Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Success with hothousing!

Last winter my DS10 in 4th grade had MAP math scores of
winter - 246
spring - 247
Pleased that both scores were 99% but concerned at the plateau. So we enrolled him in EPGY this summer and just let him run with it. He finished Accelerated 5th Grade (91% on final), Accelerated 6th Grade (96% on final) and 7th Grade Honors Pre-Algebra (94% on final) in 3 months. He was so into it that we had to put a hot spot on the ipad in the car so he had wifi on our summer road trips!

Have been anxious to get his latest Map math scores and they came in today... 261 for the first session of 5th grade:D. Will have to see NWEAs new RITs this month, but I'm very proud of him and his score after all his hard work this summer. His teacher is almost finished with pre-assessing him for math placement. Is Algebra in 5th grade too soon??

If this score is roughly comparable to the scores based on the old norms, 261 definitely indicates "ready for Algebra".

I don't think there is a standard " too soon " with some kids. It sounds like hes ready to at least dip his toes in and see what its about!
I was seriously thinking about letting DS8 do the EPGY math this summer after having it recommended to us after testing this past summer and since I'm constantly perplexed at the levels given in 4th grade (gifted) here (how long can a class focus on addition and subtraction, even if its in riddles its not any harder!) It sounds as though you and your son would recommend it.
Let us know what his teacher thinks will be good for his placement! Congrats to your son on his fabulous testing results!

That's wonderful that he enjoyed it, and a nice bonus that it also shows up in a number the school sees. Good luck for sensible accommodations. Now, 10 is not too young for algebra; if he wants to do it and has the prerequisites, why not? If it would be more convenient or more palatable to the school, he could do something else, though, e.g. maybe the AOPS Counting and Probability?

So we had a meeting with the GT Coordinator for the district and DS10's two School Within a School teachers re math placement. They started by recommending he move to middle school next year. (his school is K-6, MS is 6-8). The GT middle school program has been revamped to allow math through Algebra II. (Interesting to note we are in Reno, home of Davidson Academy and I wonder if the other schools are stepping it up a bit). They are grouping him for now with 4 sixth grade students. They said that after EPGY, his computational skills are great but he needs more practice with application.

Triplemom - sympathy with your situation! Even inside GT classes there is such a range of ability. Very frustrating when your kid is wasting time in class. I definately recommend EPGY for enrichment but it is tough!

Colinsmum - definite bonus when the kids take a test the school recognizes. I signed up for AOPS & the Counting and Probability courses sound interesting! Thanks!