Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Maths for the sake of Maths

My DD is somewhat advanced in Maths - (3 years above her age - 1 yr skip + 2 grades ahead). I have encouraged this because:-

1) she appears to have a degree of dexterity with it
2) I think it is a good tool for sharpening her mind
3) 3 grades ahead is stretching her a little which is healthy, after all, homeostasis must be disrupted for adaption ( learning in this context ) to occur.

I don't encourage this because I see her as a future mathematician but rather because I see mastery of key mathematical disciplines ( calculus, probability and statistic, for instance - of course there are more) as being a magical talisman that wards off the guard spells around the gates of the other STEM disciplines.

My thought being that if she isn't worried about calculus, for instance, in 11th & 12th grades she will be able to spend more time and energy delving into the life sciences, chemistry and physics, should she be so inclined then.

I am sure that I am far from being the first person on this board to have pondered on this.

What are your thoughts/experiences ( good, bad and indifferent) here?

DS8 is passionate about math, works on it as a hobby. He moves at his own pace and seeks whatever instruction he wants. This week as we are working to have a high school math enthusiast work with him on algebra over the summer, he mentions he has completed all the IXL algebra 1 and is moving on to geometry.

I support him because he is passionate about it, and he is developing deep dive skills in it. Whether it is 5% of a future career or the 100% he currently imagines, I'm not concerned about. I do think math provides a nice sort of mental calisthenics, and we'll navigate whatever hurdles to allow him to keep moving at the pace of his interest.

I'll admit to a bit of parental whimsy in that one of the most stultifying experiences in school was finishing my first grade math workbook less than a month into school and discovering that was all the math I was going to get.

I agree totally with the OP's thoughts. I can forsee DD5 (who is not as mathy as DS8) being easily able to handle 2 or 3 years acceleration in maths at some point, and I see this as opening the door to a lot of endeavours that require a solid foundation of maths.

I spend a lot of time thinking about this too. I'm in somewhat a similar situation and I enjoy math a lot so I like teaching my son before the schoolbus arrives for 10 minutes or so most mornings. Since I started doing so this year this has resulted in widening what was a 3 year gap into a 4-5 year one.

While I don't disagree that mastering Calculus etc. are necessary prerequisites to the STEM disciplines I'm not certain if finishing them a few years earlier will be beneficial or not. For instance, if his interests lie elsewhere then it doesn't really matter how quickly the progression goes, or if its not logistically possible to get access to more science or math while still in high school. I also worry about burn out or superficial mastery.

On the other hand, as my neighbor points out why not learn at the pace you're really at and being bored and becoming disinterested in the subject because the material is not advanced enough is a worry as well.

So I continue on, monitor his enthusiasm and progress and fret a little bit to preserve more options in the future.