<p>I would like to begin by saying I know that Alg1 as a freshman is the norm so I don't really mean "behind" but I am curious what the experience of other people has been.</p>
<p>This is what I mean. My son is a freshman and is taking Alg 1. His older sister who was also not a strong math student but who was more driven to do well, was in Geometry as a freshman. When she took the SAT she found that she had missed the Alg 1 questions most frequently. At the time she was enrolled in a trig class as a junior and hadn't had Alg 1 since she had been an 8th grader. </p>
<p>So I am curious. Is there some hope that there is hidden a benefit here? Since his Alg 1 experience will be more recent is there a chance that his math track could actually work in his favor?</p>
<p>If your child is in an advanced math class, it would behoove him/her to review (with a tutor if necessary) Algebra and Geometry prioir to sitting for the SAT. having said that, one should be mondful that competetive colleges are looking for students who take the most rigorous course schedule offered at the respective schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is bad to take Alg. I freshman year. Only some students use their acceleration to skip Calc I and/or II in college. I suppose some place out of math reqs in college using their HS AP Calc.</p>
<p>I think it’s more a matter of learning the material, not when you learn it (at least for Algebra). The stuff you learn in Alg 1 should be repeated in Alg 2 and whatever you take after that. So if you have a grasp of the material and sufficient problem solving skills, there’s no reason to forget it. Geometry is slightly different because the material often isn’t repeated again, so it’s easier to forget.</p>
<p>oh rodney, thank you for coming to my aid but I really did lol at mathmom’s comment She illustrated that even a math whiz (which neither of the two kids I am talking about are) screwed up on the Algebra 1 question. I think that is the way it was intended and that is the way I took it. All is well.</p>
<p>glido your point is well taken and I think that both of my daughters would have profited from a good solid Algebra review prior to taking the tests.</p>
<p>Queen’s mom it’s OK, this particular child is NOT going to be applying to elite colleges, attends a high school where there are only 5 different science offerings. He will take Bio and Chem and is currently in Earth Science. Not having a gift or interest I doubt I will be able to get him to take physics but who knows Sr. year is a long way off.</p>
<p>Sorry if I came off as boasting. In any event I think it’s hard to predict where kids will flub up on these tests. That said, in our school system it’s very easy to jump into the faster track by doing pre-calc in the summer, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless a few years down the pike your child thinks they are misplaced. It doesn’t sound like it at this point. Reviewing before the SATs is nearly always a good idea.</p>
<p>1) Taking Algebra I as a freshman is not behind in math. </p>
<p>2) The SAT is a useless exam that compares your quantative aptitude to other students. Other than college applications and some scholarships, it is not a useful test. </p>
<p>Math is (in my opinion) a very important subject if your kid wants to do a science or technical field. Learning as much as he/she can about Algebra is very good. Whether he/she does that as a freshman or 7th grader will make little difference in the long run.</p>
<p>In my kids’ school, it is common to accelerate-- and the teachers often complain that the kids don’t have the basics down. I think this weakness shows up when they’re taking Calc and don’t have the basic Algebra down. So I would say that it’s really immaterial if the kid learns it in 8th or 9th as long as he learns it. If at some point he decides that he wants to take Calc in high school or accelerate in science, he can take geometry or precalc in the summer.</p>
<p>“2) The SAT is a useless exam that compares your quantative aptitude to other students. Other than college applications and some scholarships, it is not a useful test.”</p>
<p>Did you take the SATs? If so, how did your scores benefit you beside college applications (for competitive schools) or scholarships?</p>
<p>I took the SATs. They were useful for scholarships and bragging rights. Employers don’t care about your SAT scores. Grad school doesn’t care about SAT scores. I don’t take them in with me at performance reviews to try to get a better raise. However, my ability to spell does directly help my performance reviews. My knowledge of science. My ability to stay physically fit. And a ton of other things that I learned in high school</p>
<p>That’s not saying that you don’t need to worry about it, but I think parents should recognize that what a student learns in high school is far more encompassing than the SAT and I think your overall learning is much more important in life than how you perform on a SAT.</p>
<p>OP - I think you have a valid point - but regardless of which math a student has in 10th and 11th grades - they need to review practice math problems for the SAT and ACT. My older son is very strong in math and took algebra 1 in 8th grade - so by 11th he was in AP Calc BC when he took the SAT and ACT. He did a lot of practice problems and review. I remember there was an easy problem on interpreting a pie chart that he missed - he was overthinking it - so the more practice problems the better. Younger son is 1 year “behind” and took algebra 1 in 9th grade - so yes - I had not thought about that - but he will have had 2 years of algebra and 1 year of geometry right before taking the ACT this coming fall - so maybe that is a good thing - it will be fresher in his mind. Wishful thinking anyway.</p>
<p>My daughter was in BC calculus when she took the SAT. It was not a problem. The Algebra I skills stay with you. Some of the Geometry skills don’t, but what’s on the SAT is not pure geometry anyway.</p>
<p>For all students, it’s a good idea to get some review books and practice SAT math problems before the test. There’s a certain pattern to the kind of questions that are asked, and it helps to get used to it.</p>
<p>The most important thing is that the student is satisfied with the challenge and is understanding the material well. If it isn’t challenging enough then they will be miserable, and the same goes for if they aren’t getting it.</p>
<p>I was considered mildly advanced taking Algebra 1 in 6th grade, but I wished I took it sooner. I was fairly miserable in 3rd-5th taking the same Pre-Alg over and over again.</p>
<p>I just want to reiterate how important enjoying the class is. The course that properly challenges the student and sparks an interest is the proper choice. Not what the school system deems advanced, on track, or behind.</p>
<p>Edit: As for the SAT, it is all about focusing on not over-thinking. I can’t tell you how many times I saw graphs and wanted to integrate instead of finding the y-intercept.</p>
<p>I recommend after taking AP Calc, Multi or whatever math course you’re taking to just not think about math for a while before taking the SAT. Then start studying for it a week or two ahead of time. That way you will not be thinking about advanced topics. This only works if it is the end of the year and you can re-learn everything for you next course. That technique improved my Freshman year SAT score of 710 (lots of stupid mistakes) to a junior year 800.</p>
<p>You could be me several years back. Happykid is smart, confident, competent, organized, and an excellent people-manager. However, she can’t test her way out of a paper bag, and when the hand of life was dealt she seems to have received only the two and three cards of math. Algebra 1 (9th grade) was fairly bad. Geometry (10th grade) was marginally better one semester but marginally worse the next. Algebra 2 (11th grade) was not a disaster, but that truly is all that can be said about it. Consumer Math (12th grade) is finally something she can comprehend and also is taught by a skilled instructor so she has scraped out Bs for the first time.</p>
<p>One thing that saved our family was learning early on that there are plenty of colleges out there that are test optional (see a current list at [The</a> National Center for Fair & Open Testing | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org%5DThe”>http://www.fairtest.org) ). Another was that Happykid developed an interest in a non-math-centric field. The math that she will eventually need in real life she can learn when she actually needs it. If she’s in remedial college algebra next year just to meet her graduation requirements, I am not going to bat one eye.</p>
<p>As so many have said before, love the kid on your couch. In the long run, he’s going to turn out just fine.</p>
She illustrated that even a math whiz (which neither of the two kids I am talking about are) screwed up on the Algebra 1 question. I think that is the way it was intended and that is the way I took it. All is well.</p>