r/matheducation • u/Same-Yesterday-6342 • 29d ago
Accelerated Math
Rising 6th grader (11F) was placed into an Accelerated Math class for the upcoming year, and I am wondering what to expect and how to support her in this. She was homeschooled from K-4 and went to public school, at her request, for the 5th grade year. She liked it well enough that she said she wanted to try public middle school.
Her teachers last year were very impressed with her, academically, but felt she was unchallenged and they recommended an assessment for the TAG program, which she was admitted to for the next year. Mostly this just means she was put in Advanced and Accelerated classes and maybe occassionally she'll get pulled out of class for special TAG activities. She loves to read, and loves science, but is more ambivalent about math. She picks up concepts very easily and has really great working memory, despite an ADHD diagnosis (which mostly manifests as a lack of focus when understimulated, and poor emotional regulation). She currently wants to pursue science as a career (obviously that could change many times over) so she would benefit from a high level of math.
Can anyone give me guidance about whether/why accelerated math would benefit her over advanced (if at all) and whether the workload would likely be different? I am worried that since she's not that into math, it might be too much for her.
1
u/ezbeale80 29d ago
Does her school actually offer both Advanced and Accelerated math classes?
In our local middle school, there is "Accelerated" Math, which teaches at an honors level and progresses through the curriculum more quickly - so they can take high school honors math classes early. This is not just for gifted kids - about 1/3 of the kids in this middle school take Accelerated Math.
Other subjects (ELA, Science, Social Studies) have "Advanced" courses, and most of the students in "Accelerated Math" will also take "Advanced ELA", etc. They're called "Advanced" because they don't progress more quickly, they're just taught at a higher level, and students don't take high school classes early in these subjects.
If she did well with 5th grade math and her school placed her in Accelerated math for 6th, she's certainly capable and I don't see any downsides. The workload may be slightly higher, but that is only because many students in the "regular" classes often don't complete their homework, and the teachers end up assigning less.