Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Experience with Algebra before age 10

I seem to recall reading somewhere that even gifted kids generally shouldn't start algebra before age 10 (maybe in the developing math talent book or on the CTY website).

Curious about other people's perspectives on this.

Cat

I hadn't heard that. I'm kind of inclined to think that like foreign language, anything introduced early is easier. My DS7 is in pre-algebra now, so will have algebra at 8. I'll have to see if I can find any research on it but I can't imagine trying to slow him down.

The hardest part of Algebra is the word problems. If a child can translate the word problem into a solvable set of equations, then they should be fine. This does require verbal abstract reasoning which is a different skill from manipulating symbols.

My DS10 started algebra informally with me around his 8th birthday, and then went into a serious course in school at age 9.

I wouldn't say it's been too difficult for him at all. For example, his total algebra exposure over the summer break was ten days of review right before school started (around an hour-ish per day). He tested into the next level with a high score on the pre-test. So he obviously didn't forget it, which I would have expected if he'd been too young for it.

So, FWIW, that's one anecdote in favor.

Val

My 9 year old is doing algebra right now. The thing I've found is it's a very good thing to be able to write out diagrams and steps to longer problems. And just to have the patience to weed through them. The last few Singapore books really pushed this point. Which made me very glad we used Singapore! Singapore is nice in that it encourages deep problem solving skills, especially if you use their extra materials. So it helped slow us down a bit.

My own kid has understood many algebra concepts for a long time. But now his writing skills and maturity have caught up in such a way that I feel comfortable diving into a "real" written algebra curriculum. Every kid is different, so I guess I'm not comfortable with the 10 and up statement. YMMV. Had we done something like an online curriculum I'm sure we would have gotten here sooner.

I recall hearing this before, and I believe that the reasoning was that children are not developmentally ready for the abstraction of algebra. If I recall correctly this is why my gifted classes didn't present pre-algebra before age 11 (when I was in 6th grade).

However, I know that DD's elementary curriculum specifically exposes kids to some algebra concepts as early as 1st grade.

I'm not sure if the original idea was based on Piaget's developmental stages or not.

Yes, good point.

DS had a harder time with the word problems than the manipulations last year. This year...wow, what a difference. Last year I had to help him a lot. So far this year, the pattern is that I give him a quick explanation of one word problem and he does the rest on his own. So something definitely sank in at age 9.

Val

What I've seen working in middle school is that I think students have not been introduced to algebraic concepts EARLY enough! They're afraid of "x" by the time they get to 8th grade. Algebra looks like a foreign language and they don't realize they've been doing "what plus 5 makes 10?" for many years already.

My own DS is 7 1/2 and I'm teaching a pre-algebra pull out at his school. They're all excited to be free of adding two digit numbers.

My DS finished algebra at 9 and I didn't see any difficulty with abstraction. This kind of argument always seems to imply that kids develop at the same rate, but they don't.

Thanks for all of the insights and the stories of younger kids having no difficulty with algebra. I used to play with my DS with the refrigerator number magnets and make the numbers jump back and forth on either side of the equals sign (we called it "making the numbers do tricks"), showing how they would change and he thought it was hilarious at age 2-3. At 5 he was very comfortable with concept of solving for x in simple equations (x + 2x or x -4 = 5 type things, although we tended to present in word problems around the dinner table) and I just don't see what is so different or difficult about algebra that it would be verboten until he is older.

kimck, did you use the must know Singapore math word problems. I really like them and the fact they are generally compound questions.

He has done Fred decimals and fractions, maybe time to buy the Fred algebra (or is there pre-algebra?) book to introduce the concepts?

Thanks again, Cat