To recap, DD12 is in 7th grade taking Algebra I and will take Geometry next year in 8th grade. The pacing in Algebra has been slow for her and DD has been cruising through with near perfect scores on everything. I think that she has missed less than 5 problems total since Christmas break. The Algebra teacher is on board with DD needing something more. The two of them talked and decided to see if DD could finish Algebra II this year, working partially over the summer. The teacher thought this might be the best course since she thinks that DD will be bored in Algebra II (her words). The teacher said that she ran this by the high school and DD will not get any high school credit for any of this but they would let her place out of Algebra II.
After reading the "Calculus Trap" article, I decided to run DD's situation by the high school math department. Our local public high school has an IB program which largely accounts for its high ranking. When I talked to the math department, they were decidedly hostile to the idea that DD would complete Algebra II before high school. They basically said that it would mess up her schedule if she did IB and inappropriately place her with upper classmates. They also said that students should take geometry before algebra II. When I asked whether it would be a problem if DD did not do IB but went on the honors track, the person responded that a high achieving kid would have more peers in IB so it would be the appropriate course for her. The main message I came away with was "if you do this, she won't fit into any of our boxes." It left me with a bad feeling about this program for DD.
So, DD and her teacher have come up with a plan that seems iffy with the high school. I'm not sure what, if anything, I should be doing about this. Thoughts?
