Second trend I've noticed - there's a bit of a trend to try to get kids "ahead" (accelerated) in secondary math in much larger numbers. We live in a world of achievers who want their children to achieve, and we have a lot of kids who are capable of higher level math in lower grades. The gotcha is that it feels (jmo) that one easy way of helping everyone feel like there child is getting acceleration and challenge and yadayada is by accelerating in math, simply because math is quantifiable and easy to benchmark acceleration. So it's easy to get caught up in the thought process that your student *needs* to be ahead - when really they don't. Instead of worrying about getting a child subject-accelerated as far as possible in math just for the sake of being accelerated in math, I'd instead look at where they are in science. Are they on an accelerated track? What types of science do you think they'll be ready for and interested in during which years in high school - and then make a math plan from there. Some types of science classes will require calculus credit or concurrent enrollment. Some will require other (lower) levels of math achievement. Some won't require much math at all. If your child is naturally driven to learn more and inspired by math, let them take the lead and get them placed where they need to be. If your child is bright, doing well in school etc, but not tearing down walls begging to do more math, get them in a track that will accomplish what they need to get them able to enroll in the science classes you're predicting they'll want to take. If your child is a great student and a high ability student but just really isn't all that interested in math, don't push it.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment, which is quite relevant to me personally. As seen in another thread, my DD is 2 years accelerated in math and struggling somewhat. She has never loved math as taught in school, although she has always had a side interest in "math patterns" and "math rules"--this reliably excites her about math, but they never do it in school...she comes up with them on her own, like a little theorem generator. Otherwise, math is probably her least favorite subject, generating groans. She would never want to participate in an out of school math event or camp--she would kill me if I made her do summer math!! Yet FWIW, she also received a perfect score on last year's standardized math test for our state..I believe that puts her in the less than 1%. But passion isn't there, at least not yet, and I do know kids her age who are full of it for math.
However, she LOVES science (recently won some awards related to that) and that's really something to consider. She would do summer science in a heartbeat.
