Laura Corin Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Difficult to say. The UK teaches mixed maths, so we don't have courses that have names like 'Algebra 1'. The author of Life of Fred looked at the UK syllabus used in many private schools (IGCSE) and said that students would have covered Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Trigonometry and bits of Statistics and Calculus by age 16. The exam taken in state (public in US terms) schools is slightly less demanding. FWIW, Calvin's private school teaches IGCSE to the top stream and GCSE to the standard streams. They go on to do the IB, so continue maths for another two years after taking the GCSE/IGCSE. Students have the choice of two academic maths options or a more life-use maths option. Laura Edited May 8, 2011 by Laura Corin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquinas Academy Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Uh, never. :D Neither the UK (where I did elementary school) nor Canada (where I did middle/high school and live now) teach "algebra 1". Algebra is taught, but a whole year isn't devoted to it. I actually don't know of any country other than the US where math is divided up into algebra 1 and 2, geometry, trigonometry, etc. instead of being interegrated every year. Personally, I think the interegrated system is far better. Currently I have one DD doing a US style sequence and another DD doing an intergrated sequence. We'll see how it goes.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Solving linear equations with one unknown is not all that difficult Mm. I was doing that in grade 5, because we had a rather old fashioned teacher who used to teach high school. This was Very unusual, and we didn't get back to that until the second half of year 7. There were other kids who had huge trouble with that. (Here, high school starts at year 7.) We also spiral, similarly to what Regentrude describes, but perhaps we are a little further behind. I can't remember too well. It was all called "maths" so I didn't even know I had done any calculus until dh and I were talking about it. So much for his "toffy" school. He had never done any! I was surprised because he's better at maths than I am. Parabolas are a calculus thing, yes? (Shows what I remember, doesn't it?) I was doing those in year 11. Trig in year 9. We started very basic geometry in grade 4, measuring angles and baby stuff like that. We hit on it again in years 8 and 9. I can't remember a thing from year 10 because the teacher talked in monotone. I'm not sure we ever did geometry proof as is talked about around here. Perhaps in year 11 we did, but I dropped maths after that because I had lost too much ground with the lousy teacher in year 10 and just couldn't keep up. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 Parabolas are a calculus thing, yes? No, not really. Parabolas are just graphs of quadratic equations - which in the US would be algebra 1, towards the end of a typical course. Of course parabolas come up in calculus because you can find the derivatives or integrals of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Have you seen the comparison on the MM site for grades 1-8 math? There is a graphic of what topics are taught in specific grades in countries that out-perform us in math. Perhaps the base study for that data would give insight into what you are looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Thanks for that link! I will check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 I'm going to try integrated math for my last two kids. Of course, this is going to make "transcripting" interesting here in the US. I like the idea of just math, integrating and relating the concepts to each other and slowly building those skills together in a nice "math waltz". But, I also have to some how break this down into the "compartments" that US colleges expect to see. Hmmmm...I can't say geometry in 9th grade because he'll be gradually going through his geometry concepts across middle school and high school. I guess I'll just have to pick a year, label it something, and hope nobody asks. Explaining outside the box education isn't always easy on college aps. It was interesting when we had to explain dd's specialization in high school. They just couldn't imagine that a student could study three branches of science simultaneously and earn more than four credits in any core area. However, it didn't hurt her. Once the admission's people thought about it for a bit, they were usually impressed. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amirah Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 i took alg 1 and geometry in 8th grade ( i was in a performing arts school that was on a block schedule and i was on the honors track). i took honors Alg.2 as a 9th grader and then i stopped math after that (mind you i graduated in 2003 and calc wasn't a big deal if you weren't going to major in science and math in university. i went on to major in ballet and spanish). where i lived it was not normal at all to be ahead. i ended up moving before high school and they didn't really know what to do with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Ds#2 is 13yo & in year 9 here in NZ. He would be starting 8th grade if he were in the States. Maths in NZ covers all areas a bit each year from year 3 (age 7)-year 10 (age 14), going more in depth each year. His year 9 maths book has 8 chapters on number & algebra, 6 chapters on geometry & measurement, & 4 chapters on statistics. In year 11 (age 15) maths is still compulsory, but he'll have the option of taking a pre-trade mathematics, instead of the normal maths. In year 12 (age 16) maths is optional & he'll have 3 maths classes to choose from (Mathematics, Mathematics Combination, or Mathematics Pre-Trade). For the few who choose to take maths in year 13 (age 17) they choose from Mathematics with Calculus or Statistics & Modelling. Science is also intergrated as well up until year 11. For those student who choose to take science in years 12 & 13 they often study more than one science (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) Science is only compulsory in years 9 & 10. Over 30 years ago in VT, I took Algebra 1 in 8th grade, Geometry in 9th, Algebra 2 in 10th, Trig./Analytical Geometry in 11th. This was a year ahead of most students. I dropped math my senior year & took extra social studies courses (history, psychology, etc.) Edited May 9, 2011 by Deb in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayden Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Our friend who brought this up failed to note that FInland also starts school at age 7 so their grade 8 would be the equivlanet of our grade 9, wouldn't it? I was going to point this out as well. In my husband's culture, they don't begin formal education until around age 7. They spend a year prior to starting school learning religious studies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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