Geometry for 9th Grade

That was hardly a “humblebrag”, @skieurope. Just a weird thing considering my education.

Many students (and parents, no doubt) foster the idea that K-12 is just about getting a piece of paper saying you did it. Students will often remark that they won’t ever be using this knowledge. In many cases, they are right as far as it goes. I’ve never needed to know the capital of Nebraska or who fought in the War of 1812 or why. What they are not seeing is that beyond the knowledge itself is learning how to learn, to read complex material, to think and evaluate, to apply knowledge in order to gain more knowledge and so on that are the ultimate values of these experiences.

Unfortunately, many of those students come to college with the same attitude. To them, college is also just about getting a piece of paper. Presumably, they think they will be taught whatever they need to know at some job or other that they deserve because of their “paper”. I don’t know. But it’s something I see in my classes all the time. This past semester, I had a girl in a course on electricity, magnetism, and optics say that she didn’t think she would need any of this for her career as a doctor. She had a terrible attitude the entire semester and complained incessantly that I was trying to make them work at something so useless. For her, the course was a waste of time. Unfortunately, I had to waste my time grading her non-efforts. /rant

My D started at a public high school where most kids had had algebra I in 8th grade and started with geometry in 9th. This was fairly typical for our region of Massachusetts. She transferred to a private high school and found that the math sequence was different. Some kids, who were transferring from other public schools, did exactly as you are proposing. These were highly motivated students who didn’t mind working hard all summer.

Definitely confirm with a guidance counselor that it makes sense. UC’s require geometry on a transcript, and very few non-official high school options (especially on line) qualify. So you might create a problem unless done with the blessing of the high school school.

Plus, geometry it is its own thing, and unless your child wants to do it, the result may be educational voids that won’t necessarily be rectified later. So make sure everyone is on board with the goal.

It was a great thing for my kid, but only because he wanted to do it, and the school was ok with him doing the specific program he did. He gets to do more advanced math, which he really really wants to do for his own reasons. Good luck.

The OP has not been back, so it is all speculation, but I don’t think skipping geometry is a good idea. Pre-calc builds on the concepts and skills (proofs) learned in geometry. The idea that skipping a math class through a placement test is equivalent to taking the class is flawed. Is there any evidence that colleges are more likely to accept a kid under those conditions?

@mom2and , OP is talking about doing it in summer school, not skipping?

^Yes, I think it was @ewho who suggested looking into a way to test out altogether.

My children liked taking Geometry and Physics over the summer since there was no competing homework. The classes do not last the whole summer break and are taught every year at their public high school.

There are learning centers such as Sylvan or others or even online courses that offer geometry courses. Google it.

^^ But if you do choose this route, check with your kids’ school first to ensure that they’ll accept the course. My school would not.

Nor would mine.

Our school will only accept summer school if it’s credit recovery. And, to qualify for credit recovery, you had to have made an F in the course during the school year.

I’ve just checked the summer school schedule in our high school district. I may be misunderstanding but it looks like they no longer offer course for advancement, only credit recovery (for those who had Fs, or Ds in course needed for college). Previously they had separated the classes for advancement and those for credit recovery.