Common Core Standards

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It is true for any proposal . But it should be played carefully when kids future is involved. Say if the Obama care is failed, we fall back upon to another insurance system. It is not the case with education. if they come to reliaze after 4 years that it is going to fail, what happens to the future of the kids who go through common core path.
You are correct that Irvine kids depend on private tutoring a lot. there should be no political war with educational system.
Its policies should be made,keeping the country's technological edge and kids future in view.
I have discussed about common core with some teachers. Even the teachers are not condifent how it works or what the syllabus is going to be and how they have to conduct the tests etc.

So if the kids are put in common core and teachers repeat the same old way of teaching , what is the use, except waste of time on it.
 
we were oscillating if we can place my daugher in 8th grade common core or algebera 1. Finally we made decision to place her in 8th grade common core after weighing all Pros & COns.
Algebra1 can be managed in 7th grade, but honors Geometry in 8th grade may be too early. So we planned it in the following way.

7th grade --- 8th grade common core
8th grade -- Algebra 1
9th grade -- Geometry
10 grade -- algebra 2
11 grade -- Pre Caluclus
12th grade-- A.P caluclusr or A.p Statistics

If she can handle the work load and comfortable, she can take some course in summer and move forward.

Suggestions or opinions are appreciated , if anyone thinks any issue with path.
 
Chava,

We were oscillating as well on whether to do Algebra or CC8.  My daughter already takes Algebra outside of class, so we weren't concerned about having her do Algebra.  Like you, we felt the main issue was taking Geometry in 8th grade.  Several of my friends' experiences whose children (who were bright, GATE, etc etc) did Geometry in 8th and did not get the min grade of B.  They had to repeat Geometry in 9th and be placed in the non-Honors track.  We decided to have daughter do CC 8. 

 
Abcd,
Could you tell me a little more about the difficulties your friends kids had in geometry?  Do you feel they were not ready due to their age or background?  Is geometry in middle school has the same curriculum as geometry in high school?
Just curious, since we enrolled my son in algebra in 7th grade and if he passes it this year will face geometry next year.
 
IrvRes,

For one kid that was in the TUSD, it was a level of maturity.  The kid is very bright (lots of awards from teachers in the past), but I think it just didn't click with the child (and did not even get a C in geometry).  The kid will repeat regular geometry as a freshman this year and will have to prove himself in order to get back on the honors track for his sophomore year.

The other kid went to a middle school in IUSD-but it was not a maturity thing.  I've spoken with the mom and she was extremely frustrated with the level of instruction.  The kid would come home and do poorly on the test- but the parents could not see the test results because the tests were not allowed home.  The kid swore what was on the tests was never taught in class.  The mom had to have a meeting with the teacher so she could see the tests herself.  She was so frustrated with the level of instruction that she completely pulled their kids out of IUSD and now are going private in high school.  Unfortunately my child will be going to this middle school, so I not only worry about my daughter's readiness/maturity level, but also that the teacher will be terrible.
 
Who even uses geometry outside of jobs that require it?

I still think too much focus is being placed on taking advanced math at such a young age. I'd rather have my kids figuring out the geometry of shooting a basketball into a hoop or passing/setting a volleyball.

#AdvancedMathIsOverrated
 
Back in Russia where I grew up Geometry would be taught starting in 6th grade.  It would start with simple stuff gaining more and more complexity.  The problem with US math curriculum is cramming too much information in such a short period of time.  Besides, Geometry uses a totally different set of skills and requires a different approach than what kids were used in previous math classes.  It requires adjustment but because the curriculum is so intense there is no time for it.
My kids take after school classes at Russian School of Math (RSM) that teaches math in more logical/structured way.  It's not taught in English, not Russian :).  This school offers Geometry starting in 6th grade.  It's actually fun and kids love it!
If anyone is interested in checking it out -http://www.russianschool.com/
 
yes the Honors gemotrey of middle school is nothing but high school geometry which requires lot of logical and visual imagination. Kids should be able to prove complex sub-theorems which are based on main theroem.So we felt it is too early for  8th graders to visualize Geometrical figures and analyze them.
 
I think Geometry tests are like that. Teacher can test the geometry based on what is taught in the  class. They teach one main principle of geometry and see that they some sub derived principles from main principle are practiced .
In the test, teacher can ask another derived principle which is dependent on another main geometry therorum. So if the kids can not think logically about geographicl figures and prove the sub principle, they lose the test. Algebra is totally different, and teacher can not go out of the class room teaching or practices.
Say, there is a pythogorus theorum on righ angled triangle. Teacher can give any problem which is dependent on pythogorus theorum. If the teachers tests the kids without teaching pythogrous theorum, then it is teacher fault.

abcd1234 said:
IrvRes,

For one kid that was in the TUSD, it was a level of maturity.  The kid is very bright (lots of awards from teachers in the past), but I think it just didn't click with the child (and did not even get a C in geometry).  The kid will repeat regular geometry as a freshman this year and will have to prove himself in order to get back on the honors track for his sophomore year.

The other kid went to a middle school in IUSD-but it was not a maturity thing.  I've spoken with the mom and she was extremely frustrated with the level of instruction.  The kid would come home and do poorly on the test- but the parents could not see the test results because the tests were not allowed home.  The kid swore what was on the tests was never taught in class.  The mom had to have a meeting with the teacher so she could see the tests herself.  She was so frustrated with the level of instruction that she completely pulled their kids out of IUSD and now are going private in high school.  Unfortunately my child will be going to this middle school, so I not only worry about my daughter's readiness/maturity level, but also that the teacher will be terrible.
Click to expand...
 
None of the math classes will help your kids to grow up to be functioning adults. the bickering of the math orders is pointless. The humanity classes will shape your kids to expand their mind and see the world with a better perspective.
 
irvinehomeshopper said:
None of the math classes will help your kids to grow up to be functioning adults. the bickering of the math orders is pointless. The humanity classes will shape your kids to expand their mind and see the world with a better perspective.
Click to expand...

Yup, they will real need to hear that when they are $150K in student loan debt, behind on their Credit Card payments, cannot get a decent job with their "humanity"-oriented degree and apply for unemployment benefits.  Will "humanity"education pay their bills?
 
abcd1234 said:
Chava,

We were oscillating as well on whether to do Algebra or CC8.  My daughter already takes Algebra outside of class, so we weren't concerned about having her do Algebra.  Like you, we felt the main issue was taking Geometry in 8th grade.  Several of my friends' experiences whose children (who were bright, GATE, etc etc) did Geometry in 8th and did not get the min grade of B.  They had to repeat Geometry in 9th and be placed in the non-Honors track.  We decided to have daughter do CC 8.
Click to expand...

Just found this forum.  Great place to find info and to discuss!  Thanks to everyone for your participation!

Regarding the challenge of taking Geometry in 8th grade, if a student passed the AAT with very good scores, would that be an indicator that he or she will be ready for Geometry next year? 

BTW, does anyone knows the passing rate of AAT so far, considering the recent re-takes?
 
AAT(Algebra Accelarted Test) , as its name indicates, is for testing the Algebra readyness, not geometry readyness.
Geometry preparedness depends on Kid's maturity level and visualization capacity of geometry.
There is lot of scope for a teacher to twist the geometrical problems.They take one main principle, and create several sub principles.
So we can not say for sure if the 8th grader can handler it or not. The general concept is it is too early for a 8th grader to take high school geometry.
So I tried to balance the stuff by placing her in 8th grade common core so that she does not miss Calculaus in high school. She knows most of the algebra 1 stuff and 8th grade common core stuff. she took time  to grasp the transformation of geomotrical shapes ( Rotation, reflection, dilation) part. So I thought of delaying the geometry until 9th grade .
 
If comparing textbooks between old and new math website, you will find that now pre-algebra is pushed to 8th grade. The title  of Springboard math course 3 is pre-algebra. It can be found at publisher's website but IUSD does not mention it in the website.
A lot of my kid's classmates went to math school this quarter. Probably this summer's placement tests worried their parents.
 
I think this strip's artist must be dealing with Common Core:

content.php


He has several starting with this one:
http://shermanslagoon.com/comics/november-10-2014/
 
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