Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What's your school's math order?

Well, what's the alternative? I honestly don't see one! If you're doing problem-solving type stuff, you're already going deeper, not just faster. Short of not doing math for a while, you don't really have an option, do you?

It's scary--just thinking about it makes me nervous--but if you're sticking even a little to the traditional math path, I don't see any other option.

I agree that forging ahead is the best option for many of our kids. If they enter a mainstream high school in the future, some courses may have to be repeated for credit, but the subject familiarity from their earlier exposure will serve them well in earning top grades.

I have been reading the book, �What High Schools Don�t Tell You� by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross. I am interested in the math and science talent development information rather than some of the more contrived tips. The advice for math seems like the next steps following �Developing Math Talent�. Essentially, I now understand that excelling in the school math sequence in never enough for distinction beyond a very small area! My son is learning this lesson well with his AoPs class- he is defiantly not the smartest in that class! Obviously to some it is still too easy, but many of the fastest students have �trained� for math similar to our summer swim schedule which has meant up to three times in the pool on some days!

I found it online and purchased it primarily because it listed specific science competitions which I would never have heard of other-wise.

Well... I don't think of him as being really that close to the end of the high school sequence... He's finishing Algebra 1 as we speak, and everything above that is dabbling and not solid courses. Algebra was dabbling at first too, but this summer I finally put my foot down and said he needed to finish the book so we could get on with it. LOL So... he can handle random stuff up to Precalculus-level questions thrown at him, but he doesn't have the vocabulary or the standard formulas memorized or anything, and there are gaping holes in his post-algebra-1 knowledge.

Introductory Statistics is mathematically pretty straightforward (no calculus), and fortunately I find it fascinating (geek that I am... LOL) so it's more of a rabbit-trail off from the standard sequence rather than a neat linear progression. And honestly I prefer it that way -- we've got the time and there are plenty of roses to smell here, so I think we'll take the long way around.

My only real concern is the age-appropriateness of the texts. How they take such an interesting topic and suck all the life out of it... He did catch sight of my Cartoon Guide to Statistics and wanted to start immediately, so maybe there's hope through that! LOL Or maybe I should write my own curriculum... you know... in my vast quantities of spare time...

I want to put a plug in for mathematical browsing and studying the same material through different courses and texts. Karl Bunday introduced me to the idea of repeating material this way, and his son is very, very strong in math. I've been doing this with my kids, so our linear progression doesn't sound all that impressive, but my 11 year old has a very solid foundation in math. He took geometry as an eight year old, because he had an interest, and just retook geometry this year as an 11 year old. He's done a lot of tangential learning in math, which has enhanced his enjoyment of the topic. His math scores are consistently in the top rank for our state. So don't feel that you have to push your kid through the typical progression asap. It isn't a bad thing, if that's what your child wants, but there are benefits to wandering along the garden path!

Oh, I SOOOOOO agree, Lorel! I love, love, LOVE this way of thinking! I suspect it's what the spiral curriculum aspires to be, but doesn't usually quite reach. It's why we're doing calculus and physics this year, with our highly conceptual but not very arithmetic-y 7yo.

Give 'em a real challenge, let 'em get what they can, then give it to 'em again a little harder in 2 or 3 years. I think it's brilliant!

Thanks, Kriston. It's nice to have such distinguished company!

Awww...

Of course, given that you're one of my mentors in homeschooling, holding my hand more than once through some drama or another, it's not surprising I'd agree with you!

I like the rabbit trail approach just because DS and I are both so distractable. We homeschool with the "ooh look something shiny" method.

ROFL! I hear that!

It's so nice to be able to shift gears like that though, y'know? (And I know you do!)