Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not that precocious in math and took Algebra I in 7th grade, along with many other kids in his AAP class. However, what I have heard is that for the kids who are super-advanced, the logistical headaches make the grade acceleration more trouble than its worth. Several of them have said that if they could do it over again, they wouldn't have accelerated that much.

Think carefully before moving ahead so much in math. If your DC takes Algebra I in 5th grade, then takes Geo in 6th, Alg II in 7th, Precal in 8th, Calc in 9th, multivar in 10th. Then math at GMU for 11th and 12th?

I currently teach middle school Geometry and I can't imagine a 6th grader having the maturity to take Geometry - it's a lot more than being good at math - it requires organization, planning, and patience. It would be a struggle.

This is what's wrong with our schools. The low expectations.

What a ridiculous comment.

Questioning whether a student is mature enough to take a class 4 years early is absolutely a reasonable question. It’s also one that should be asked.

Talk to any college professors lately? This unnecessary push into math courses as early as possible is leading to a generation of students who can’t perform in a college Calc class.

The accelerated students aren't taking calc in college. By selection, the students taking calculus are those who weren't accelerated.

Do you have a college student? Many competitive STEM programs will not accept Calc from outside the school and some kids take it again to get an easy A. My kid (who took Calc in HS at a school that does not offer APs) was in a class with a bunch of kids that took AP Calc and had credit but were taking it again. My kid blew them away so not sure AP Calc is all it is cracked up to be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

This year in FCPS, there is at least one 10 year-old taking multi variable calculus in high school (McLean High School).

There is another 10 year-old who earned her admission to TJ, and she didn’t just take the minimum level math (Algebra I, non-honors) either.

I am surprised how many doubt the ability of tweens and teens to learn advanced and accelerated math.

People don't doubt the abilities of individual, highly gifted kids to handle this stuff. They doubt the abilities of kids who have been pushed without much interest on their own part (there is a place for giving a gentle nudge to kids with demonstrated interest of their own). There are both and to act like every kid is one or the other is disingenuous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not that precocious in math and took Algebra I in 7th grade, along with many other kids in his AAP class. However, what I have heard is that for the kids who are super-advanced, the logistical headaches make the grade acceleration more trouble than its worth. Several of them have said that if they could do it over again, they wouldn't have accelerated that much.

Think carefully before moving ahead so much in math. If your DC takes Algebra I in 5th grade, then takes Geo in 6th, Alg II in 7th, Precal in 8th, Calc in 9th, multivar in 10th. Then math at GMU for 11th and 12th?

I currently teach middle school Geometry and I can't imagine a 6th grader having the maturity to take Geometry - it's a lot more than being good at math - it requires organization, planning, and patience. It would be a struggle.

This is what's wrong with our schools. The low expectations.

What a ridiculous comment.

Questioning whether a student is mature enough to take a class 4 years early is absolutely a reasonable question. It’s also one that should be asked.

Talk to any college professors lately? This unnecessary push into math courses as early as possible is leading to a generation of students who can’t perform in a college Calc class.

The accelerated students aren't taking calc in college. By selection, the students taking calculus are those who weren't accelerated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

This year in FCPS, there is at least one 10 year-old taking multi variable calculus in high school (McLean High School).

There is another 10 year-old who earned her admission to TJ, and she didn’t just take the minimum level math (Algebra I, non-honors) either.

I am surprised how many doubt the ability of tweens and teens to learn advanced and accelerated math.

Which elementary schools did they go to? Were they grade-skipped or single subject accelerated?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

This year in FCPS, there is at least one 10 year-old taking multi variable calculus in high school (McLean High School).

There is another 10 year-old who earned her admission to TJ, and she didn’t just take the minimum level math (Algebra I, non-honors) either.

I am surprised how many doubt the ability of tweens and teens to learn advanced and accelerated math.

Which elementary schools did they go to? Were they grade-skipped or single subject accelerated?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not that precocious in math and took Algebra I in 7th grade, along with many other kids in his AAP class. However, what I have heard is that for the kids who are super-advanced, the logistical headaches make the grade acceleration more trouble than its worth. Several of them have said that if they could do it over again, they wouldn't have accelerated that much.

Think carefully before moving ahead so much in math. If your DC takes Algebra I in 5th grade, then takes Geo in 6th, Alg II in 7th, Precal in 8th, Calc in 9th, multivar in 10th. Then math at GMU for 11th and 12th?

I currently teach middle school Geometry and I can't imagine a 6th grader having the maturity to take Geometry - it's a lot more than being good at math - it requires organization, planning, and patience. It would be a struggle.

I had a 6th grader in class one year. He did fine mathematically, but it was awkward socially. Maybe he was awkward in his base elementary school too, but the difference between a bunch of 8th graders and a 6th grader was huge. Very Sheldon Cooper-esque, with the 8th graders staring at him bug eyed a lot for the things he said and did.

Why wasn't he in the same honors algebra class as the 7th graders?

There are a lot more sections of classes in MS. I think there are between 5-10 Algebra 1 H sections for the 7th grade at my sons MS this year. An ES student going to MS for math is getting up to take the MS bus and taking math in the first period. Then they are going to their ES for a full day of classes. Honestly, it sounds miserable and was one of the reasons we did not pursue Algebra in 6th grade.

? If there are 5-10 sections of 7th grade algebra 1, it's even stranger that he wasn't in one of them

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

This year in FCPS, there is at least one 10 year-old taking multi variable calculus in high school (McLean High School).

There is another 10 year-old who earned her admission to TJ, and she didn’t just take the minimum level math (Algebra I, non-honors) either.

I am surprised how many doubt the ability of tweens and teens to learn advanced and accelerated math.

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not that precocious in math and took Algebra I in 7th grade, along with many other kids in his AAP class. However, what I have heard is that for the kids who are super-advanced, the logistical headaches make the grade acceleration more trouble than its worth. Several of them have said that if they could do it over again, they wouldn't have accelerated that much.

Think carefully before moving ahead so much in math. If your DC takes Algebra I in 5th grade, then takes Geo in 6th, Alg II in 7th, Precal in 8th, Calc in 9th, multivar in 10th. Then math at GMU for 11th and 12th?

I currently teach middle school Geometry and I can't imagine a 6th grader having the maturity to take Geometry - it's a lot more than being good at math - it requires organization, planning, and patience. It would be a struggle.

This is what's wrong with our schools. The low expectations.

What a ridiculous comment.

Questioning whether a student is mature enough to take a class 4 years early is absolutely a reasonable question. It’s also one that should be asked.

Talk to any college professors lately? This unnecessary push into math courses as early as possible is leading to a generation of students who can’t perform in a college Calc class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not that precocious in math and took Algebra I in 7th grade, along with many other kids in his AAP class. However, what I have heard is that for the kids who are super-advanced, the logistical headaches make the grade acceleration more trouble than its worth. Several of them have said that if they could do it over again, they wouldn't have accelerated that much.

Think carefully before moving ahead so much in math. If your DC takes Algebra I in 5th grade, then takes Geo in 6th, Alg II in 7th, Precal in 8th, Calc in 9th, multivar in 10th. Then math at GMU for 11th and 12th?

I currently teach middle school Geometry and I can't imagine a 6th grader having the maturity to take Geometry - it's a lot more than being good at math - it requires organization, planning, and patience. It would be a struggle.

This is what's wrong with our schools. The low expectations.

What a ridiculous comment.

Questioning whether a student is mature enough to take a class 4 years early is absolutely a reasonable question. It’s also one that should be asked.

Talk to any college professors lately? This unnecessary push into math courses as early as possible is leading to a generation of students who can’t perform in a college Calc class.

Anonymous wrote:My child is in 5th grade, and goes to a middle school for his Algebra 1 class. It is a challenge logistically, but not impossible. I provide transportation to the middle school each day. His elementary school built the schedule so that his Algebra class would line up with the 5th grade math class (so that he doesn’t miss anything other than morning meeting). It was a challenge logistically, but it is possible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

This year in FCPS, there is at least one 10 year-old taking multi variable calculus in high school (McLean High School).

There is another 10 year-old who earned her admission to TJ, and she didn’t just take the minimum level math (Algebra I, non-honors) either.

I am surprised how many doubt the ability of tweens and teens to learn advanced and accelerated math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.

Based on the VDOE SOL results, there were 4 different FCPS elementary schools that had a 4th grader take the 7th grade math SOL last year. I'm the PP with the kid on the same track years ago, who posted about the logistical issues with skipping ahead. The VDOE data shows that most of the recent years, 0 or 1 kids in the county were skipped ahead. Perhaps FCPS is in the process of identifying more kids who can handle this level of acceleration and facilitating the logistics of aligning classes. If so, that's great. I found FCPS pretty unworkable when my kid went through the system years ago.

The moral of the story is that if you have a kid who is off the charts and would benefit from this level of acceleration, push your principal to see what the plan is for making the classes align so your kid isn't constantly pulled out of language arts block to take math.

Anonymous wrote:PP here whose child is in 5th grade and taking Algebra. In response to previous comments, he is taking the class at Langston Hughes Middle School. So no, we are not in a high socioeconomic pyramid. The county assessed him in 1st grade before placing him in the 3rd grade AAP class. They saw the need then, and that has been his track since.