algebra in 4th grade

[ez]

My fourth grader is learning algebra with some problems that i cant even figure out how to do. I am in my 50's and was educated on Long Island and Im pretty sure I didn't learn any algebra till 9th grade. I can't remember what concepts i was learning each year up till then but pretty sure it wasn't that, because I remember struggling with it in 9th grade and that being the first time I associated a letter with a number. Can anyone else around my age remember what we were leaning in math and when?? Seems so different now.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm 48, didn't see Algebra until 7th grade. DD1 started it in 6th, DD2 in 5th.

I never had trouble with it & my kids don't either (DD2 is having fits with "new math" though ). I always thought it was a lot easier than diagraming a sentence

 

[lsyorke]

And we see the results of this crazy push in the end result. I have employees who can't do basic math because they spent years "getting through" math classes way to advanced for a child, started by an education system that has lost it's way. It's ridiculous and damaging todays children.

 

[aprilgail]

I went to the same school as my daughter goes to now- I was in basic algebra in 9th grade with no regents unless you wanted to take regular algebra in 10th, my daughter took the regular algebra regents in 8th grade! Back when I went in high school you needed one year of math, one year of science, 3 history and 4 English and gym every year you were in school and 1/2 year of health. Has changed a lot!

 

[DopeyDame]

I'm guessing (hoping!) that the algebra in 4th grade isn't true high school credit Algebra I.

There are a lot of algebraic concepts being introduced in lower grades now. Theoretically it helps with the general numerical comfort and fluency with numbers.

My 1st grader is getting problems like 3 + ___ = 5. That's definitely "algebra", but of course no one expects a six year old to master Algebra I.

 

[MSLRAC]

I was thinking about this same thing this morning on our flight as I watched my oldest work on her math assignments that she'll be missing next week while we are at WDW. She is doing math that I know I didn't learn until 9th grade and she's just in 6th. If she stays on the track that she's on, she'll graduate from high school with two of her college math credits in the bag so I support the faster paced math schedule but it sure makes me feel old.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I'm guessing (hoping!) that the algebra in 4th grade isn't true high school credit Algebra I.

There are a lot of algebraic concepts being introduced in lower grades now. Theoretically it helps with the general numerical comfort and fluency with numbers.

My 1st grader is getting problems like 3 + ___ = 5. That's definitely "algebra", but of course no one expects a six year old to master Algebra I.

That's the kind of stuff DD has done in 5th.

10X + 2 = 22

Solve for X

 

[puffkin]

Many of the concepts in the "new" math that fits the common core testing has an algebraic background. I am seeing some of it come home as well with my 4th grader. Luckily he has not been struggling much with the crazy math that they are learning because half the time I don't understand what they want. I am a CPA, so it isn't like numbers are a foreign concept to me!

I was on an advanced math track back in the 90's and I remember starting pre-algebra in 7th grade and then Algebra 1 in 8th and Algebra 2 in 9th, Geometry in 10th, Trig (semester) and Pre Calc (semester) in 11th and Calculus in 12th. In college I had to take Calculus again, but it was just a repeat of my high school class so it was an easy A. It will be interesting to see how this new style of learning math will affect their progression through the higher math levels once they hit high school/college.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think that's when they started to introduce algebra. Dd14 is already on algebra 2 as a freshman, dd12 and ds12 are taking algebra 1 as 7th graders. They did have to test in, and there are still some who take algebra 1 as freshmen, but I'm not sure how many. My concern is that when they take the SATs in junior year, algebra will have been forgotten!

ETA they break up algebra with geometry, which my kids take in 8th grade.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

The 3+X=6 type basic algebra that I started learning in 8th grade (well into the age of being socialized to fear it by older siblings and friends) has now been on my kids' math homework since early elementary. And it's no big deal. To them, they have grown up with it and it's just like every other new math concept. And 3 kids later, I haven't seen it get harder than this until about 6th-7th grade, and that is IF the child is in advanced math. Regular math goes a little slower.

Not starting this very basic algebra until 8th grade left me woefully unprepared for Algebra 1 in high school, and I had to go back to pre-algebra 2nd semester, which put me behind a whole year the rest of the way through. I'm glad to see it being used with younger kids.

Trust me, this is just an introduction to algebraic concepts. It's very likely your son's class will go back to good old fashioned long division and fractions this year as well. He will not be moving on to quadratic equations and graphing slope any time soon, if that's what your fear is.

 

[littlejimmy]

And we see the results of this crazy push in the end result. I have employees who can't do basic math because they spent years "getting through" math classes way to advanced for a child, started by an education system that has lost it's way. It's ridiculous and damaging todays children.

I absolutely see the exact opposite of this. my employees can do basic math, and my kids definitely benefitted from todays education system. don't really see how it is damaging to todays children, but that is a good scare tactic.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Many of the concepts in the "new" math that fits the common core testing has an algebraic background. I am seeing some of it come home as well with my 4th grader. Luckily he has not been struggling much with the crazy math that they are learning because half the time I don't understand what they want. I am a CPA, so it isn't like numbers are a foreign concept to me!

I was on an advanced math track back in the 90's and I remember starting pre-algebra in 7th grade and then Algebra 1 in 8th and Algebra 2 in 9th, Geometry in 10th, Trig (semester) and Pre Calc (semester) in 11th and Calculus in 12th. In college I had to take Calculus again, but it was just a repeat of my high school class so it was an easy A. It will be interesting to see how this new style of learning math will affect their progression through the higher math levels once they hit high school/college.

Here, the order is:

Algebra I
Geometry
Algebra II
Trig
Calc

 

[barkley]

I'm in my 50's and best I can remember we started algebra in 7th b/c I remember geometry as my 8th grade class. w/dd and ds (senior in high school now) I don't know when our public schools start introducing it but I suspect it's not very early on b/c we recently got into a bit of a kerfuffle over ds's iep w/the special ed professionals justifying a take away by saying his recent test scores show him capable of doing a certain level of algebra "despite never receiving any formal instruction in the subject"-shot that down by pointing out that the private school system he went to used a math series that started introducing algebraic concepts in 1st grade so he HAD formal instruction, even at a basic level for 8 years (every unit in the math books would at the end take whatever concept that was being covered and relate it in algebraic terms-so the kids from a very early age were at least exposed to the mechanics).

 

[mnrose]

I think of Algebra as factoring quadratic equations, and determining the slope of a line...that sort of thing. The very very basic algebra is introduced in elementary school (4th and 5th grade sounds about right). But, beyond that, it's 7th to 8th grade here (e.g., quadratic equations, etc) We are still Alg 1 9th grade, Geometry 10th grade, Alg2/Trig 11th grade, and Pre Calc 12th grade. However, the advanced kids rotate through much quicker...my son is taking AP Calc as a 10th grader...and he's not the only one.

 

[wilkeliza]

I think that's when they started to introduce algebra. Dd14 is already on algebra 2 as a freshman, dd12 and ds12 are taking algebra 1 as 7th graders. They did have to test in, and there are still some who take algebra 1 as freshmen, but I'm not sure how many. My concern is that when they take the SATs in junior year, algebra will have been forgotten!

ETA they break up algebra with geometry, which my kids take in 8th grade.

Don't worry about them forgetting it. I was in pre-Calc in 11th and AP Calc as a Senior. I did fine on my SAT and got a 34 on my ACT. My SAT was crazy because I got something in the high 700s with no calculator. My teacher was big on making us learn how to do it with out a TI-89 or even a regular calculator. I was so thankful for that skill when I dropped my TI outside the testing room and it wouldn't turn back on! I had a mild panic attack but ended up doing stellar.

I think of Algebra as factoring quadratic equations, and determining the slope of a line...that sort of thing. The very very basic algebra is introduced in elementary school (4th and 5th grade sounds about right). But, beyond that, it's 7th to 8th grade here (e.g., quadratic equations, etc) We are still Alg 1 9th grade, Geometry 10th grade, Alg2/Trig 11th grade, and Pre Calc 12th grade. However, the advanced kids rotate through much quicker...my son is taking AP Calc as a 10th grader...and he's not the only one.

I had one friend do that (I was a senior in Calc and he was in 10th) and I have no clue what he did after AP Calc. He was very immature for the class though and it really frustrated the teacher. It was just normal 15/16 year old stuff but those 2 years made a difference between those of us who knew the stakes with college being next year and him who just kept saying well I can still retake the test 2 more times so why bother.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I remember doing some basic pre-Algebra stuff in 7th or 8th grade.

 

[mischief32]

Yep, my 4th grader is doing Algebra also. I told my husband it was all him and we have a tutor. We have has a tutor for years since she had reading problems. I also did not remember doing algebra until 8th grade.

 

[Minnesota!]

That's the kind of stuff DD has done in 5th.

10X + 2 = 22

Solve for X

This is the stuff my 3rd!!!!! grader brought home last week. I know I did not start it until 5th grade (same school, eons ago), but 3rd just sounds sooooooo early. Let them get the basic multiplication and division and stuff down for a year, at least, before you introduce!

 

[pryncess527]

I'm 36, I started basic Algebra in 6th grade.

 

[pryncess527]

This is the stuff my 3rd!!!!! grader brought home last week. I know I did not start it until 5th grade (same school, eons ago), but 3rd just sounds sooooooo early. Let them get the basic multiplication and division and stuff down for a year, at least, before you introduce!

Well for me, that would have been 3rd. 1st we did additon/subtraction. 2nd was multiplication/division. So by 3rd, in theory, I would have been ready for that. Though I have no memory of what we did in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math. I do recall starting pre-algebra when I moved to middle school for 6th grade.