<p>S2 took Alg.1 (fall sem) and Geom. (spring sem) of 9th grade.</p>
<p>He took a placement test that placed him out of algebra 1? What would the placement test have tested for if not algebra concepts? If he did fine, it would seem that whatever they called his 8th grade class, it gave him what he needed to know.</p>
<p>It’s very common here to do the algebra I, geometry algebra II sequence. I think that because of the gap, algebra II starts with a pretty extensive review. He should be fine.</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the student because a lot of people are either Geometry or Algebra people… I thought basic algebra was pretty easy but struggled in the more complex areas, but Geometry was way easier for me, and even the Trig we learned in Geometry…
If your son is planning to take Algebra II as opposed to Algebra II/Trig, then this should be fine, but if he is planning to take Algebra II/Trig, then it may be difficult. The first semester is fast-paced review of concepts learned from Algebra I that the teacher assumes the students already know, so there isn’t a lot of actual teaching, just lots of homework. Then you have to have a good knowledge of first semester concepts to pass second semester, which is half Algebra II, half Trig… several people I know that weren’t good at math failed second semester and had to retake Trig as a year-long class.
Not to scare you away from doing this, just to make sure you assess the situation completely and decide how confident your son is in math, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry meant to say several people I know that WERE good at math failed second semester</p>
<p>Reviewing the material couldn’t hurt, but if he passed the placement test I bet he knows enough basic algebra for the high level math classes. If not you could find a tutor or see if the school would let you take them in the same year.</p>
<p>All math classes before multivariable calculus = really simple stuff.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as “geometry people” or “algebra people”. Those people that you knew who were “good” at math are obviously not “good”. Heck, I’m not good at math and it is unimaginable to fail any math class before Calculus 5 level classes.</p>
<p>Proofs in geometry are not real proofs. If they actually wanted to teach them proofs, they would be using USAMO prep syllabi.</p>
<p>Algebra I takes only a week to learn. 2 weeks to master.
Algebra II can be easily completed in 1 month. Geometry, in 3 weeks.</p>
<p>Algebra II level trig is not remotely comparable to engineering trig.
You just have to make sure your son is not discouraged by any perceived “difficulty”.</p>
<p>I’m not even sure why Algebra I is a class lol, you can learn everything taught in that class in 2 weeks without doing any practice problems, and ace a final test.</p>
<p>Also, fairy_dreams is right, people think I ■■■■■ a lot, only on HSL lol. I wouldn’t ■■■■■ in the parents forum though.</p>
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<p>ha, Lawlz is the unfunniest ■■■■■ ever. Even ShampooSwallower is more amusing.</p>
<p>There is some Algebra in Geometry. My daughter took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. After a long summer, she forgot her Algebra, I had to remind her yesterday. BTW, she was awarded the top Math award from her math teacher for middle school graduation, so don’t underestimate this class, your son needs to do some reviewing of Algebra I.</p>
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<p>Lawlz is a ■■■■■, but I actually have to agree with him/her/it here. Two-column proofs are watered-down to an extreme.</p>
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<p>My son, now in grad school, would disagree with you.</p>
<p>In our school district, it is the rare middle/elem school that teaches alegbra as an actual class. Algebraic concepts are worked into the regular 8th grade math class but the children don’t have to grasp any of it and learning it isn’t really stressed. If they do, fine, if not, no one cares as it doesn’t have any effect on the math grade. It’s more like an extra that they throw in to expose the kids to algebra before 9th grade in the hopes that they will pass it in 9th grade. As background, this particular district has close to a 50% drop out rate. So whatever bit of algebra that was “taught” was apparently enough for my son to test out of algebra 1. He’s not at all concerned about it and told me to at least give him the chance to see if he will be fine. I think he will be and obviously he does also. I just asked him if his placement test was multiple choice and he said not much of it was. That puts me more at ease. I trust the assesment with him coming up with the correct answer on his own or showing that he knows the concept even if the answer was wrong rather than picking out the correct answer. He’s a really good tester.</p>
<p>Geometry is a logic problem. I tanked in both algebras and got straight A’s in geometry without ever studying or paying much attention at all. I could look at a geometry problem and almost intuitively know the answer. I think it does utilize a different part of the brain, and yes I do think that many average non-math people “get” one but not the other.</p>
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<p>And so do many above average math people.</p>
<p>Both of my D’s skipped math classes in high school, and both had some negative impact (one more so than the other). D1 did Alg1 in 8th grade (they allowed the middle schoolers to take HS math), Geometry (9th), AlgII/Trig (10th), skipped Pre-Calc to go into APCalc (AB) in 11th, and took a college CalII class in 12th (her school didn’t offer AP Cal BC. She did extremely well in math her entire life (near perfect SAT), but struggled her first semester of AP Calc. She was told that Pre-Calc would be boring and unnecessary. Seems though that there were concepts taught that she didn’t get in Alg II/Trig and she struggled – got her first and only B. Oh well, no big deal. Good learning experience. She had to work hard, it eventually worked out, and she got a 5 on the AP exam. Just a minor set back – kept her from being valedictorian, but a good life experience.</p>
<p>D2 skipped Alg1. She didn’t take it in 8th grade, but tested out going into high school. She did just great in Geometry. (Because I agree that there are geometry people and algebra people). But she struggled so much in AlgII/Trig that it put her off of math. All of a sudden, a kid that was scoring 99th precentile in math aptitude tests thought she was “bad at math”. She got through it with Bs. Went on to Honors Pre-Calc, but then stopped her math – never to take another course.</p>
<p>Of course, this may just be my experience that is relevant to no one else, but in retrospect, I would have had neither Daughter skip a class. It really wasn’t worth it to either of them. D1 got two college credits out of her journey (an AP and a college class), but it didn’t really do much for her in college given that she didn’t pursue a math path. Sometimes we can be so enamored with advanced placement and testing out of things that we miss the journey of learning, and building a strong foundation of knowledge for future success. I would just be careful that you don’t have a similar experience to my D2. I hate to see strong math students get turned off my math because it becomes unnecessarily challenging and unpleasant.</p>