lewber Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 DS is and has always been in public school. He will be entering high school next fall and we are working on schedules now. He is a Math kid and enjoys math. He has no idea what he wants to do in life but interests at this point are architecture and engineering, but he is very creative and really enjoys problem solving and entrepreneurship. So our state math is spiral- math 1, math 2, math 3 stem, calculus AB, and calculus BC is the advanced track. He has already accelerated one year so is taking math 1 in 8th grade. If I push it, he can try to test out of math 2 and take math 3 as a freshman but would then finish both calculus classes as a junior. They do not have any higher math. The high school math department does not like kids to do this. About 1 kid per year do it. Parents with older kids have told me already I need to supplement more trig and geometry. He is afterschooling with AOPS this year, he did intro to algebra last semester and is doing counting and probability this semester. Would it even be worth it to try to skip math 2? What would you do with this kid to make certain he's as prepared as possible when he gets to college given his current interests? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 I would not push to test out of Math 2. He will need a strong foundation in the basics. He will also be experiencing a lot of change in the transition into PS. There is no real benefit of accelerating him more than he is now-- to complete Calc AB and BC his senior year is right on track for an engineer Many engineering programs require students to take/retake Calc 1 (and the rest of the calc sequence) at their university-- so something to look into for future reference if you know of schools he could potentially be interested in. If he has the time you can always have him go deeper...also note that many students who are 'accelerated' in middle school and early high school math even out with their peers in high school and college-- there is no certainty that they will continue to be accelerated-- make sure to be flexible with your plans! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 I do not understand why you would accellerate him. Is there a benefit? I am all for accelleration if there is a direct benefit. However, in PS there rarely is. The system is designed to go one way and when you start shifting about, it makes things overly complicated very quickly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewber Posted February 14, 2017 Author Share Posted February 14, 2017 Thank you both! There really is no benefit in testing out unless thy would let him take a better class online during school in place of math 2, which I don't think they would do. I'm honestly more worried about the school classes not preparing him well enough. I would like to keep afterschooling, but am unsure about the high school workload. We don't have the best school system but I'm lucky to have some parent mentors helping me get the most out of it. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I would look further into whether or not it's appropriate to take both of those AP classes. Often it's one or the other depending on ability, motivation, and future goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 I wouldn't skip math 2. If you are really teaching it at home, then I don't see why he needs it, but then I'd ask why he's in math 1 if you are doing math 2 at home now. If you want to supplement and take the math deeper at home, then AoPS is a great resource. In response to someone else - a reason to take both calc AB and BC is that if you have an AP score for Calc AB on your transcript (especially as a homeschooler) it can be helpful for getting admitted. Calc BC might be taken in senior year to actually place out of more math in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Maybe Julie can clarify, but I was under the impression that if a student takes Calculus AB and does well, then the next course could be Calculus C. Alternatively, the student could cover the material in both courses in a single year, by taking Calculus BC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) DS is and has always been in public school. He will be entering high school next fall and we are working on schedules now. He is a Math kid and enjoys math. He has no idea what he wants to do in life but interests at this point are architecture and engineering, but he is very creative and really enjoys problem solving and entrepreneurship. So our state math is spiral- math 1, math 2, math 3 stem, calculus AB, and calculus BC is the advanced track. He has already accelerated one year so is taking math 1 in 8th grade. If I push it, he can try to test out of math 2 and take math 3 as a freshman but would then finish both calculus classes as a junior. They do not have any higher math. The high school math department does not like kids to do this. About 1 kid per year do it. Parents with older kids have told me already I need to supplement more trig and geometry. He is afterschooling with AOPS this year, he did intro to algebra last semester and is doing counting and probability this semester. Would it even be worth it to try to skip math 2? What would you do with this kid to make certain he's as prepared as possible when he gets to college given his current interests? Thanks! I would NOT recommend taking Calculus BC as a junior if there is no plan for other math the senior year. I did that (got a 5 on the AP exam) and went on to a Computer Engineering degree in college. That year without math made it really difficult to pick math back up and I struggled in college. And at least when I was in HS (graduated 1991), you could go directly to Calculus BC after trig/analytic geometry (what they called pre-calculus back then) Edited February 16, 2017 by vonfirmath 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VANURSEPRAC Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) Mom of public school 8th grader here. D always been a public school student. We are in Texas I did accelerate d my one year, she skipped one year of middle school math. This put her in Algebra I in 7th grade. Hind sight, I now realize there was no reason to move her ahead in math. Reaching Algebra I in 8th grade would have been fine D has done a combo of Foerster Alg 1, Aops 2nd half of for Alg 2, some AoPS preA, and some Foerster Alg 2. all as an "afterschooler" My goal is for her to complete AoPS Intermediate Alg before or while in high school precal. She did not think Aops Intermediate Alg was sticking (chpter 7 or 8), so we are taking a break and she isworking FOerster Alg 2 chpter tests for review. We will probably then go to Foerster precal and then back to Aops Intermediate Alg. Really not sure at this time. Our school has nothing higher than AP BC. I am thinking she will be strong enough to go from precal to BC in high school and then it will most likely be a nightmare trying to figure the logistics out for Multi/linear alg for senior year with jr college. D does not want to go into engineering, but she is thinking of applied math degree with Stats for masters Edited February 16, 2017 by VANURSEPRAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 (edited) Does he want to skip? I know public school kids who do want to skip and their parents pay for summer credit courses for geometry or precalculus so they can skip. Many after school with AoPS online classes or RSM classes here. I was chatting with PS parents during AMC12. All after school math and other subjects. Their school district results are very good due mainly to parents. She did not think Aops Intermediate Alg was sticking (chpter 7 or 8), so we are taking a break and she is working Forester Alg 2 chapter tests for review. We will probably then go to Foerster precal and then back to Aops Intermediate Alg. Really not sure at this time. Our school has nothing higher than AP BC. I am thinking she will be strong enough to go from precal to BC in high school and then it will most likely be a nightmare trying to figure the logistics out for Multi/linear alg for senior year with jr college. My oldest copy of intermediate algebra has the most worn out binding, second worst was the prealgebra book. Intermediate algebra book also took him the longest. Is your daughter planning to do AP Statistics? That is what comes after AP Calc BC for my local high school. I think the AP Calc class timing is because of the AP Physics C class. If my kids go back to B&M for high school, we'll be looking at MVC online class since I don't drive. Edited February 16, 2017 by Arcadia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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