Grade retention in 8th grade

<p>My kid is a youngest boy in his class. I feel it will be good if he can have one year retention in 8th grade. In middle school, he will finish algebra 1 in 8th grade, But other advanced students will finish geometry. School policy doesn't allow to skip it using summer school or self study. If he has retention, he can finish geometry in middle school. It will be good for him since he wants to complete all science APs and math APs in high school. He won't be able to finish all of them if he cannot finish geometry in middle school.</p>

<p>Could you let me know your opinions about any pros and cons related to this grade contention? </p>

<p>Thanks,
Dave</p>

<p>So you are thinking about holding him back - not because he is struggling but because he hasn’t gone “far” enough? </p>

<p>Even if he takes geometry as a second year 8th grader (assuming the school allows him to repeat?), what happens if he struggles as a junior with an AP math class and gets to the point where shifting out of that class is the only reasonable answer.</p>

<p>I’d challenge the policy of not allowing self study or summer school before I’d hold my kid back for one class.</p>

<p>Why on earth does your son need to complete all math and science AP’s while in HS? He’ll get to do college level work once he gets to college- he certainly doesn’t need to add another year to his K-12 education to cram in college work prematurely.</p>

<p>Where did this plan come from??? And he will go from being the youngest to being the oldest… what will the social and intellectual impact of that be on him???</p>

<p>It’s hard thinking about holding a child in 8th grade vs. when he’s younger. We held our older son back a grade, but he repeated first grade so it wasn’t such a big deal socially. </p>

<p>I’m with Miss B above in that I’d challenge the policy of not allowing self study or a course in the summer. Holding an 8th grader back has such social implications - over and above anything academic. His buddies will be moving on to high school and he’d be staying in middle school - that would be tough. If he’s where he should be with his other classes, I’d look for extra help in the one subject.</p>

<p>His math is about 670/800 in SAT1 (a test for DUKE TIP) in 7th grade. So he is good in math so far. We expect he can finish Alg2/trig in 9th, pre-calc in 10th, AP-calc in 11th and AP-stat in 12th. He also likes sciences very much. We have a long list: Bio, Chem Honor, Physics Honor, AP bio, AP chem, AP Physics M and AP Physics EM. It is really hard to put all of them in his high school schedule and considering he is too young…</p>

<p>I contacted high school and middle school. But it is not easy to change their policy. The district also limits only one science course in one school year.</p>

<p>Holding him back is likely to make him feel like a failure, and that can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many schools will let a kid take the honors level science in the summer (like at CTY or CTD) and then take the AP level at the high school. The AP Physics C is a one-year curriculum, even though it’s 2 exams.</p>

<p>But you don’t have to put all of them into his schedule. It’s fine if he misses out one of the AP sciences. I can’t imagine how bored he’d be repeating all the rest of 8th grade just to fit in an AP or two. The only way I’d even consider it is if he did 8th grade at a different school.</p>

<p>Are you really going to take him away from all his friends, and put him through the drudgery of repeating all his other 8th grade classes just so he can take geometry before high school? From what you have said, it’s hard to believe you are even considering doing this to him. I doubt your school would even agree to it.</p>

<p>If this is so very important to both of you, I think you should try a little harder to get approval for another math class. There are online math classes offered for high school students by various reputable sources. There’s also summer school. They may not offer credit for outside classes (our school doesn’t) but that doesn’t really matter and I don’t see how they can deny your son placement if he has completed the material and verified this somehow. </p>

<p>But really, both of you should understand that taking all the science APs is not a big deal. And you should also think about why your son was tracked a year behind the other students you mentioned who completed geometry. Once you get into the high school math sequence the difficulty ramps up quite a bit in the later years and it’s not easy to slow it down. Too much math too fast can leave students floundering. Our middle school pushes about half their students through geometry and too many of them end up having problems in high school.</p>

<p>Imo, in the absence of extended illness or other circumstances that caused your son to miss a great deal of school, forcing a repeat of a year, would be harmful.</p>

<p>Have you considered the affect on him, when he reaches high school and his peers are a year ahead?</p>

<p>Neither of my kids took Calc in high school, yet both have STEM ( or will have this yr), degrees from excellent schools.</p>

<p>He also might be able to do two maths as a freshman (geometry and algebra II) or sophomore. </p>

<p>My daughter moved to a new school as a freshman. She’d taken algebra as part of a middle school IB program, but didn’t feel comfortable so she elected to retake it (honors) as a freshman. Best move ever. She didn’t get to take AP Calc, but so what? She takes two maths now as a senior, AP Stat and pre-calc, and has been accepted to an engineering college where she’ll take calc.</p>

<p>An extra year in Middle School? Ugh, I can’t imagine a worst place to spend an extra year.</p>

<p>No one takes all the courses available in high school. He’ll make choices, and he’ll have other opportunities in college. </p>

<p>You can look at what science course require what level of math. You may be able to take algebra II before geometry or take both in the same year, if this is a concern. </p>

<p>Socially - I cannot imagine anything more difficult than repeating a year.</p>

<p>When it’s time to go to college, if he feels too young he can take a gap year. At that time he will have a lot more interesting options for a year than an extra year in middle school.</p>

<p>If he takes honors chem why would he repeat the year by then taking AP chem?</p>

<p>This sounds like a recipe for a bored and stressed HS kid. (bad combo). Why not let him take the classes he’s eligible for; do CTY or another type of interesting enrichment program during the summers (he could take number theory or epidemiology or history of science or astronomy or any one of a number of cool things not covered in a typical HS), and then graduate on time with his peers???</p>

<p>I can’t imagine an 8th grader who would want to spend ANOTHER YEAR in middle school. What torture!!!</p>

<p>You’re kidding, right? He’ll have the most challenging course work box checked on his GC recommendation if his high school schedule is filled with all APs. There is no need to hold him back over a couple of courses he cannot fit into the high school schedule.</p>

<p>Wait, you want a bright kid who likes math to repeat a grade so he can take <em>AP Stat</em> as a senior? IMHO it makes absolutely no sense to take Calc BC as a junior and not move on to something else in that series for senior year.</p>

<p>I feel for you on the multitude of science classes. In our district, you have to double up multiple years to be eligible to take all 3 major AP sciences. But really, there’s no expectation of that.</p>

<p>If it were my kid, I’d suggest taking summer classes in the courses that aren’t required by the public school to continue with a sequence. So take stats outside of school, or one of the advanced science classes.</p>

<p>I’m surprised the school would permit you to hold him back. I’m not at all surprised that they are bureaucratic and inflexible regarding summer classes.</p>

<p>Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk</p>

<p>Here is one suggestion. See if he can enroll in both geometry and algebra2 as a 9th grader. Those classes aren’t very sequential and it should be possible to take them both at the same time, at the cost of one of his electives. </p>

<p>Also, try to explain to the school administration that it really isn’t in the students’ best interest to make arbitrary rules about how many science classes they are allowed to take, and push for more. In my experience many of these stupid rules are enforced very arbitrarily. My daughter also likes science and she had no problem enrolling in 3 science classes this year…yet the school refused to let another student take two because “no one has ever taken earth science and biology at the same time”. Some guidance counselors can see a student’s potential and want to help students achieve their goals and some just don’t want to make waves and will retreat into rules like that which doubtless were made by some administrator who once flunked science and decided that science is too hard for anyone to double up on.</p>

<p>You make an appointment to speak to the gc office at his future high school.
You ask for a list of local approved private high schools(usually catholic high schools) that the high school will accept summer math credits.
He will enroll at that high school(open enrollment to non-students is usually in Feb/March) for Geometry the summer after 8th grade and before 9th.
Classes are every day for 3 hours M-F, NO absences are allowed to complete the course for credit.
Then your son will take the Geometry placement test the week before school opens and when he passes he will be placed in the math class sequenced after Geometry.
Yes, you will have to pay for the private school summer class and for the textbook.
And you have to get permission from the high school(ask the gc who provides signature and who has the forms)to take the summer class.</p>

<p>Keeping him in 8th grade an additional year will emotionally cripple him.</p>

<p>He can always take an online math class or do dual enrollment at a community college. All college applications have places to include those - I can’t imagine holding a bright kid back in 8th grade. Plus, it’s quite early - his goals and interests may change. S2 entered high school and developed a passion for performance, so his goals and course selections changed…he wasn’t able to do all the APs he initially thought he would, but he found his niche. I can honestly say finding his niche has helped WAY more in the college application process than the all the AP courses S1 took.</p>

<p>With all due respect I hope the original post is a joke post because I honestly can’t think of anyone reasonably contemplating this action.</p>

<p>Also, try to explain to the school administration that it really isn’t in the students’ best interest to make arbitrary rules about how many science classes they are allowed to take, and push for more. In my experience many of these stupid rules are enforced very arbitrarily.<<<</p>

<p>Sometimes they aren’t arbitrary, but financial. In our school, there just aren’t enough teachers to allow everyone to take extra classes. They have restrictions (by law) on class size and they just can’t allow more kids in the class. Kids can, however, take on line classes. They did allow my daughter to take 2 sciences and 2 maths, but she’s a senior.</p>

<p>A 670 math SAT in 7th grade and you want to hold him back? Most bright kids want to GET OUT of high school and into college asap and you are going to slow him down by a year?
I understand the being the youngest in the class. That was me and socially it was a mistake but it seems like your DS is doing great. If he is having social issues that would be dramatically helped by repeating a grade then maybe but otherwise don’t do it. More importantly what does HE think about having to repeat 8th grade. I would think no matter how you to try and sell it, all the kids are going to think he is repeating because he failed not because you think it would give him an advantage later on…</p>

<p>BTW my 7th grader just took the duke tip and got a 22 in math which is like a 560 math SAT which is a lot lower than 670, he’s one of the youngest in his class and there is no way I would want to hold him back…</p>