<p>Look for flexibility and options but at the same time your son is young. Let him participate in the decisons regarding how to structure his classes to maximize his interests. My freshman boys were thinking differently sophomore year in many ways.</p>
<p>Here is at least one option:</p>
<p>Stay the course for now. Take the Algebra 1 -> Geometry -> Algebra 2 classes. With all these classes it is much easier with a live teacher. You probably don’t have the class schedule time to double up the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes. Many people struggle a bit with the Algebra 2 subjects, so for some school systems, the first part of the Trig/Precalc class is a lot of review. </p>
<p>Assuming that he does well in the Algebra 2 class, take the Trig/Precalc class over the summer at a local CC (they probably will offer it if there is a CC nearby). Otherwise, you can take it thru BYU Independent Study, which is where a lot of my friends who home school get their advanced material. </p>
<p>It would also be helpfull if you or your spouse have enough math knowledge to help out once in a while for the BYU class. If not, at least make sure they stay on track with the class. It is self paced and too easy to fall behind and then he’ll struggle to make it thru in time. It is, by the way, a two part class. You do have to take a proctored final to pass each class.</p>
<p>My daughter took the trig/precalc class thru BYU and it is pretty good, IMHO. Her high school allowed her to advance to the AP Calculus class but she did not get any HS credit for the BYU class. If we pushed, we may have been able to reverse that, but we didn’t. That was OK as she didn’t need it. She easily had enough math credits and overall credits to graduate. You can still use it on your college apps.</p>
<p>You have my sympathies. My daughter had a somewhat similar situation (difficult middle school math period, landing her in lower level science/math route), and she finally ended up in 12th grade really really wanting to take physics; she had not had pre-calc, let alone calc (she hadn’t had the prerequisite physics course, either). They ended up letting her take AP Physics together with the pre-calc, and she aced it. This has had to be her pattern for the first two years of her physics major, though–she has had to take the physics courses concurrently with the math prerequisites. She has finally caught up now, but she’s also pretty much done with the math courses for physics. </p>
<p>While she has managed it, it has definitely been a more difficult way to go than it needed to be; if I had known then what I know now, I would have pushed like hell to get her where she needed to be earlier. Of course, I didn’t know then that she would blossom into a physics major. But in terms of keeping options open, I think it’s worth any amount of arguing with the school, and I have found that sometimes (as in letting my D take AP Phys/pre-calc), it just took asking, and being determined.</p>
<p>Doing precalc as a summer option might work out well. A lot of kids do it in our school. Even if the high school won’t give him official credit, as long as he’s placed into Calc it wouldn’t really matter. It gives you a little more time to make sure he’s got the math down solidly.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the real problem here isn’t how to deal with the math courses, it is that his math track prevents him from taking wholly unrelated courses that he is interested in, such as AP World History. </p>
<p>That is why it is essential to switch tracks immediately. </p>
<p>I would suggest working with the HS to have them let him test out of a math class after, on his own, covering the material using EPGY. He doesn’t need to get credit for the class, he just needs to be allowed to skip into the next track. Not asking for credit–and not asking the school to pay for the online course-- may simplify matters significantly.</p>
<p>The school my children attend allow high achieving children to take both Geometry and Algebra 2 together. This does mean no lunch for those students.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who contributed suggestions. I have a pretty good idea how I am going to proceed on this.</p>
<p>With overcrowding our district would not allow a student to double up in this economic time. My S was on a similar track and since he attended a 4x4 block school he was able to double up one year since they had a space available.
In our area summer school is also for kids who are failing but I know if they have space you can sometimes get your kid in the class. Though the level of his classmates might be low.Check if one of the private schools in your area offer the math he needs in summer school. Or as someone else suggested try the CC.</p>