MommaBear, your son may be ready to go straight into Algebra. I'm not sure it's wise skip Pre Algebra though. It's a tougher course than Algebra 1. Some high school students take Algebra 1 and Geometry concurrently or Geometry and Algebra 2 concurrently. The goal for a future scientist is to take Calculus in high school. It's best if he/she can get two years of it. That's why the whole Common Core movement is so frustrating. It's a top down approach. Some school districts offer Calc 3 and beyond in high school others don't offer Calc at all.