Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Skipping Pre-Algebra?

When I was a kid, in 7th everyone took regular math. In 8th, you could take regular math, pre-algebra, or algebra I.

DD's school has everyone in regular math in 7th, and in 8th you choose between regular math and Algebra I. So no more pre-algebra.

But when I look at the high school (9-12) curriculum, it gets more complicated. Kids who already had Algebra I in 8th go on to Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calc (Trig + Math Analysis), then Calc (either AB or BC).

Kids who didn't have Algebra I in 8th can take
Preparatory Algebra (math skills too weak for Algebra I)
Algebra I
Intermediate Algebra (got to at least grade 11 without strong enough skills for Algebra II)
Geometry (prereq for Algebra II)
Algebra II
Financial Algebra (meets graduation requirements but not college entry requirements; you'd probably need a remedial class before College Algebra)
Algebra III (Meets graduation requirements and also college entry requirements.)

Our gifted program does Geometry in 8th grade, Algebra II 9th grade, Trig/pre-calculus 10th grade, Calculus AP AB 11th grade, Calculus AP BC 12th grade. They also offer AP statistics thrown in there some year. You can take this math sequence if you are not in the gifted program but test in math at some level.
Our school district starts differentiating in 7th grade. If your child is in the lowest math class in 7th grade, they end up on a low track in high school, etc. Not good.

I teach 6th grade math.
My son tested out of 6th grade math and is doing fantastic.

For my Davidson kid, we didn't skip - we compacted. She is in public school, but we were allowed to put her in a combo of online and homeschool for her math, and she did all curriculum for 5th, 6th, and 7th grade in one year. She entered 6th grade with 8th grade math.

I always think compacting is better than skipping grades.

What they actually learn in those grades changes from state to state. So be aware that we all may be talking about slightly different things when we talk about how much is review at each grade level.


Everyone, please be aware that the recommnedations for grade level pacing are all changing in the next couple of years.

It's fine to skip pre-algebra as it's more of a geometry primer. We grade skipped ds12 this year to 7th and he (after much handwringing and flat out abuse of we parents) was put into Algebra where he's thriving.

As mentioned above, what is taught each year can vary a lot between state to state and school district to school district. My ds' pre-algebra class was not a geometry primer at all, and actually contained quite a bit of algebra - so if he'd totally skipped it he would have had quite a bit of making up to do on his own. He did skip the 6th grade math level that goes before pre-algebra in our school district, but he'd also done quite a bit of online math courses at home on his own.

polarbear

Good point Polar Bear. Oregon is in the middle of an education crisis, so our example may not be a good one. And our district may differ as well. When ds was working on pre-algebra the last few months of 5th grade, it turned out the book was more of an intro to algebra. The pre-algebra used by the middle school is more of a geometry primer.

When I was in school ( when the dinosaurs roamed) we had no pre-algebra. We did Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and then onto trig. I'm fairly sure calculus was only a college class.

Where I went to school, 7th grade was in elementary school, and everyone took the same math. 8th grade was Algebra, Pre-Algebra, or "Remedial Math." I took Algrebra in a class of mostly 9th graders. A few years later, later, they decided that all the 8th graders should take it together because they were a little slower at first (due to lack of instruction) but were faster at the end. I remember not knowing certain terms (imaginary numbers, integers, real numbers, etc.) but not having any problems with the work.

My ds took Algebra as a 6th grader, without the benefit of pre-Algebra. I just couldn't see making him sit through another year of the same kind of math, and the school finally agreed. He really likes math and had learned a lot of math from the Murderous Maths books. He occasionally had a question for me about terms (ordinate, absissa, slope), but did well in the class.

Some pre- algebra classes are heavy on fractions, percents, decimals and ratios and pulling together in one place all the algebraic thinking and concepts they have been learning in the younger grades and officially using the algebraic terms and steps to solve them.