Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Is 4th grade too early to start Algebra I?

My 3rd grade son recently scored 257 (RIT score) on the NWEA MAP test for Winter 2012. My wife and I feel that he has the aptitude and knowledge set to take Algebra next school year as a fourth grader. As a third grader he has been subject accelerated into 5th grade math but it still does not present a challenge to him. Subject acceleration had been relatively unheard of in our school district prior to our son this year. It was a huge struggle with administration to get this done so we are expecting another battle regarding our newest request. Are we at all out of line in making this request? We just scheduled a meeting with the elementary principal for later this week.

My DD has a similar math score in 5th grade. I think she's ready for algebra next year (if not this year), but I'm still trying to convince the school that she needs more for math now. So, we're supplementing at home.

At any rate, no, I don't think you're out of line and I wish you luck with the school.

My DS who should be a 3rd grader is taking Honors Algebra this year. It totally depends on your kiddo. Because Algebra is a much more abstract form of math it is often the first real challenge that gifted "mathies" have.

I would suggest that you put him on ALEKS or Conquersmath on the computer over the summer as a pre-algebra student and give it a test drive. See how he does. If he does well, then go for it. If he really struggles, then you can re-think your plan before he is placed in an algebra class.

I' new and i'm looking for help with my results on wais 4...

Ditto Shari - just depends on the kids. DS8 has done a little algebra and not had any problem with it, but we haven't spent much time on it (he's already so far ahead of his class.)

This link may be helpful:
http://www.powayusd.com/projects/edtechcentral/lladder/Default.asp

OTOH, being a much more abstract form of math, it is also often the first really interesting math experience that gifted mathies have. I know I didn't care one whit for the subject until I encountered Algebra, and my DW felt the same. DD6 heard us discussing it and she demanded to know what we were talking about, so I made a quick demonstration, and she was fascinated. She was definitely not happy when I stopped with the quick demonstration... she wanted MORE.

I don't think the issue will be him being able to handle the material as he already has/grasps a lot of the concepts due to my wife (community college math instructor) supplementing him at home. I think the main issue will be convincing the administration since it will require my son having to travel to either the middle or high school building which are in a different town from where his elementary school is located. I'm not sure if it is the school district's obligation or ours to transport our son. I don't think the administration really wants to tackle the logistical issues that this will present. Has anyone been in a similar situation regarding transportation?

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I second this - having documentation to show what our ds was capable of was what got us acceleration in math. We used Aleks - it's really handy for this because you can generate reports tied to each state's core standards. We found that type of documentation much easier for the school to accept than IQ scores and the typical achievement tests. If you think your child is ready now, you could sign up for a free trial of Aleks, and have them take the Algebra assessment test that kicks in at the start of the pre-Algebra course - that might give you all the documentation you need, *or* might let you know if there are areas your child needs to fill in before taking Algebra.

FWIW our school district also has an "algebra readiness test" which I think is a common test used across the US - but I can't remember the name of it this morning! Anyway, that's something you might ask about.

polarbear