I think that regardless of your DD's level of "math talent," you should still encourage her to presevere with math throughout middle and high school. Tell her that at a minimum, she should not close any doors. DD13, who will be entering high school in the fall and recently had to do a lot of soul-searching in selecting, applying to, and testing for magnet programs with an eye to college options further down the line, finally gets it. She is actually taking the AMC10 today without me twisting her arm. Don't get me wrong, she has not prepared beyond trying one of last year's test and may at most reach the Achievement Roll cut-off but that is not the point.
As for your DD, part of math talent is math interest and the fact that she voluntarily took time to factor an important algebraic identity says a lot. It doesn't really matter rather this identity is Introduced/memorized in Algebra I or Algebra II, she is ahead of the game either way.
