Algebra II in 3rd grade!

[Cindy B]

My daughter (3rd grade) came home from school today with math homework.

It was ordered pairs and x and y intercept/slope intercept!

Honest to goodness! It was told in very simple terms with the m= y2-y1 divided by x2-x1!

It started with graphs, then labeling the x,y's and then putting them in ordered pairs. Then after the pairs were labeled under the x and y, they were shown on the sheet how to subtract the y's and x's and how to divide them to get that information

What is scary about this is that I work in the same district and I was doing the exact same thing with my remedial Alg I/II class yesterday in HIGH SCHOOL!

This is not the advanced class either!

I know that they want to advance others, but is this too much though?

Yesterday she had homework on picto/histograph and data trend.

See, I work with remedial math and special education students so to see what the non special ed students are doing is blowing my mind!

I know that my students are remedial so they are doing the same thing in 9th/10th grade.. how old were your kids or you when you did this stuff?

 

[kristen821]

Is she doing the "Everyday Math Program" at her school

 

[Cindy B]

no, its called Math Investigations.

 

[momoftwins]

DD and DS are learning the "FOIL" method right now. You know, multipy the First, Outside, Inside, Last variables to simply binomials. They are in 4th. They also learned the intercept/slope in 3rd grade.

I have to say I love math and I really do love this program.

 

[LaLa]

OMG, you're kidding, right? I am so in for it next year. DS is in 2nd grade and we already get confused sometimes with his Math homework.


I can handle just about anything you throw at me if it has to do with English, Literature, History, Science, whatever, bring it on. But start talking Math and I just have to find my happy place.

 

[Hootiss]

I'm with you LaLa, I can handle any subject but math. I want to cry everytime DD(5th grade) has math homework.

 

[Aalore]

I'm surprised there learning this in math already. Parents are also getting a refresher too, it seems!

 

[Daxx]

In my Kdg. math book, the students do algebra in every unit. It clearly states at the top of the workbook page whether they're using algebra. One thing that clearly sticks out in my mind is when we do addition and subtraction and they leave out the middle number. The math problem looks like this:

*** and ____ equals 5
3 + ____ = 5

They have to add one * to the blank area, count the *'s up to see if they have 5. If not, then they add another * to the blank area and count them up again to see if they now have 5. Once all the *'s add up to 5, they count how many are in the middle area and fill in the blank w/the correct number (2).

We just did patterns in math and they had some "complex" patterns for the kids like this:

X0XX00XXX000 _________ (answer is XXXX0000)

Ab Bc C_ De E__ ___g G__ (answers: f, F,h)

5, __, 3, 2, ___, 0, 1, ___, 3, ___, 5, 4, ___, 2, 1, ___, 1, ___, ___, 4, 5, ___
(answers: 4, 1, 2, 4, 3, 0, 2, 3, 0)

Can you believe they had these for patterns in Kdg!?!? It was so difficult trying to explain some of these to the Kdg. set ... they were overwhelmed by some of it. Thankfully, I have to introduce and touch on the concept and not really "drill it in".

So, no I am not surprised about algebra in 3rd grade since we start it in Kdg.

 

[Just2554]

Personally, I'm glad to hear that some schools are starting math concepts so early. I just graduated from high school in May and I have to tell you, it was scary the amount of high school seniors who could not do basic math. And by basic math I mean, multiplication, solving for x, and the FOIL method. As long as the majority of kids can handle it, I think it's a wonderful idea!

 

[powellrj]

My middle ds is taking Algaebra II this year and his DS who is in 4th grade was doing the same work he was a few weeks ago! It was great because he helped her with her homework!!

 

[golfgal]

I don't know if it is the same program but our public schools used an investigative math program for several years and it was HORRIBLE. Their math scores on the standard tests were terrible. They spent too much time doing things like algebra and not learning how to multiply and divide or simply learning multiplication tables. They have switched to a more traditional math program, with a book and everything (they didn't have math text books with this other program) and their scores have jumped dramatically.


I don't have a problem with them introducing the concepts, the math program our kids had at the Catholic school is fabulous and they did a lot of introduction to advanced math concepts but it wasn't the focus of the lesson for the day.

 

[Cindy B]

The jury is still out for this Math Investigations program. I'm not crazy about the 5th grade program or if its just the math teacher for my son.

Its way too easy for my son and he is constantly not challenged. However my daughter is slightly struggling with her stuff.

 

[Michigan]

Things have changed since my oldest daughter that is now in high school. My youngest is in elementary school. Last year in 1st grade they did geometry and this year they have done more geometry but are going to begin calculus and in third grade they do begin algebra

 

[bicker]

By third grade, we were already playing with slide rules!

Seriously, the point is that the world has changed, and the United States hasn't changed fast enough to remain as competitive as we are today. I only hope we can catch up to the nations that have surpassed us at teaching their children math and science, before it is too late to reverse the economic damage.

 

[Mskanga]

You should see my house when the kids have math homework and questions about it .....go to dad!!!! LOL
Not only I learned many years ago but in a different country , we did things differently and I don't want to confuse the heck out of them ( I have done that with the oldest which is the reason why I said go to dad ). I can help with just about anything else, but Math is just not my strong point, I always hated it !

 

[Kaycee]

My younger DS is in 8th grade and my older DS is in 10th grade now. Basic algebra concepts were introduced beginning in 2nd or 3rd grade. I thought at the time that it was too soon, but now I'm very glad. They are much more comfortable with math concepts than DH or I were at their ages. I didn't really like math until college, and DH never learned to like it. Now that the guys are getting into more complicated math concepts, it really seems to help a lot that they've been familiar with basic algebraic concepts for years.

 

[zulaya]

We do Everyday Math and it's amazing how much the kids retain from year to year. I do have to say I can't remember if Alg I/II stuff was in my DS 3rd grade class. I know he hasn't done anything like that yet this year.

I guess I'll be the black sheep on this thread, both me and my kids, especially DS.

DS literally begs for more math homework from his teacher, he likes it so much. And DH and I have engineering backgrounds. We are math and science strong so not much of a problem there.

 

[Fannie_Marie]

My DD's school began basic algebra concepts in 3rd grade, pretty easy for me to help her with her homework then, but now that she's in 5th grade, I've been stumped by more than a few of her word problems! Thank goodness that I've been struggling through pre-algebra I & II - had to take both classes twice before the concepts stuck and I was able to get "C"s in both classes. Without my college textbooks I never would've known where to begin helping her grasp these concepts. Hopefully I'll be able to keep ahead of her mathematically by passing algebra I this semester! LOL