Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School 4th grader will bus to middle school for math only

Hi all,

I have a 3rd grader who is extremely gifted. They are able to accommodate him in his regular classroom for language arts but for math, he has always been pulled out to higher grades. He is currently being pulled out daily to learn math in a 5th grade gifted class (they are learning 6th grade math). When he turns 4th grade, however, there is no higher math he could take at his elementary school so they are saying they will bus him to the nearest middle school to learn 7th grade math. EVERYDAY! He will spend about 40 minutes a day on the bus, going back and forth, just to learn math with middle schoolers for an hour. He will have to do this again when he turns 5th grade. I am glad they are willing to go to such lengths for him (they have been very accommodating in other ways too), so I hate to complain, but does that seem like a waste of time to you? Does anyone else's child do this? I would like to ask if they could hire a private tutor for him, but they will probably say they don't have funding for that. I would love to hear what your experience has been once your child maxes out at the elementary level but is too young to jump to middle school. What have you tried? What do schools recommend usually? What are they capable of or required to do for kids like this? FYI: DS has already entered early so is in 3rd grade at age 7; I don't want him to skip another grade for social reasons and besides even if he were in 4th grade right now, it would still be too easy for him anyway, so I don't see how skipping another grade would help him. Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you!

I'm curious to hear what's worked for others, as well. My DS7 is a 3rd grader doing 4th grade math, so even next year will work fine for him, but we've had the following year in the back of our minds, looking to see what all the options might be. In our case, the middle school and the elementary school start and end at the same time, and we were told years ago that I would be responsible for any necessary transportation. I'd love to hear about more people's experiences.

DS6 is in 1st grade doing mid-3rd grade math, but moving through it at a fast clip (self-paced). This will come up for us in a few years.

If it was a choice between him going to middle school at age 8, or ANYTHING else, I'd rather have him do a self-contained computer program like EPGY math or Northwestern University's CTD.

Can the school give him access to a computer for an hour a day?

My vote would be for him to take an online class, if the district will let him. He is very young to handle the physical part of the travel you've described. I don't know what "7th grade math" is exactly, but it is starting to sound like pre-algebra. You might consider AOPS pre-algebra. It would mean after-schooling (classes are at night) but I would imagine that he would enjoy the more challenging problems available at AOPS. There are however many online options for math, and some may suit his learning pace better than others.

You might consider having him "slow his math progression" by taking Counting and Probability, and Number Theory next year from AOPS rather than taking 7th grade math. They are not part of the normal progression at school, but an interesting and valuable addition to a math education. (and also helpful for those math contests....) If you haven't read "The Calculus Trap" on the AOPS website, take a look and see what you think.

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I will definitely explore online options out there. AOPS, EPGY, CTD all sound great. kcab, your kids are lucky to be in such an appropriately challenging environment. I don't think DS's school knows what to do with highly gifted kids. They have gifted programs but they don't have many kids like DS. The principal said she had seen a kid like him before, but not recently.

Besides the problem of having to travel back and forth between two schools, he is emotionally and socially not ready to be part of middle school. For example, he will not understand the social context of many of the word problems they give him. He might also be vulnerable to teasing or bullying since he will not really belong in middle school. I am getting worried all over again just thinking about it! I hope they will let him do an online course by himself.

Another perspective:

My family has been pushing for in-person instruction for both my kids. We will bend a ways to get that for them over computer instruction or independent study. Much of that it relative to my own kids' needs, but my husband and I both feel that chalk-board and pencil and paper instruction is of a fundamentally different quality once you get to the levels of pre-algebra.

I did the extended bus trip for jr high math from my elementary school and again for high school from the jr high. Both experiences were amongst the most positive in my school career to that point. The time spent on the bus was spent getting to know the bus driver (who was a hoot, and of a socio-economic background not otherwise seen in my community - giving me a huge education right there) and getting my homework done. Indeed, I think I brought home geometry homework only a handful of times because I did it on the bus.

In class I was pretty isolated from the social dynamics of junior high. It's math class after all. There wasn't much chit chat (much of this might have been a consequence of the teacher's style), and if anything, I was respected as the kid who generally knew the answer and understood it.

DD's experience in math with older kids last year was similar (but done at her elementary school). She found genuine friendships at school for the first time in that class. We're thankful that next year she can walk the 1 block to the middle school for math, and she won't need a bus until 8th grade. We would still choose a bus + middle school over an online class for her.

DD10 started taking a middle school math class this year by using webcam technology. She has two way communication. It avoids the longer school day and she gets to interact with the teacher, not stuck in a classroom with a textbook or on a computer by herself. It is working out well. She was skeptical at first but likes it now. She gets some problems that stretch her and is maturing greatly in checking her work and learning new ways to do things. The school suggested this idea (not us).

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I'm curious about this. Has anyone's child had issues with bullying after a radical subject acceleration? When my dd's Algebra 1 class had elementary school students in it, they were so far out of the middle school social junk that they were either somewhat "invisible" socially or they were treated specially, protected.

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