[This may be crazy, but has anyone put a 6th grader in pre-algebra?]

 

So, what would be the best curriculum for a mathy child?

 

 

My son is very gifted in math. While he started out with Saxon (had the program from dd) we quickly switched to Singapore Math. Not only does he complete the regular workbook exercises, he also enjoys the Challenging Word problems.

 

This is also the first year that we enrolled him in Stanford's EPGY program. He loves the challenge and I have to admit that the Singapore way of logical thinking helps him a lot.

 

This being said, dd also participates in EPGY and she has only used Saxon. I do not think it is wrong to have a student progress faster, but I think it wiser to first challenge the child by using another, more demanding program or provide supplemental exercises.

[If you could choose all of a traditional school's program, what would you want?]

WOW.

I attended a killer classical lycee in Italy, but even we didn't have 8 hours of Latin weekly. Have you, by chance, attended that specific route so I can ask more questions about the classics instruction? :001_smile:

 

I'm copying your post and sending it to my daughter's email. I don't want any more complaining about how she has to do too much Latin after reading this. Thanks. :tongue_smilie:

 

My husband did all the way through 10 grade. Then he switched to science with Latin cause he wanted to pursue a degree in engineering and Latin and Greek did not offer enough math. Even with switching in 11th grade, he took a math and physics prep year in college. He told me that in the last 2 years of high school they only read/translated original Latin texts. I think that's very cool.

 

I studied science and Latin, but had to drop Latin in the 10 grade. It was too much for me and I spend all my time studying Latin only. Results: flunked all other subjects. By dropping Latin, I saved my year. I guess not everybody can pull it off.

 

I did check our school's (hubby and mine) curricula list for this school year and it seems that they have cut back on Latin. Latin has been reduced by 2 hours in every 'route' and replaced by subjects like sociology and more computer science.

[If you could choose all of a traditional school's program, what would you want?]

I was born and raised in Flanders, Belgium and choose the science track in jr high and high school. As of 7th grade, students can choose 3 options:

^ main stream with or without Latin (You will need to attend a university)

 

^ Technical (You'll learn a profession but will still be able to go to a university. Most students do not.)

 

^ Professional ( You'll learn a profession but may not attend a university)

 

Main stream teaches 6 hours of Latin each week throughout the school year. Included also are 2 modern foreign languages. (French and English. French is thought in elementary school also) Obviously there is Dutch to learn also. (mother tongue) Then there is math and all the sciences. A certain amount of hours of biology, geography and physics (simple at first) are thought every week for a whole year. (I believe it's 2 hours, 1 hour practicum and 1 hour lesson) If you study Latin, then only 1 year is devoted to 1 hour of music and 2 hours of art for a whole year. It is waived in the 8th grade. I believe the others stop having it in the 9th grade. Oh and I almost forgot 2 hours of P.E. and 2 hrs of religion. (students have a choice of the religions that are recognized by the government: Catholic, Protestant, Islam, 'moral' not sure how to translate this but it is more like a philosophy class)

 

From 9th grade on, choices are more specific. There are a few main routes to take. (Today kids can choose more electives then when I was in high school. Religion and P.E. are mandatory throughout high school)

 

^ Math (with or without Latin): 8 hrs of math each week, 2 hours of every science (biology, physics, chemistry, geography) computer science (Don't remember hrs), 2 hrs French, 2 hrs English, 6 hrs Latin, 4 hrs Dutch.

 

^ Science (with or without Latin): 6 hrs math, 3 hours of every science (with one of them being independent practicum) rest same as math

 

^ Latin and Greek: 8 hrs of Latin, 4 hrs of Greek, 4 hrs of math, limited sciences and all the above modern languages, 2 hrs of every science

 

^ Economics (with strong or 'weak' math) 6 or 4 hrs of math, limited sciences, lots of languages (Dutch, English, French, Spanish, German), economy

 

^ Human Science: emphasizes psychology, art, music, sports, sociology. French, English and Dutch are still mandatory, as is math, but only 4 hrs. I believe the sciences are reduced to 1 hr a week.

 

 

The route a student chooses will heavily influence his/her college major. The first 3 routes are the hardest and most demanding. If you graduate from one of these, you can basically major in anything in college.

 

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

Oops, forgot to write down history. The more science oriented routes have only 2 hrs of history each week. If I;m not mistaken there is more in Human Science.