Any ideas if this is a good idea?
My 7th grader last year took Common Core 2/3 (which used to be Algebra I) and got a 95% all year. Last summer, he took a 5 week intensive Algebra I class at the community college. This summer, he's doing there 5-week Geometry class. Both classes are a year of high school math, in 5 weeks.
The (summer) teacher emailed me that we should see if he can skip Integrated Math 1 next year for 8th grade and just go into Integrated Math 2.
Any thoughts on this? What do they do anyway in these Integrate Math classes?

Looking at the tables of contents for the Pearson integrated math series, it looks like Integrated Math I and II cover most of Algebra I (Common Core version) and geometry. Integrated Math III looks to be a light version of Algebra II with a bit of geometry.

Here is a link to the TOCs.

http://www.pearsonschool.com/index....101761&elementType=attribute&elementID=1

Question: how much did you son really learn in five weeks of algebra and five of geometry?

I'm skeptical about these super-compacted summer classes, mainly because I love mathematics and its simplicity combined with complexity, and I have trouble seeing how they can get through much more than basics in that time frame. Some of the ideas in these two courses are pretty deep and need time to sink in.

I taught algebra to my daughter, and we took our time so that there was always time to do the difficult problems and time to step to the side and learn about a random mathematician, counting in different bases, or connections between things (such as how set theory relates to solving a system of equations). I'm trying to do the same with geometry.

That said, it depends on what you're looking for. If your son is going into math, engineering, or physics, I recommend the slower/ deeper route. For many other subjects, getting the basic knowledge will get him through school.

Other alternatives include AOPS.

More to be point, I'm also skeptical of CC math, especially as mixed with Pearson. But if your son already has knowledge of algebra and geometry, he might end not being confused by Pearson's dizzy way of presenting material --- though he could also end up doing a lot of face-palming over it.

I should clarify that I just used the Pearson series as an example. I have no idea what text the class will actually use.

I do agree with you there. I thought last summer's Algebra I 5-week class was a bit too fast. He got a lot out of it though, and he aced his CC 2/3 class last year. He took the SAT last year as a 7th grader and did really well on it, qualifying for TIP.
He's acing the 5-week geometry class this summer. I was thinking of asking the school if he could take a Geometry readiness test, if they have that.
I had not thought of asking to skip next year's math but the summer Geometry teacher, who teaches CC math at a high school, suggested it.
If it would be a good idea for him, he could then in high school take either 3 AP math classes (AB and BC calculus, AP statistics), or his senior year take college math at our local university (not a community college).

From your description Common Core 2/3 should be the completion of junior high math. Integrated I would be a typical Freshman class which covers part of what used to be Algebra, part of what used to be Geometry. (And the first few chapter of Algebra would have been covered in the jr high class) I would think a gifted math kid, who's taken a 5 week Algebra & 5 week Geometry class would be fine skipping Integrated I. This doesn't put your son any farther along in math than my son who took Algebra I in 7th & H. Geometry in 8th.

The point of Integrated Math is to teach math in a more logical manner. The old way of Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II wasn't particularly designed. The point is more for the struggling/average math student whom is make a lot of sense to give a good basic grounding in algebra & geometry before moving on to harder topics.

The way our school did math until a year ago was: accelerated students like my son took Algebra I in 7th grade, Geometry in 8th grade, Algebra II in 9th grade, Pre-calc in 10th grade, AB AP Calc in 11th grade, and BC Calc in 12th grade.
Now it's CC 2/3 in 7th grade, Integrated 1 in 8th grade, Integrated 2 in 9th grade, Integrated 3/pre-calc in 10th grade, etc.
If my son skips Integrated 1 next year, he could take 3 years of AP math at his school or dual enroll at our local state university.

Question here. I thought BC Calc includes AB Calc. Is this not repetitive?

Well, I would think so but most good high schools offer two separate years of high school AP Calculus- AB and BC. Most kids I've seen who apply and get into competitive colleges take both.

Honestly, I think this really varies. Our school only offers calc BC, and it is covered in one year. I think this may be in part because after common core changes, a lot of what ls covered in pre-calc is actually calculus and so kids "begin" the calculus year having covered a lot of the early material in the previous year.
However, I also had the understanding that the material in calc AB is all covered in calc BC and thus redundant.

At my son's high school, the catalog description of BC differs from what the counselor says is actually done. The catalog says it is a one year course that can stand alone, meaning that AB is not a prerequisite. But the counselor claims that everyone takes AB and those who go on take one semester of (I think she said) linear algebra using some MOOC and one semester of BC. I'm not overly happy about the MOOC thing, but I am happy that this school is finally giving options beyond AB.

Trig/Calc A is a prerequisite for BC in our district.

According to College Board AB is not supposed to be a prereq. to BC. I know some schools do it that way & turn it into a 2 year sequence. The schools I know all offer Calc AB OR Calc BC. AB covers 2/3 of the material BC does. If you were to take BC after AB, you would be covered the same information for most of the year. I don't think our H.S. even allows you to take Calc BC if you passed Calc AB.

If like my son you want to continue after taking AB you can take multi-variable (3rd semester) at the local community college. We aren't going to do that for DS because he's way to busy with other things.

bluemagic, is it not a requirement that they have to take 4 years of math in high school. If your DS does not take BC what does he take?

AB in our district is intended for seniors. Also only three years of math is required to graduate.

We are in a very competitive public school district in California. One of my friends' daughters just got into MIT. She is a real math whiz. She skipped pre-calculus and took two years of AP Calculus (AB and BC) at our high school, then took an advanced calculus class at our state university her senior year.
Several of her friends skipped AB Calculus and took BC Calculus. They said that was "really hard." (hard to skip AB and go into BC).
If 4 years of math aren't required to graduate, my son still plans to take 4 years since he wants a math/science career.

It seems strange not to have Calc A combined with something else. Our district has a track Algebra 2/Pre Calc, Trig/Calc A, Calc B/C, Multivariable Calculus. Some even have Multivariable junior year.

The recommended progression at our local public high school is: Alg. 2/Trig; Precalc; Calc AB and then Calc BC.

Due to a phenomenal Alg. 2/Trig. class made up of kids who had all been subject accelerated, our twins hated the slow pace and repetition of PreCalc the next year (mostly seniors). Fortunately, the school let them work independently and compact Precalc and Calc AB into a single school year (they got credit for Precalc but not for Calc AB). They were in a regular class for Calc BC this past academic year and it worked out well.

You only need two years of math and at least Algebra I (or now CC Integrated I) to graduate from High School. There is a two year Algebra (not Integrated I) class offered for the most struggling students. For the programs DS wants to take in college, 4 years of math is highly recommended.

The top math kids take AB or BC Calculus Junior year. Then AP Stats or AP Computer Science senior year. DS is taking AP Computer Science and he will take AP Physics I.

All these class are really easier math than Calc. AP Stats is an easier class, AP Comp Science is not math IMO but most H.S. & colleges consider it that way, and our school doesn't even offer Physics C (with Calculus). It's honestly a problem because these kids get to college and have had a year without Calculus and need a refresher. But DS is too busy with other things in his life & adding college applications to the mix to add taking a community college math class. And it won't really make or break anything in the long run.

I still think it's odd to have Calculus broken into two years. This wasn't the way it was done when I was in HS and it's not the way it done at the local one.

It's all in how you break up the material though... We have a years of Pre-Calc. Regular pre-calc leads to AB, H. Pre Calc leads to BC. The H. Pre-Calc includes some beginning Calculus topics to get a jump start on the next year. Kids who go right into BC, don't skip AB. I agree it would be difficult if it's broken up that way.

Why it's strange is because of how the AP tests are given & colleges give credit. One university DS is looking at gives credit for 2 'quarters' of Calc for the AB Calc Test, and 3 for BC Calc. IF you take both tests on different years, you only get credit for the later test. It's also odd since the letter ABC are meant to be break the material into 3. So if you take Calc AB one year, the next year of Cal BC would just be the C part and be slower? Or do they add extra material?

Edited to add: I've figured it out the reason schools turn Calculus into a "2-year" course is so students have more AP classes on their transcript. This looks "better" on their GPA & makes it easier for kids to get AP awards. And makes your school sound better because it offers more AP classes.

I think colleges these days know that some kids are taking AP classes just to take AP classes. GPA's today are disappearing just like class's ranks. I do agree it makes school look better on paper offering more AP classes.

A million years ago when I took Calculus in H.S. we did a looped two year BC course. Same teacher / same kids / same textbook. I don't remember if the division occurred neatly at the boundary between the two we just picked up where we had stopped the previous year. Structurally I think it was very successful. Since BC is a superset of AB its also very easy to split the material up just that way. An AB class could be the common topics/chapters and the BC class the additional ones which is how some of our local high schools do it here.

The junior high may allow DS to skip Integrated Math 1 and go into 2 next year, which is great! However, they said that only the high school offers the next year of that sequence, for 9th grade.
Ninth grade is located at our junior high, not the high school. It's a 5 minute drive away, but the kids only get 5 minutes to get to each class.
What if he was late to the high school class or the next junior high class? Are teachers understanding about that? Has anyone out there had this experience?

My daughter had a similar situation. in her case it was a first period math at the high school and she was with 13 others. All of them were always late getting back for their second period classes(10 min bus ride) but the teachers were aware and there was never a problem.

It should not be a problem. While it looks like a skip on the school transcript, it is not an actual skip of concepts/content. Your DS already covered Algebra I and Geometry over the last two summers. Assuming that five-week intensive community college courses only cover one-half of the actual material, your DS should still be fine since the Integrated Math I would presumably cover only half of Algebra I and Geometry, leaving the second halves to Integrated Math II.

We are going to go talk to the principal Thursday about it. Hopefully they will agree to it. The community college class covers one chapter a class period or 3 per week, or the whole textbook in five weeks. They really do cover the year in five weeks, but the question is if you can keep up.
I review his math homework that he does, and I don't remember any of the geometry. Zero, except for the area of a circle!

The community college class wouldn't include Geometry. Common Core class will. They don't align in content.

We met with the junior high principal today. He was very nice. It sounds like the school will approve my son to skip Integrated Math 1 and go into the Math 2 for 8th grade.
One problem is that the 9th grade is physically at the junior high. He will have to go to the high school for first period in 9th grade to take Integrated Math 3, then to the junior high, which is very doable.
However, nobody knows if that will still be available in a year since the schools are moving to a later start time. If the schedules for junior and senior high didn't match up for that one year, he would have no math to take since the junior high wouldn't have anything else.
Despite that risk, I think we will go for it. Presumably something would be worked out for 9th grade.

Well, my son got a 99% for his final summer Geometry class. The teacher said he was one of the only 7th graders (the rest were older) and he got the second highest score out of 20 students on the final.
I think the junior high will let him take Integrated Math 2 this fall as an 8th grader EXCEPT the counselor emailed us that the class is full so he can't!!
I was like, what??!!!
They said if he wants to drop Orchestra or Spanish 2, maybe they can fit him in. He said, no way, he loves those classes.
So, grrrr.... So maybe Integrated Math 1 this year in 8th grade and try to skip into Integrated Math 3 for 9th grade.

Having been a child placed in too low a math class for scheduling reasons, I would encourage you to find another way. Can he take an online class after school instead?

I don't think so- he had a lot of homework in 7th grade, so I imagine there will be even more in 8th grade. There just won't be time!

But if he is taking an online class instead of math class, won't that be a similar amount of time? Heck, he could probably do it at school if they schedule him a study hall for it.

My son takes an online course through AoPS during his math class at his charter school. He has done this for a few years and overall it has worked well.