Math path. Would like opinions, please

DS2 is in 4th. At the beginning of the year, they moved him to 5th grade math. This rarely happens so there isn't really a set plan for what happens next. So, I need to figure things out.

He did place into the 6th grade accelerated math class for next year. My older 2 did that route and we are happy with it so far. This path goes:
accelerated math > algebra 1 > geometry > algebra 2 > Pre Calc > Calc AB > IB Math HL
That gets through 12th grade. If DS2 does this, he'll finish in 11th grade instead.

My options that I see so far are:
1. Put him in 6th grade accelerated. He can take the bus to the middle school with DS1 and DD. They will bus him to his elementary. He would not miss any elementary class. This makes him have a school day of 7:30-4:00, 4 days a week. The 5th day is only elementary, due to the schedules at the middle school, so 9-4. He does a few after school activities that go to 5 or 5:30pm. He does not do evening activities at this point.

2. Put him in 6th grade regular at the middle school. He could then do accelerated in 6th and be back with his peers. The hours are the same as above.

3. Put him in 6th grade regular math using our online academy. He could do this during math at the elementary, but likely would not have much teacher help since the teacher would be doing math with the rest of the class. He'd then do the accelerated starting in 6th grade and be with his peers.

Some of my concerns:
-Calculus in 10th grade? It's such a different math, I worry that he won't quite grasp it at that young of an age.

-The long day if he goes to the middle school. With the after school activities, he'd have days of 7:30-5:30 a couple times a week. Plus bus time in the morning. But, he'd have elementary time to get math homework done, so less homework at night.

-He's on the younger side. We have crazy red-shirting here it seems. He is a July birthday. I know there will be kids who are 12-12.5 starting 6th grade and he'll have just turned 10. I know 2 kids who did the accelerated path in the past, and both were red-shirted for their grades.

Any other thoughts? Any suggestions on how to make this decision? I've talked with a few people at both schools and have their ideas, but it comes down to me and DH. DS2 says he wants to do the accelerated class next year.

Thanks!

What do they cover in 6th grade accelerated vs 6th grade regular?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by legaleagle

What do they cover in 6th grade accelerated vs 6th grade regular?

---

I'm not sure what is 6th grade regular, really. Accelerated basically skips the 6th grade and does 7th and pre-algebra.

Something to consider is that he would still need to do a math his senior year. Colleges like to see 4 years of math in high school. I’m sure there is something he could do virtually that year but just something to consider.

I generally feel there is no rush as long as he will get to Calculus; but you have to balance that with him being challenged and enjoying math.

Just curious, but are you choosing to accelerate him because he's not challenged enough in regular math and he's ready to move on? It seems odd that he would finish all of his math classes before his senior year of high school, however, I know nothing of accelerated math classes so I don't know if that's standard or not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mmsmom

Something to consider is that he would still need to do a math his senior year. Colleges like to see 4 years of math in high school. I’m sure there is something he could do virtually that year but just something to consider.

I generally feel there is no rush as long as he will get to Calculus; but you have to balance that with him being challenged and enjoying math.

---

There are some electives he could take. AP Statistics, for example. I believe he'd have a class senior year at the school, but I am double checking that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by elbenn

Just curious, but are you choosing to accelerate him because he's not challenged enough in regular math and he's ready to move on? It seems odd that he would finish all of his math classes before his senior year of high school, however, I know nothing of accelerated math classes so I don't know if that's standard or not.

---

It started out as wanting to challenge him a bit and not have him bored. DD was bored and wound up with a horrible 4th grade year because of it. Tears at homework time, etc. I wanted to avoid that and his 4th grade teacher noticed that he appeared bored. He has had to take all the 4th grade tests this year to be sure he didn't miss something, and he's only missed 1 or 2 questions total, all year. Generally, he's had 100% on the pre-tests.

I'd been pushing for something to be given to kids like mine who need to be pushed a little, but nothing has been done. In September, skipping this year was offered, so we took it. It has greatly improved his attitude towards math, which was my goal. But now we aren't sure where to go.

Keep him in the accelerated program. Like one of the PP said there has to be an AP class he can take in there someplace. DS3 has several AP options he can chose from. I would NOT put him in the standard math classes he will get bored and that's never good.

DS1 is taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade. He loves math, and I can't imagine holding him back from accelerated math classes.

If he's ready for accelerated math now, put him in it now. If in 10th grade he's not ready for whatever class it is then, don't put him in that class then. He's not programmed on a path. If acceleration no longer is a good fit when he is older, re-evaluate at that time. But holding him back now could create its own set of problems.

It is easier to cut back and not take accelerated classes later than to try to catch up.

You can also ask about getting high school credit in middle school. My daughter had that option this year in eighth grade. We opted to not take the credit for a few different reasons but in her case, she is on track for calculus as a senior so she will be doing four years of math anyways. If she was on track to “run out of math” early, I would have had her take the credit this year so she would have four years of math on her transcript.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would worry about adding on that extra time and sitting on the bus to and from the middle school for an entire year. Also, agree that a just turned 10 year old maturity wise is very different from a 11/12 and possibly some 13 year olds in 6th grade (as you said that red shirting is popular there).

If there is a way to still challenge him without him having to make his day extra long I would do that. I'd push the school for a less time consuming solution.

Thanks for the thoughts on it. I think putting him in accelerated makes sense, especially because he wants to do it. I was bored in math until 11th grade, and I don't want that for him.

I did ask if we can pull him out after a month or whatever if it's a disaster with the long days and was told that is not a problem. They will actually set up a meeting at about 4 weeks in to make sure it's all going well.

The time is still concerning. He'd leave the house at 6:50 for the bus and walk in about 4:20 if he has nothing after school. Middle starts at 7:30 and elementary starts at 9:05. But, 75% of the time, he's up by 6:30 on his own.

I definitely wouldn’t have him going to middle school for all or part of the day, too many downsides. Is there no accelerated option in the district until 6th grade? If so, he surely is not the only kid bored in math. Accelerated math starts earlier here, but the year before it started for my dd (second grade) a few parents complained that their kids were bored, and the teacher started giving them more difficult enrichment activities during math asa group. Could something similar be done?

DD (12) is on a similar path. She took 5th grade math in 4th grade, and then tested into pre-algebra for 5th grade. Now she’s taking algebra in 6th grade. Our district offers pre-algebra in 5th grade AT the elementary school, so it was a no-brainer to proceed with accelerated classes. I wouldn’t worry too much about the bussing to middle school. DD says there are a couple of 5th graders in her algebra class in middle school. [emoji79]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by westwoodmom04

I definitely wouldn’t have him going to middle school for all or part of the day, too many downsides. Is there no accelerated option in the district until 6th grade? If so, he surely is not the only kid bored in math. Accelerated math starts earlier here, but the year before it started for my dd (second grade) a few parents complained that their kids were bored, and the teacher started giving them more difficult enrichment activities during math asa group. Could something similar be done?

---

No, there is no acceleration until 6th grade at the middle school. I am sure he is not the only one bored in math. I have asked for something like that for the past 4 or 5 years, as all 3 of my kids are good in math and were bored. Nothing has happened. It was not my goal for him to be a grade ahead, but it was offered and there was never another option, so we went with it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by georgiegirl

DD (12) is on a similar path. She took 5th grade math in 4th grade, and then tested into pre-algebra for 5th grade. Now she’s taking algebra in 6th grade. Our district offers pre-algebra in 5th grade AT the elementary school, so it was a no-brainer to proceed with accelerated classes. I wouldn’t worry too much about the bussing to middle school. DD says there are a couple of 5th graders in her algebra class in middle school. [emoji79]


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

---

That is pretty much the same, other than it's an unofficial path here.

If He is bored and self driven, I would let him try it. Especially if it’s his choice to do it. I would never ever push a child to do this, but you are not pushing him so that’s fine. My main concern would be the commute to the middle school, being around much older kids, and the long school day.

Here, the advanced track puts them in calculus in 11th grade. There are some kids who come from out of state or different school systems who can take calculus in 10th, but it is highly discouraged and I don’t even think it’s allowed if you stay in our school system in middle school.
In 12th, there are various choices like multivariable calculus and AP statistics. If that isn’t an option for you, they can take a class at the community college.

My DS was in a unique situation so he self studied from online programs. Like op said, he took all the tests the advanced kids were taking to prove that he knew the material and then he did his own thing and jumped another year ahead.. I am OK with pushing ahead in math if the kid is self-motivated because after years of being bored, he was finally excited about math again.

Maybe I prefer that he take the challenge material in class? I also think the busing and being at the middle school is problematic but I think acceleration is good.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zansu

DS1 is taking AP Calc BC in 10th grade. He loves math, and I can't imagine holding him back from accelerated math classes.

---

My son is a 7th grader currently on this track. He's finishing up Geometry now, will take Algebra 2 Honors in 8th Grade, PreCalc Honors in 9th and Calc BC in 10th. My DD is a current 10th grader and will take Calc BC in 11th. At our high school, kids on this path have options for Calc 3 or AP Physics C (calc based physics) or they can take dual enrollment or online classes.

My son was in a GT Center program in elementary (which meant that all subjects were accelerated one year) and they ended up moving him to 6th grade accelerated math (PreAlgebra) in 5th grade which is how he ended up on this track of "finishing" high school math in 10th grade. I wouldn't be worried about the middle school math class (especially since they're providing bussing), but I would ask that he be given study hall/free time during the elementary math time if the overall process lengthens his day.

I would want to think ahead about high school though and what happens in 8th grade with transportation and classes. We ended up moving DS to private for middle school and he's at an independent k-12 school, so next year, he just has to walk to a different building for Algebra 2 Honors. There are two other boys in his situation and every year there's at least 1, so the high school is used to this. One of the reasons we moved to private for middle (even though we'll probably go back to public for high school) is that our local public schools' solution to how to deal with his math was to grade skip him. He's a young, small June boy and pretty much the youngest in his class already and while he tested as GT across the board, I wanted him to stay with his same age peers.

Finally, think about what you'll do if it doesn't go well. Sometimes it's hard to jump off the accelerated path if the kids hit a stumbling block. If my DS struggles with Alg 2 Honors at private in 8th grade, my plan is for him to repeat it in 9th grade at public school. At our public high school, we have the option of PreCalc (which leads to Calc AB) or PreCalc Honors (which leads to Calc BC) so that's another point to decelerate if needed. With my DD we strongly considered going from PreCalc Honors to Calc AB (which would have been somewhat repetitive) because she struggled in first semester. She seems to have done much better in the second semester (the beginning of Calc), so we're going with the teacher rec and letting her move on to Calc BC

He can take AP Statistics, AP Calculus BC online at several venues or post calculus classes with Stanford's continuing education program senior year (live instructors & classes) or take something at the community college. I bussed to high school to take advanced math, and it was fine. I agree with others that taking calculus at that age is not too early.

In 8th grade, they would transport him to the high school for Algebra 2. Depending on how the bell schedules work at that time (I think they are changing now), he might have to miss 2 classes at middle school to make it work. So he'd miss an elective. I think with what I've heard they are changing to that he could do it in one class period though. The high school is about 2-3 miles from the middle school and starts 20 minutes later. So they'd have 20 minutes to get him there at the end of the day for a math class.

Deceleration is something I'm worried about. I know he could repeat things at middle school without it looking negative on his high school transcript. Past that, I'm less sure. I've wondered if he could use AP Statistics to slow down, but I'm not at all sure. Our high school has Calculus AB, IB Math SL 1 & 2, and IB Math HL. IB Math HL has Calculus as a pre-req, but I'm not entirely sure how the IB compares to the AP.

I'm a bit worried about him on the bus going to school. Middle and high school ride together. He'd be there in a year anyway, but it is a year early. I could drive him at times, but I know I don't want to have to do that 4 days a week.

Thanks to those sharing their kids are on a similar path. That helps.