Background:

DS12 first entered the AIG program because of his math skills. All through elementary school his strength flip-flopped between math and verbal. He was invited to participate in Duke Tip after his score on his 4th grade EOG. In fifth grade, however, he lost his love for math. He didn't like the teacher, thought the way she insisted on the class using zeros as place holders for multiplication and division was confusing and he almost lost it on the fact that much of the year was dedicated to teaching fractions and division and that was it. It got so bad that he would fuss and fume and say he hated math. When discussing with her the possibility of grade advancement she insisted he'd be fine. That though he wasn't the fastest in class, he was usually very accurate. His math subtest on the Explore he took in fifth grade was the lowest of the four, but he still scored well enough to suggest he needed math advancement.

So...

He skipped 6th grade math. He took 7/8 compacted math in 7th last year, with a teacher he liked but who wasn't very good. DS is not one to go out of his way to practice things or to study on his own, so I was scrambling at times to fill in any holes. Last year, for instance, was the first time he was introduced to the concept of negative numbers in any real meaningful way and it nearly did him in. Not one person had shown him a number line in teaching him negative number equations. He learned expressions, inequalities and various things all for the first time. He did well on paper but I'm worried that the holes are still there.

This year there's been some announcement that if the kids don't get above an 84 in the class they'll be asked to leave the 8th grade/High school Math 1 class and go to regular math class. The pace is like this: at least one new concept per day (though for some it may be review) and some of it was covered last year and some of it wasn't. DS is doing okay, but swimming with his head right around that 84 line.

So my question: should I hire a tutor? I've been helping him the best I can, but soon I won't be able to. How would I go about that? It seems that he catches on quickly but I wonder if this is just too quickly? Conversely, he cannot tolerate the snail's pace of general classes. The teacher is very good but isn't that communicative. I can't find a math book I like.

All the other aspects of grade-advancement have been a success and even socially it's better for him. But I worry that we made a mistake by advancing him this much in math so quickly.

And I'll just add that I don't think the math is taught very well in this county/state.

What a crazy story. I'm not sure what to say.

Really? Perhaps I'm not being clear. How can I delete it, then?

This story doesn't seem crazy to me. It is very similar to DD13. She was always very verbal and we thought nothing about her math even though she was doing fine. Her first grade teacher said she was good at math but as she went through the grades DD thought she wasn't as she hated times tables. Eventually she hit algebra in fifth grade and wow, her interest and achievement took off. She suddenly realised she was good at math. Grade 6 they did virtually no math so she did her own program but was losing interest. She wanted to be taught, not just do books or online stuff herself.

High school math was tedious as she had done year 7 and 8 math already. We have been battling three years to get her to the right level. We found a tutor late last year as DD jumped from year 8 to year 9 math and needed to learn one topic that she hadn't already covered. We kept the tutor. She loves what she does with him but hates school math because it still isn't at the right level.

The tutor is a PhD in math and statistics and can argue why formulas are derived and things her teacher either doesn't have the time or knowledge to do. DD currently works at yr11/12 level in math. I don't know if she still loves it because her school math teacher puts her off. The teacher actually complained that she couldn't keep DD engaged because she worked ahead with a tutor. Sigh, this after discussing further math acceleration with the teacher and her agreeing that working at a higher level with the tutor was the best option as they couldn't timetable another skip.

Yes, go with a tutor for interest sake. I don't understand the 84 cut off. Error analysis is more important than the number. Is your DS making errors of knowledge or simply of computation? If there are knowledge errors then they can be remediated.

Holes do show up. DD only really learned long division this year because she thought it was pointless until she got to dividing Polynomials. It's quite odd what little things she doesn't know but it takes minutes to teach her and now she understands why they are important. Holes aren't a reason not to move forward. Isn't learning all about filling in what you don't know, not relearning what you do?

An online course might also work depending on your child but a good tutor will cover more of what DS doesn't know faster I would think and be good at plugging the holes.

I don't see what's so crazy about your story, this situation is very common - smart kid, bad teachers, and horrible curriculum. IMO, you need a tutor, but not a high school or college student (who are very popular and cheap). You need a person with math degree, who will see your DS strengths and weaknesses, and will be able to create a personalized program for him. If your DS will work with a good tutor 2 or 3 times a week (once a week is definitely not enough), he probably will be able to work on his own in 2-3 weeks.
In our area math teachers are not required to have a degree in math, so I would stay away from a retired teacher (unless situation in your area differs).

I totally agree with Porosenok96. Kids who are good at math outstrip the capabilities of teachers without specialist math degrees. Our DD wants to know the absolute ins and outs of everything and her teacher doesn't know. Sometimes her holes or blockages with math are because of some simple hang up to do with wanting to completely understand why something is the way it is, like the derivation of a formula. She will suddenly leap forward when that is cleared up. And it can be a really simple thing so the teacher might just assume she is smart enough to figure it out and not go over the problem. Good tutors are used to that. Ours is and can anticipate where DD will have problems.

DD goes twice a week. It makes a big difference.

Well I was absolutely stunned when I read this. Our children have never been to B&M school, so I just hear about these things indirectly.

I agree with this, I almost think that at certain stages in Maths education nowadays they have a 'quality gate' class where the only intent is to ensure that there are no conceptual gaps or 'conceptual misalignments' and that all of the required foundational material is solidly in place before moving on to the next stage.

Any gaps from skips may show up at this stage and appropriate 'filling in actions' may be taken. Far from being bad, I think that a rigorous shaking of his knowledge designed to show and address any gaps (if any happen to exist) is a great thing because any gaps will only widen as he progresses. Examples of these 'take a breath and let everyone catch up' classes are pre-Algebra and pre-Calculus.

When I was a kid there was no such thing, you just 'rode the horse' until it threw you off or you rode it over the finish line. There was scant opportunity to climb back up into the saddle. One bad teacher was all it could take throw you off. I think the method these days is probably better for the majority of kids but can be painfully slow to gifted ones that are lucky enough to have good teachers.

Thank you, all of you, for your responses. It's been crazy-making to watch all of this unfold, and I was afraid after my post that it was starting to show.

From what I understand, he's learning a compacted 8th grade math (prealgebra) along with High School Math 1. High School Math is an integrated math course that combines both algebra and geometry rather than separate the two. North Carolina is one of three states that went in that direction (West Virgina and Utah being the other two). It's supposedly more aligned with Common Core and it makes more sense to not separate the disciplines.

I'm not convinced NC should be following in the footsteps of those two states when it comes to math. In fact, I don't understand why we're not looking more closely at Mass or Vermont, but then there are a lot of things that I don't understand about recent education decisions.

It would be wonderful if it's a course that is more effective at teaching higher math. But if in the lower grades math is poorly taught, how does the system expect kids to be strong in higher math? Not to mention the county and the state keep CHANGING the program. One year, they do it this way, the next year they throw out the whole curriculum and try another. This has happened at least three times so far.

I'm figuring out that DS12 is not really learning just two years of math in 1, he's learning probably at least 4. One because of his skip, but the other because of his less than stellar math education in 5th.

Bah.

I have asked my DH to hunt for a good, qualified tutor.

Thanks again, for your advice and support.

Not crazy at all considering what we have been thru the last couple of years
I am repeating what PPs have said about getting a good tutor because it worked really really well for DS11. He is currently doing Math2 and he is struggling a bit. And that is a good thing for him!
His tutor has been invaluable. He is a retired Math Professor. He has the patience and the knowledge to guide DS. He truly loves the subject and teaching. He works with DS on AoPS books which gives them material to chew on. Some chapters go quickly some take a lot of time. AoPS has fit his needs well for now.

I would suggest you look at Universities for a person who has a strong background in Math and works with younger children.Almost all teachers we have had have a degree in education and do not have a background to teach math to kids like these.Our tutor actually said that my other DS in second grade probably knew more math than all the teachers in our little elementary school. I am not sure of your location in NC,I know NCSU runs a Math Circle so they might be able to recommend someone. Good Luck!

KADmom, I PM'd you.

I've recently fallen in love with Art of Problem Solving, which sounds like it might be of interest to several of you if you haven't seen it. Math, by mathies, for mathies. Very visual, everything derived from first principles, tons of depth and complexity rather than drill.

There's an on-line data base (free) of problems which covers full courses, including pre-algebra and algebra, which could be a good way of finding those holes as well as covering material in a fun way. There's (free) videos that go with a number of courses, textbooks, and actual courses (expensive).

We've just completed pre-algebra on our own using AoPS textbook and online database questions ("Alcumus"); I've loved the book, videos and Alcumus. In a couple of weeks, DS will start Algebra I as formal AoPS on-line course, so can't speak to that experience yet.

AoPS won't replace a human tutor, but could be really useful both to fill gaps and offer challenge. The AoPS on-line community is huge and also a big draw for many. For a kid who is visual and likes the conceptual side of math, a great experience.

Hope this is useful - and good luck!

In addition to (or possibly even instead of) a tutor, take a look at the online aleks.com offerings. Originally developed by UC California researchers aligned with California math standards, they do now offer courses aligned for other state standards, including a couple different "Integrated Math" curriculums.

A (good) tutor would probably be better -- but the aleks price is very reasonable compared to tutoring prices. It allows a kid to move quickly through material the kid is ready to move ahead on, and will map out what areas a kid doesn't yet have. So one approach would be to use aleks for what it can do well (e.g., fill in minor holes in background, let a kid quickly rip through new-but-easy-to-get material, quickly review material on which a kid is rusty) and thereby stretch your tutoring dollars by allowing the tutor to focus on those areas that need more explanation and development.

Thanks, Michelle. We do use the videos and they have helped quite a bit. AOPS is a fantastic program. Unfortunately, DS just doesn't find online learning engaging. Which is interesting to me considering how much he likes minecraft and programming.

KADmom - what kinds of online learning have you tried? Our upcoming AoPS algebra is our first, and no doubt its an odd one to start with - AoPS courses use no audio or video - just words and equations from teacher and students appearing on the screen. We did a test run and DS is quite dubious about the whole thing.... I'm hoping he gets caught up in the "community" aspects, and is attracted by the idea of chatting online with classmates who would actually be crazy math freaks like him.

(I can't believe I'm trying to get him to find something to spend MORE computer time on! Am I insane?)

Like yours, a Minecraft and programming-aholic, so I'd much appreciate hearing about what you've tried on-line, and any guesses as to what made it un-appealing.

Thanks for advice!