Tip of the Day-
Those of you with children entering middle or high school- Beware of rushing them through the math process and explain this information to your older children entering high school so they can make an informed decision.
In 7th grade my son's pre-algebra teacher recommended that he take algebra at the community college over the summer. She said it was just a formality to move ahead to geometry next year. He was great in math and flew through pre-algebra earning an A. Same with the college algebra 1 class. In fact, he had taken the highest level math offered in his school by 11th grade, AP Calculus. Here is the problem. College entrance exams include math through algebra 2. My son was in 9th grade the last time he routinely worked algebra equations. That means he had three years without the math that he would need to be placed in college level math. So many are having to take costly remedial math classes in college when they just completed a much higher level of math in their senior year of high school. It is less stressful to take it a bit slower and not have to take remedial classes upon entering our impacted colleges and universities. Unless a student takes AP Calculus and actually passes the AP test given outside of the school, they will have to repeat it in college anyway. Some universities are not even acknowledging AP anymore. Know the facts before you push ahead and take life a little slower.
I think a kid who has the desire and ability to do AP math should be allowed to advance in math while in high school, to the same degree that he should be allowed to advance in any other subject.
ReplyDeleteI agree the student should have the choice to take higher math but so many students do not understand the repercussions. Also, AP courses are very tricky. Read the next post to get extra info on the AP subject and thank you for your post.
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