competition classes and participating in competitions. The classes have provided advanced instruction with more challenging problems. DC loves them. We have told DC that school is a great place to practice concepts that might be easy but are places where you can make a mistake if you are moving too quickly. Getting those foundational practices down well help a lot with harder classes to come. It is no different than completing drills for a sport before playing a game, you practice the basic skills regardless of the level that you are on, so you are prepared to use them quickly and efficiently.
Other families make different chocies. We know kids taking Calc BC in 10th grade and know a kid who is taking Calc as a freshman, I am not sure if it is AB or BC, next year. You need to find a path that you are comfortable with that your child will be able to handle without causing a ton of stress.