Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

It’s not even in Virginia since VA doesn’t do common core. This is an out of state person who doesn’t have familiarity with FCPS.

Given that there’s only one student in the entire FCPS that is in a situation similar to the OP, not sure why this is an issue for you.

New poster: because it’s bizarre she’s posting in an AAP forum.

Lol at the post sorting in the right bin police. Seriously, you need to chill, you sound like you’re coming straight from the cast of ‘The Office’.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

It’s not even in Virginia since VA doesn’t do common core. This is an out of state person who doesn’t have familiarity with FCPS.

Given that there’s only one student in the entire FCPS that is in a situation similar to the OP, not sure why this is an issue for you.

New poster: because it’s bizarre she’s posting in an AAP forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

It’s not even in Virginia since VA doesn’t do common core. This is an out of state person who doesn’t have familiarity with FCPS.

Given that there’s only one student in the entire FCPS that is in a situation similar to the OP, not sure why this is an issue for you.

Taking Algebra early is not the problem that many PPs are making it out to be. Most of the kids skipped ahead like this have no problem anywhere with any of the math. If they do have a problem, they have plenty of time to retake classes, which is a luxury that most other kids don't have. If they take calculus in 9th, then it's not a big problem to do AP Stats in 10, DE multivariable calc and linear algebra in 11th, and then just take a real college class at GMU in 12th.

To add to that, I don’t think graduating high school early is a good idea. It’s better to try other things that otherwise one wouldn’t have the time for, whatever that is for that young person.

Of course every situation is different but some reasons for accelerating early. First is that the learning needs to be at a level that is not too easy and not too difficult, and I don’t agree with the idea of “slowing down’ just for the sake of availability of classes etc. Of course you can go deep instead of going faster, but a lot of times this is equated to studying for competition math which in my view is a bit of a waste of time, and I’d much prefer a real life project based alternative. For STEM it’s hard to get into these projects if there’s not a basic foundation in place and that’s way beyond Algebra 1.

Another reason to accelerate early is that it opens up taking real science classes, particularly for Physics , which has a strong math requirement, and having a wider basic understanding of math is preferable to going deep in a few areas. Then Physics opens up Chemistry which opens up Biology etc.

There’s also the argument that the student isn’t ready because he needs support. At least in some cases this us a misunderstanding. The support is there to enhance and optimize the learning, and in part because a 10 year old doesn’t have the executive function of a high school student. That doesn’t mean he’s not ready for whatever class, I’d compare it more with someone with a learning disability like dislexia, it doesn’t disqualify anyone from taking a class, you just need some specific support in an area you are deficient in.

To assess readiness for a class like algebra there are plenty of diagnostics test to chose from. The one that seems to be used often is MAP, where he got 249 in the 6+ version of the test. To me that’s indicative of Algebra readiness, which was also confirmed by other tests he took.

As for other things he’s doing, he’s playing his fair share if video games, hanging with friends, taking a sport. For music he gave up pretty quickly on guitar and we left it at that. Reading is ok but it never happens for pleasure. Another aspect of acceleration is finding something the child has and interest in and is good at and as a parent nurturing and supporting that part. It’s fine if he drops it later for something else, just focusing intensely on a small area has some educational benefit on its own.

My 7th grade DD is the only 7th grader in her Algebra 1 class filled with 8th graders. (LCPS.) She loves it since it's more of a challenge but it is still really easy for her. Most of the kids in her class however are struggling and failing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

It’s not even in Virginia since VA doesn’t do common core. This is an out of state person who doesn’t have familiarity with FCPS.

I’m still curious where. I’m also interested in what others think of the child needs a lot of support to take the class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

It’s not even in Virginia since VA doesn’t do common core. This is an out of state person who doesn’t have familiarity with FCPS.

What is the end goal here? Do you want to have your child graduate high school early, so they can start college early (and enter the workforce a year early)? If so, accelerating so much is merely shifting a year from this kid’s childhood to adulthood—a trade that most people would not take. If that’s not the goal, what will the last couple of years of high school math look like? And in the meantime, what impact will this acceleration have on the kid’s ability to socialize, and mature, with their peers? In some ways, that maturation is every bit as important as academic success.

I’m all in favor of pushing kids academically to do their best, and one of my kids is “accelerated” in math (though in the much more typical Algebra in 7th track). If we pushed him harder, he probably would have been ready for Algebra in 6, but the school system we’re in doesn’t offer it, and we didn’t see any benefit to it because of the logistical challenges it would create even if we could. I’m truly not offering these comments as a criticism—your situation is unique, and there is no easy right answer. But I would encourage you to think longer term not just about the math track, but the impacts that track will have on your kid’s overall growth and development.

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Since NVCC doesn’t allow it, what community college is your son at? Is the tutoring in person? By a parent or outsider? Just seeking to have this information shared for others. Of course, if the course requires a lot of 1:1 tutoring - esp where you’re figuring out what he understood - one could argue your son wasn’t truly ready for this class as a 4th grader. Clearly, he’s bright but he’s also not on his own. He’s got a lot of support.

I’m an educator. Please don’t do this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Which one? I’ve taught at NVCC and they would not accept a 4th grader. Most are 11th grade +, with rare exceptions for 9th - 10th graders. I only mention this so OP doesn’t think this could apply to her in FCPS through NVCC.

You just need to prove that your 9-10 year old is 11th grade. They are not allowed to discriminate based on age.

You’re telling me this was at NVCC? I will ask the head of dual enrollment (the only way you could have done this) because we were together recently and she said the exact thing I wrote out. And she said no Dean would approve anyone before high school. This was said clearly and directly last week.

Are you just name dropping to show you know important people? You seem to be overly involved in getting the posters straight.

The point is that community colleges could be an option that should be looked at. Often those institutions, choose to not serve the needs of the community funding their very existence. Regrettable, but true.

Maybe you can put in a word with your good friend, that taxpayers want education without that much red tape.

There is a reason for this: these classes remain on your high education transcript forever. If it was about just making money, they wouldn’t care. They want to make sure a 9 or 10 year old doesn’t take college classes, not do well, and it affects their grad or college applications 9-13+ years in the future

So enrollment at community colleges is about 20% less, in some cases dramatically worse. Students don’t see the benefit of getting an education that doesn’t really translate in a marketable skill. Then there’s a stiff competition from online learning like Coursera etc. But no, your community college head of dual enrollment doesn’t want to serve students that would attend, they just know better than the students themselves, their guardians and the school counselor put together… because transcripts.

Sometimes the way the public money is spend just makes you want to facepalm yourself continuously. There are community colleges that try and do better, but obviously yours is not one of them.

For the poster trying to find an algebra class for credit, there are options available. Look for some community colleges, there are programs at BYU, John’s Hopkins CTY, AOPS, homeschooling, charter schools, summer programs. Start by discussing what is acceptable at the current school, if you won’t make any headway consider changing schools to something that’s more flexible. I moved my son to a charter and they are definitely more willing to accommodate my child’s needs. He was moved two grades up in math, because they screen all their students and put them in the grade matching their ability.

It would be extremely difficult for an elementary aged student to stay on top of college assignment deadlines without a lot of guidance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Which one? I’ve taught at NVCC and they would not accept a 4th grader. Most are 11th grade +, with rare exceptions for 9th - 10th graders. I only mention this so OP doesn’t think this could apply to her in FCPS through NVCC.

You just need to prove that your 9-10 year old is 11th grade. They are not allowed to discriminate based on age.

You’re telling me this was at NVCC? I will ask the head of dual enrollment (the only way you could have done this) because we were together recently and she said the exact thing I wrote out. And she said no Dean would approve anyone before high school. This was said clearly and directly last week.

Are you just name dropping to show you know important people? You seem to be overly involved in getting the posters straight.

The point is that community colleges could be an option that should be looked at. Often those institutions, choose to not serve the needs of the community funding their very existence. Regrettable, but true.

Maybe you can put in a word with your good friend, that taxpayers want education without that much red tape.

There is a reason for this: these classes remain on your high education transcript forever. If it was about just making money, they wouldn’t care. They want to make sure a 9 or 10 year old doesn’t take college classes, not do well, and it affects their grad or college applications 9-13+ years in the future

So enrollment at community colleges is about 20% less, in some cases dramatically worse. Students don’t see the benefit of getting an education that doesn’t really translate in a marketable skill. Then there’s a stiff competition from online learning like Coursera etc. But no, your community college head of dual enrollment doesn’t want to serve students that would attend, they just know better than the students themselves, their guardians and the school counselor put together… because transcripts.

Sometimes the way the public money is spend just makes you want to facepalm yourself continuously. There are community colleges that try and do better, but obviously yours is not one of them.

For the poster trying to find an algebra class for credit, there are options available. Look for some community colleges, there are programs at BYU, John’s Hopkins CTY, AOPS, homeschooling, charter schools, summer programs. Start by discussing what is acceptable at the current school, if you won’t make any headway consider changing schools to something that’s more flexible. I moved my son to a charter and they are definitely more willing to accommodate my child’s needs. He was moved two grades up in math, because they screen all their students and put them in the grade matching their ability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is in a similar situation taking Algebra in 4th. He got this advanced because I was teaching him during the COVID times and we had a lot of time on our hands. He is also fairly quick to catch on things. The class he is taking is online through the local community college. I would not recommend an online class at that age unless there someone to tutor him one on one. We tried on line classes, regular classes through the school, enrichment like AOPS etc. and one on one instruction is by far the most effective since you can go back and forth with the student to figure out what he understood. Of course this takes more time and/or money compared to the others.

Another point, look carefully at the contents of the class, some skip material are are not well aligned with the common core. Then, when he house back to an in person class he might not have been taught the foundation for it.

Make sure he is placed appropriately through multiple measures. There are diagnostics test that are free like Khan Academy, or some that you can purchase like IXL or MAP. Don’t rely only on the school because this situation is something they don’t run into every year.

I would also advise taking your time, if it will be two years to go through Algebra 1, that’s perfectly fine, use the diagnostics to find areas that were not understood properly and have him work on them. In the end the goal is learning, not that he takes Algebra 1 as early as possible.

Which one? I’ve taught at NVCC and they would not accept a 4th grader. Most are 11th grade +, with rare exceptions for 9th - 10th graders. I only mention this so OP doesn’t think this could apply to her in FCPS through NVCC.

You just need to prove that your 9-10 year old is 11th grade. They are not allowed to discriminate based on age.

You’re telling me this was at NVCC? I will ask the head of dual enrollment (the only way you could have done this) because we were together recently and she said the exact thing I wrote out. And she said no Dean would approve anyone before high school. This was said clearly and directly last week.

Are you just name dropping to show you know important people? You seem to be overly involved in getting the posters straight.

The point is that community colleges could be an option that should be looked at. Often those institutions, choose to not serve the needs of the community funding their very existence. Regrettable, but true.

Maybe you can put in a word with your good friend, that taxpayers want education without that much red tape.

There is a reason for this: these classes remain on your high education transcript forever. If it was about just making money, they wouldn’t care. They want to make sure a 9 or 10 year old doesn’t take college classes, not do well, and it affects their grad or college applications 9-13+ years in the future