Anonymous
05/31/2023 10:38
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
What's the plan for 11 and 12?
Calc AB (11)
Calc BC (12)
May double up one or both years as an elective (AP Macroeconomics and AP Statistics)
That weird. Calc BC is designed to be taken after precalc. Calc AB is for students who need to slow down or stop.
Why rush through precalc in 6 weeks (lessing to weaker understanding of material) only to slow down a whole year to catch up for calc? Take a year of precalc and use the time to read ahead into calc a bit, and then a year of calc BC per the normal schedule.
Some schools don't design the classes so that Calc BC is a stand alone class, so you can't just jump into calc BC because you would be missing the A part. This was how it was at my daughter's previous school.
Anonymous
05/31/2023 08:10
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
What's the plan for 11 and 12?
Calc AB (11)
Calc BC (12)
May double up one or both years as an elective (AP Macroeconomics and AP Statistics)
That weird. Calc BC is designed to be taken after precalc. Calc AB is for students who need to slow down or stop.
Why rush through precalc in 6 weeks (lessing to weaker understanding of material) only to slow down a whole year to catch up for calc? Take a year of precalc and use the time to read ahead into calc a bit, and then a year of calc BC per the normal schedule.
I toes not make sense as the summer classes are rushed and not inclusive of material. I don’t get starting algebra so late except if you are not a math person.
Anonymous
05/31/2023 08:01
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
What's the plan for 11 and 12?
Calc AB (11)
Calc BC (12)
May double up one or both years as an elective (AP Macroeconomics and AP Statistics)
That weird. Calc BC is designed to be taken after precalc. Calc AB is for students who need to slow down or stop.
Why rush through precalc in 6 weeks (lessing to weaker understanding of material) only to slow down a whole year to catch up for calc? Take a year of precalc and use the time to read ahead into calc a bit, and then a year of calc BC per the normal schedule.
Anonymous
05/31/2023 01:14
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
What's the plan for 11 and 12?
Calc AB (11)
Calc BC (12)
May double up one or both years as an elective (AP Macroeconomics and AP Statistics)
Anonymous
05/30/2023 21:34
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
What's the plan for 11 and 12?
Anonymous
05/30/2023 21:33
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:what an eye rolling thread.
my DD is coming to a non Big 3 private from DCPS middle school, and will be in Algebra I in 9th grade.
the only bummer of her math level for her is that she is very into science but the science classes are closely tied to math, so she may not be able to fit all of the science electives she wants to take before graduating.
Which electives would she be missing out on? If she's really motivated and determined to get the prerequisites done, many places offer summer courses.
NP but in many schools, public and private, physics has math prereqs.
Physics AP/2 usually requires calculus as a co-requisite. Bio/Chem don't. Doubling up on Geom with Algebra 1/2 in parallel is usually a good way to speed up if the kid can handle the load. Takes up a course slot, though. Or if the kid is very strong in math, try pushing enrichment throughout Algebra 1 year, study Algebra 2 over sunmmer, and then jump into Precalculus.
Anonymous
05/30/2023 18:26
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:what an eye rolling thread.
my DD is coming to a non Big 3 private from DCPS middle school, and will be in Algebra I in 9th grade.
the only bummer of her math level for her is that she is very into science but the science classes are closely tied to math, so she may not be able to fit all of the science electives she wants to take before graduating.
Which electives would she be missing out on? If she's really motivated and determined to get the prerequisites done, many places offer summer courses.
NP but in many schools, public and private, physics has math prereqs.
Anonymous
05/30/2023 17:27
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:what an eye rolling thread.
my DD is coming to a non Big 3 private from DCPS middle school, and will be in Algebra I in 9th grade.
the only bummer of her math level for her is that she is very into science but the science classes are closely tied to math, so she may not be able to fit all of the science electives she wants to take before graduating.
Which electives would she be missing out on? If she's really motivated and determined to get the prerequisites done, many places offer summer courses.
Anonymous
05/30/2023 17:20
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think we are wasting too much time arguing with one mom who wants to flex and start an irrelevant public vs private school debate.
My DD is transitioning from a MD public school to a private school in 9th. She is pretty math-oriented and does mathcounts, math club, etc. I know what a lot of her peers are up to at both private and public school, which appears to be similar.
There is the standard track:
8th grade algebra I
9th grade geometry
10th grade algebra II
11th grade precalc
12th grade calc
There is a honors/GT/advanced track:
8th grade geometry
9th grade algebra II
10th grade precalc
11th grade calc
And of course, there are always some kids who are ahead of this schedule. And there are some private schools which like to do algebra I as the normal 9th grade math class. My impression is that this is more common in Catholic schools which like to pride themselves on tradition and old fashioned rigor, but I could be wrong.
Schools and districts seem to vary on whether they have kids jump right into calc BC from precalc, or whether they make kids take calc AB before taking calc BC.
Our public school system does not offer multivariable and beyond, so these kids who finish calc before 12th grade would have to take additional classes at a community college for credit unless they are satisfied with AP stats as the only other option. Our private school does offer courses beyond calc bc and AP stats.
I do not think it really matters if you finish calc in your 11th or 12 grade year. This will not make you a better mathematician in college. In fact, some colleges strongly suggest you take their own calc classes instead of using AP credit to skip them. See this opinion piece on why its not good to rush through the math curriculum towards calculus:
https://phys.org/news/2015-11-calculus-bad-students-futures-stem.html
As the linked article shows, high school calculus is not "standard", but it is at the high end of "common".
Only 15% of students take AP calculus. Throw in some more who do IB or private non-AP, or public non-honors calculus (almost always a mistake).
Perhaps it should not be standard, but calc has become standard in our area for MC/UMC college-bound kids for the reasons mentioned in that article.
Quote from the article: "In a typical section of engineering calculus, up to 90% of my students have taken it in high school. While there are some positive aspects to retaking the course, there are downsides, the most notable of which is overconfidence and a student's misplaced certainty that he or she already knows the material.... So this is the crux of the problem: students lacking the requisite foundational abilities may not succeed because the college faculty member expects them to be at ease with these more basic ideas, freeing them to absorb and understand the new, more conceptual material. The rush to AP Calculus has instructed students in the techniques for solving large classes of standard calculus problems rather than prepare them for success in higher mathematics."
Anonymous
05/30/2023 17:09
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
what an eye rolling thread.
my DD is coming to a non Big 3 private from DCPS middle school, and will be in Algebra I in 9th grade.
the only bummer of her math level for her is that she is very into science but the science classes are closely tied to math, so she may not be able to fit all of the science electives she wants to take before graduating.
my DD is coming to a non Big 3 private from DCPS middle school, and will be in Algebra I in 9th grade.
the only bummer of her math level for her is that she is very into science but the science classes are closely tied to math, so she may not be able to fit all of the science electives she wants to take before graduating.
Anonymous
05/30/2023 17:00
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Skipped all the fighting so say I'm not sure what's "normal" but my DS just wrapped Geometry Honors in 9th grade.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
Algebra II will be next year and he plans to take Pre-Calc/Trig the summer between 10/11 to knock that out of the way.
Anonymous
05/30/2023 16:43
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:I think we are wasting too much time arguing with one mom who wants to flex and start an irrelevant public vs private school debate.
My DD is transitioning from a MD public school to a private school in 9th. She is pretty math-oriented and does mathcounts, math club, etc. I know what a lot of her peers are up to at both private and public school, which appears to be similar.
There is the standard track:
8th grade algebra I
9th grade geometry
10th grade algebra II
11th grade precalc
12th grade calc
There is a honors/GT/advanced track:
8th grade geometry
9th grade algebra II
10th grade precalc
11th grade calc
And of course, there are always some kids who are ahead of this schedule. And there are some private schools which like to do algebra I as the normal 9th grade math class. My impression is that this is more common in Catholic schools which like to pride themselves on tradition and old fashioned rigor, but I could be wrong.
Schools and districts seem to vary on whether they have kids jump right into calc BC from precalc, or whether they make kids take calc AB before taking calc BC.
Our public school system does not offer multivariable and beyond, so these kids who finish calc before 12th grade would have to take additional classes at a community college for credit unless they are satisfied with AP stats as the only other option. Our private school does offer courses beyond calc bc and AP stats.
I do not think it really matters if you finish calc in your 11th or 12 grade year. This will not make you a better mathematician in college. In fact, some colleges strongly suggest you take their own calc classes instead of using AP credit to skip them. See this opinion piece on why its not good to rush through the math curriculum towards calculus:
https://phys.org/news/2015-11-calculus-bad-students-futures-stem.html
As the linked article shows, high school calculus is not "standard", but it is at the high end of "common".
Only 15% of students take AP calculus. Throw in some more who do IB or private non-AP, or public non-honors calculus (almost always a mistake).
Anonymous
05/30/2023 15:17
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
I think we are wasting too much time arguing with one mom who wants to flex and start an irrelevant public vs private school debate.
My DD is transitioning from a MD public school to a private school in 9th. She is pretty math-oriented and does mathcounts, math club, etc. I know what a lot of her peers are up to at both private and public school, which appears to be similar.
There is the standard track:
8th grade algebra I
9th grade geometry
10th grade algebra II
11th grade precalc
12th grade calc
There is a honors/GT/advanced track:
8th grade geometry
9th grade algebra II
10th grade precalc
11th grade calc
And of course, there are always some kids who are ahead of this schedule. And there are some private schools which like to do algebra I as the normal 9th grade math class. My impression is that this is more common in Catholic schools which like to pride themselves on tradition and old fashioned rigor, but I could be wrong.
Schools and districts seem to vary on whether they have kids jump right into calc BC from precalc, or whether they make kids take calc AB before taking calc BC.
Our public school system does not offer multivariable and beyond, so these kids who finish calc before 12th grade would have to take additional classes at a community college for credit unless they are satisfied with AP stats as the only other option. Our private school does offer courses beyond calc bc and AP stats.
I do not think it really matters if you finish calc in your 11th or 12 grade year. This will not make you a better mathematician in college. In fact, some colleges strongly suggest you take their own calc classes instead of using AP credit to skip them. See this opinion piece on why its not good to rush through the math curriculum towards calculus:
https://phys.org/news/2015-11-calculus-bad-students-futures-stem.html
My DD is transitioning from a MD public school to a private school in 9th. She is pretty math-oriented and does mathcounts, math club, etc. I know what a lot of her peers are up to at both private and public school, which appears to be similar.
There is the standard track:
8th grade algebra I
9th grade geometry
10th grade algebra II
11th grade precalc
12th grade calc
There is a honors/GT/advanced track:
8th grade geometry
9th grade algebra II
10th grade precalc
11th grade calc
And of course, there are always some kids who are ahead of this schedule. And there are some private schools which like to do algebra I as the normal 9th grade math class. My impression is that this is more common in Catholic schools which like to pride themselves on tradition and old fashioned rigor, but I could be wrong.
Schools and districts seem to vary on whether they have kids jump right into calc BC from precalc, or whether they make kids take calc AB before taking calc BC.
Our public school system does not offer multivariable and beyond, so these kids who finish calc before 12th grade would have to take additional classes at a community college for credit unless they are satisfied with AP stats as the only other option. Our private school does offer courses beyond calc bc and AP stats.
I do not think it really matters if you finish calc in your 11th or 12 grade year. This will not make you a better mathematician in college. In fact, some colleges strongly suggest you take their own calc classes instead of using AP credit to skip them. See this opinion piece on why its not good to rush through the math curriculum towards calculus:
https://phys.org/news/2015-11-calculus-bad-students-futures-stem.html
Anonymous
05/30/2023 13:46
Subject: Re:What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This is in the private school forum?…
My public school kid is completing Algebra II/Geometry in 7th grade. (Normal at her school is 8th grade.)
Glad I’m not paying $50k a year to be several years behind where she is now.
Glad I can easily afford to pay $50k per year for tuition. I also don’t need to post on a private school forum pretending that taking Algebra II/Geometry in 7th grade is a flex. My private school children will take Calculus BC in 12th grade. They don’t need to take math electives their senior year (or load up on APs (because they’re not offered at our school)) to be competitive. That’s what public school students have to do.
I hope that your children enjoy the education for the unwashed masses they’re receiving.
that would suck if your kid is into STEM. Most STEM oriented kids in our public take BC Calc in 11th, and MVC/diffeq in 12th.
They really don't. How many sections are there of MVC/DIFFEQ in your school? And how many kids per section? And how many in the whole senior class? Because even if I assume that there are 3 sections (which I doubt) with 30 kids in each (which I also doubt), and maybe 400 in the whole class, that's still less than 1/4 of seniors who are on this track, and I guarantee that there are at least 150-200 kids out of those 400 who consider themselves STEM kids.
And I really can't even envision more than 30 kids being on that track, unless you're specifically talking about TJ or a magnet school, in which case, I will point you to the thread title of "normal for 9th grade math."
Anonymous
05/30/2023 12:41
Subject: What is normal for 9th grade math
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:^To PP, my 7th grader taking Algebra ll/Geometry will likely take some form of Pre-Calculus in 8th grade. (We don’t know which yet; depends on an upcoming exams among other factors.)
But this sequence is not typical.
Are you the OP? Can you please confirm that your school is actually combining Algebra II and *Geometry*, not Trig? This is baffling to me and I’m 99% certain you are just making a mistake in what you type, and it’s very hard to take seriously. It is unheard of for a school to combine those two.
It's certainly impossible to teach both those classes together and do it well, so if that's the class that OP's child is indeed taking, it proves that acceleration often comes at the expense of actually learning.
Actually it’s not unheard of and definitely not impossible to do. I’m fact I would argue a standard 1 1/2 - 2yr combined Alg2 and Geometry class would actually be better because the students wouldn’t go an entire year without having Algebra. Many an engineer agrees.
It would make sense to combine them and teach them over two years or some schools I've heard do Algebra 1 and 2 and then geometry, which also makes sense. It is hard to do the algebra-geometry-algebra sequence without review.
Honestly, it’s best to take geometry over the summer after 8th or 9th grade. It is an excellent and manageable standalone math class. And many kids who find algebra tedious do well in geometry because of their leaning towards spatial relations or visual learning.
There is no reason for any child to take math over the summer to "get ahead." None.
Agree 1000%. How warped is a previous parent who says "It's best for a kid to HAVE to take a summer math class." Best for who?
It's just so f-ing messed up.
I've had kids in both public and private high schools. My current private school kid can get into the same colleges as my public school kid and friends did without this who acceleration mess.
They can cap out in Calculus and then go on to a top 20 schools. No rushing and taking summers and double classes and 1, 2, 3 years of math post Calculus. STOP THIS INSANITY!
At our Big3 there are kids who don't even take Calculus. And you know what? I personally know 3 who GOT INTO TOP 20 COLLEGES THIS YEAR after maxing out in pre-calculus.
How does your Big 3 counselor tick the box that the student has taken the most challenging courses when they didn't take calc?
There’s no rule that colleges have to care about that box on the common app, or that schools have to answer that question for any of their students. UVA seems to care a lot, at least for public school students applying from NOVA, but it’s not a universal law. It’s just a box on a third-party form. Colleges can even pick and choose which questions they download, and may never see your counselor’s answer (or non-answer) to that question.