<p>If you have an intellectually curious, bright child, enriching their education (through homeschooling part or full time, summer programs, online programs or a gifted/magnet school if you are lucky enough to have one available) is important for several reasons: 1) the kids learn to love learning and the enjoyment of academics 2) they learn not to coast by in school with very little effort 3) It will be fun for parents too 4) their peers are doing these things, and if they don’t keep up, doors begin to quietly close that are very difficult to re-open, especially in the STEM fields.</p>
<p>Math is especially important, and finishing algebra and some geometry before high school will be of great benefit for science classes, and allow familiarity with calculus before college.
For competitive college STEM fields, most kids have BC calculus, probably multivariate calculus and some linear algebra before college, as well as AP bio, AP chem and AP physics C. The only way to get these classes completed in high school is to accelerate math and science in middle school. These are the kids your child will be competing with in freshman math and science classes in college. Way too many bright kids get blown out of the water in college STEM fields because of inadequate preparation.</p>