<p>Some 12 year-old are definitely not ready for algebra in the US, true, but some 12 year-olds are definitely not ready to read or do arithmetic in the US either. No one will argue that that means that some kids (without learning disabilities) do not have brains capable of reading and arithmetic by 12. Our educational system is very uneven, and there does seem to be some tremendous social or psychological block to accepting that math skills can be learned in this country for some reason. Math skills come with practice, and with enough practice, anyone can be good at math.</p>
<p>I don’t believe all kids are ready for Algebra in 7th grade or as they call it in our school Coordinate Algebra. Our school system has 3 math tracks.My oldest and youngest took CA in 7th grade on the highest track. However my middle son is not a math guy so he took CA in 9th grade on the lowest track. He will not be able to take Calc in high school. Is his life over? No, because he’s not a Math/STEM person so he will not be applying at places that require Calc in high school. Unless the mom really thinks her DD is going to be an engineer or something similar I wouldn’t worry about it. </p>
<p>I do think that it is important to get a correct math placement. My suggestion is that the parents contact the school and find out how to go about this.
My own D got a bad math placement early in her school days when despite my urging the school refused to allow her to be tested to be moved up in math. By the time she took the standardized tests showing that she was in the 99th percentile , it was too late. although she ended up taking calc in HS ( got A+'s , 5 on the AP exam) and mid 700’s on SAT math, she remains convinced that she is not very good in math and would not consider any majors/ careers that were math oriented. </p>
<p>There are two variables here, at least in middle school. Math is a sequential subject, so one variable is the place on the sequence. The other is the pace/depth of the class. In any given school system, the students will have been sorted so that the students with approximately the same “pace/depth” capability will also be at the same place in the sequence. A student transferring in may be at a different place in the sequence than the matching pace/depth students in the school. I know a student in this situation where she started a new school in 7th grade, the parents decided to match the pace/depth variable even though the student was behind in the sequence. It really didn’t work out very well. Matching the place in the sequence, but not the pace/depth is not ideal either, but probably the better alternative. (Its also easier to evaluate.) Depending on how much of a pace/depth mismatch, it turns out to be, it might be worthwhile trying to catchup with an online course or tutoring. </p>
<p>There’s significant research showing that exposing kids to algebra before they’re ready can significantly and negatively impact their math progress for years to come.</p>
<p>^Funny you should mention that, ucb. Almost all of the students who were selected to be tested to move up in math were boys. There were several complaints about it. In hindsight, I wish that I had pushed herder for the correct placement.</p>
<p>Have her take college-readiness exams as soon as she gets into HS (not necessarily SAT or ACT; your local community college or state university likely administer exams of their own), and enroll her in College Algebra, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus I, etc.
Problem solved. </p>
<p>In my area it would be impossible for almost anyone except a home-schooled student to take courses at the CC or local Statue U. (We tried.) The scheduling just doesn’t work unless it’s a night class. And then someone has to drive them back and forth, not to mention the conflict with ECs and homework and family life.</p>
<p>@MichiganGeorgia
I agree; 7th grade may be too early for Algebra. In Mexico, I took Pre-Alg in 7th grade, and Alg in 8th grade; both classes were hell. I wouldn’t have considered math-heavy careers then.
Years later, I ended up with a 35 on ACT Math, 800 on Math Lv. 2, self-studying Calculus by the end of 11th grade, and a 5 on AP Calc BC by 12th grade.</p>
<p>@Consolation
The classes could be taken over the summer. (One class won’t kill your child’s ECs/family life )My original post was actually more of a “quick fix” than anything, but it’s worth seeing if it’s do-able or not.</p>
At D’s HS, classes taken elsewhere don’t satisfy the HS credit requirements if they are also offered by the HS itself, so you would have the kid repeating things. This is not as straight-forward as it sounds.</p>
<p>Folks: We are talking about pre-algebra, not algebra for the kid here.</p>
<p>If the kid has the problem solving and mental reasoning skills for pre-algebra the she should take it. These skills are not necessarily taught in math classes from 1st to 6th grade. They could be acquired through her own observations from playing or from dealing with daily life since she was born.</p>
<p>We believe too much in math placement tests. They tend to test on accumulated math knowledge according to grade level instead of general reasoning skills. A competent math teacher can easily help a student master the math knowledge that the student did not learn in elementary school. I speak of this from my own experience and my observations. When I was in elementary school, my teachers never taught the complete math curriculum in each grade level. Due to several unavoidable interruptions of the allocated school schedules, most teacher only finished 2/3 or 3/4 of the curriculum. But students were still thrown to the next class level and they were doing fine.</p>
<p>Another question is probably worth to ask: Why do we need math placement test but we don’t need English placement test for students moving from elementary schools to middle schools? Is this because teachers are too scared of math?</p>
<p>It is at least partially because a student can easily self accelerate in English by reading more sophisticated books and writing more sophisticated papers. </p>
<p>Thanks again for all your help. It is interesting to think about English vs. math acceleration, in that my son’s HS doesn’t even have Honors Freshman English; they got rid of it five years ago.</p>
<p>When I was in middle school, math, English, and science all had honors tracks starting in 7th grade. I felt that having classmates who were actually interested in the subjects helped me a lot in middle school. </p>
<p>As the mother of a perfectionist child who has suffered crippling bouts of anxiety and depression, the last thing I’d want to do is make a child worry about what math she is taking in 7th grade. Any mistakes in academic choices can be remedied without much trouble later on.</p>
)My original post was actually more of a “quick fix” than anything, but it’s worth seeing if it’s do-able or not.</p>