My DD did not take compacted math in ES, but when she got to 5th grade, she was miserable. She told me she read books all through math (didnt help that her 5th grade teacher was on maternity leave the entire first quarter). When we went to the Middle School open house (North Bethesda MS), I asked the head of the math department about her skipping whatever math they had suggested for her, and going right to IM. The math teacher told me what she would need to do, she did it at Mathnasium over that summer between 5th and 6th grade, about 8 visits, an hour each,, and she is completing IM this year with an A. No tutoring, no extra help, no strughles, doing just fine. I will say that the Middle School counselor fought me on this: they did not want her to take IM. I told them that it was her request to take it, that she was the one who wanted to do work during her free time over the summer, and that we supported her in this decision and would be just fine. And she has done just that.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with a child who didn't take Compacted Math in 4/5 being placed into IM in sixth grade? This is being discussed for my child. She definitely loves math and does really well in it. Her MAP-M scores are very high and keep jumping -- her most recent one was 265. The reasons for not being placed in CM are murky -- no one from her school was her year and the school at the time said they weren't participating in the CM.
So, anyone have thoughts on the experience of not doing CM and then jumping into IM in 6th grade?

I'm 23:13 and my 6th grader did IM without doing compacted math, because his elementary school was very focused on his special needs and refused to accelerate him. His middle school was happy to make the switch after the first quarter. His spring MAP-M was 259 and his math average is in the low 90s, which in MCPS counts as an A. IM is not difficult, but it goes fast because there is a lot to cover. His middle school teacher told me that the math classes in the same track, Algebra I in 7th and Geometry in 8th, would go a little slower, so that it was all fine for him.