MATHEMATICS

Why accelerate mathematics?

Math expertise is necessary for advanced study of most subjects.
Ability in math, like talent in music or sports, is among the most obvious of special abilities to recognize.

Some kids are ready and willing for challenging math.

The Problem

Most schools, nevertheless, teach all learners together at a lockstep pace through elementary and into middle or junior high school.

Gifted students in a good program, on the other hand, can complete four or more years of “regular” math in one academic year.

George, W.C. (1976). Accelerating mathematics instruction for the mathematically talented. Gifted Child Quarterly, 20, 246-261.

Thus, bright kids waste whole years of their learning lives and suffer the risks of poor instruction.

Be Careful Comparing

Yourself:

Typically American

May Not Be Good Enough

Every four years students around the world are tested and compared in math.

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is coordinated and managed by the International Study Center at Boston College and is partially funded by the United States government. Data is reported by the U.S. Department of Education on its National Center for Education Statistics website – see http://nces.ed.gov/timss/index.asp.

In 2003 America ranked 15^th in math among tested nations for eighth graders and 12th for fourth graders. The perennial top performer is Singapore and our lag is significant.

Clearly, some countries prepare their math students better than the U.S.

Is Sophisticated Math Ability Learned or Innate?

Ability with numbers comes from some combination of genes and training.

A leading Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at University College, London, argues that good education creates great mathematicians, not special genes. Brian Butterworth says everybody has a part of the brain predisposed for crunching numbers, just as we do for processing language, and how good we get at math is merely a consequence of our training and practice. The better the training is, the better our mathematical abilities. Math klutzes are simply the result of bad education.

What Counts: How Every Brain is Hardwired for Math, The Free Press, New York, 1999.

The Mathematical Brain, Macmillan, 1999.

GLC’s Mathematics Sequence

Our math sequence is a continuing course of study from early elementary to university level mathematics. Students find their starting point by placement test and move through the sequence as their personal pace carries them.

See discussion of pace and course sequences .

We expect bright students to be ahead of their regular school grade and to learn faster than regular school pace.

Benchmarking Your Accomplishment

Student and tutor may decide to prepare for a standardized test, which reports student progress compared to other young scholars and gives hard evidence of academic accomplishment.

The American Mathematics Competitions (AMC)

AMC has a series of tests (for 8^th graders and under, 10^th graders and under, and 12^th graders and under) designed to encourage and reward young mathematicians. The AMC8 is offered each November, the AMC10 in January, the AMC12 in February.

http://www.unl.edu/amc/whatswhat.shtml

Midwest Academic Talent Search

Sponsored by Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, students take regular standardized tests designed for older children. Children starting in the third grade take the Explore Test, designed for eighth graders. Children in sixth grade and up take the SAT or ACT college entrance exams normally taken by high school seniors.

The beauty of under-age testing is the high ceiling for results, allowing bright children to shine in a way they can’t on in-grade-level testing. Many students do extremely well.

http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/mats/index.html

Starting Recommendation

Here’s a quick way to get your child on a fast track.

1. Find a math textbook at your child's proficiency level and begin tutoring him or her yourself.

2. When you reach your limitations in mathematical proficiency, or time, or patience contact GLC to continue the tutoring.
Good luck.

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