Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
<nodding>
uh.... wait... a... minute... remind me again what "prerequisite" means, exactly, to YOU??" shocked I can't teach advanced chemistry to students who have no grasp at all on basic algebra, and it is GROSSLY unfair to the well-prepared students in those courses to expect that I should.

But apparently saying such things out loud is, well... verboten. <shakes head sadly>

I agree with St Pauli on this one! I can see teachers shaking their heads in amazement at the audacity of suggesting that a whole year of math be skipped! In elementary school, the prerequisite for 6th grade math is 5th grade math. When I argue that my child should skip 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math, they look at me like I'm crazy. I agree that you can't teach advanced chemistry to folks without algebra, but taking an algebra class and passing it guarantees no great achievement in algebra. There are kids who teach themselves high level algebra (and trig and biology and chemistry and Latin and . . . . . ) and they truly *don't* need a prerequisite for a class. So how do you handle them? Can placement tests offset the prerequisite? What about a kid who hasn't had algebra at all but is smart enough to figure it as it comes up?

Back to the skipping issue, I love some of these thoughts (masks the fever but doesn't kill the germ!) and am glad that it has worked for many people. For my kids, skipping grades and subject acceleration cannot address the primary issues which are pace and repetition and depth. Even a higher grade starts with review and more review and then teaches every topic many times and spirals back to make sure they have it and reviews for tests to make sure they have it. Then there's a vacation and more review because the kids presumably forgot everything during the holiday. After a two-year math skip, instruction was great for about two months and then all the same problems came back. I suppose you could argue to skip and skip some more (and one child has done that), but there are many social considerations for radical skips and early college. If it's only one subject, there are major logistical issues in transportation and being in multiple school levels. If a kid is 9 and ready for algebra or calculus, who is available to teach? Not teachers in an elementary school. If a kid is 9 and ready for 10th grade work in all subjects, there is the issue of how to find a school willing to do radical acceleration and how to protect a child in an environment with high school kids. Some people manage to do that well, but it's not easy. And, even with radical skips in place, the work may not be difficult or appropriate, just higher level.