What grade were you when when you started learning algebra?

[GodlessAstronomer]

That's roughly equal to what, 6th grade U.S.? Or what age would that be?

Age 12 or 13.

 

[secretanchitman]

6th. our school had "pre-AP algebra"...and that class was a joke, even though everyone said it was "so hard".

 

[Legendary]

3rd grade
had to go into school an hour early at the least to learn it

 

[Bryophyte]

The hilarious thing about this is that she goes to a failing "No Child Left Behind" school. NCLB doesn't mean bad teachers. It's because the school is populated with kids that don't learn English until they're in school, so they're behind before they even get started. It's probably over 90% Mexican/Latino kids. As a result, they started up a special Dual Immersion (half time English immersion, half time Spanish immersion) program, so I got her transfered to the school starting in Kindergarten so she could participate.

 

[Bryophyte]

The hilarious thing about this is that she goes to a failing "No Child Left Behind" school. NCLB doesn't mean bad teachers. It's because the school is populated with kids that don't learn English until they're in school, so they're behind before they even get started. It's probably over 90% Mexican/Latino kids. As a result, they started up a special Dual Immersion (half time English immersion, half time Spanish immersion) program, so I got her transfered to the school starting in Kindergarten so she could participate.

 

[theflyingpig]

The hilarious thing about this is that she goes to a failing "No Child Left Behind" school. NCLB doesn't mean bad teachers. It's because the school is populated with kids that don't learn English until they're in school, so they're behind before they even get started. It's probably over 90% Mexican/Latino kids. As a result, they started up a special Dual Immersion (half time English immersion, half time Spanish immersion) program, so I got her transfered to the school starting in Kindergarten so she could participate.

This foolish program is destroying our schools and polluting the minds of our children. People need to accept the reality that some children are stupid, and are destined for a life of mediocrity. Those children should not hinder the growth and development of the ones who are intellectually superior. Everyone knows this.

 

[dbk]

7th grade, I believe

 

[octopus41092]

In school? 6th Grade.

 

[SupaDupaPan]

3rd grade through tutoring, but US curriculum, 6th grade.

 

[Crono]

This foolish program is destroying our schools and polluting the minds of our children. People need to accept the reality that some children are stupid, and are destined for a life of mediocrity. Those children should not hinder the growth and development of the ones who are intellectually superior. Everyone knows this.

You're blowing my mind, man. I can no longer tell when you're being serious or not.

I'm going to assume everything that you post that features "everyone knows this" is garbage/sarcastic/troll, so...yeah.

 

[Bibble]

7th grade

 

[herm0016]

12th - Calculus
11th - Pre-calculus
10th - Algebra II
9th - Geometry
8th - Algebra I
7th - Pre-Algebra
6th - Advanced 6th math (still algebra stuff)
5th - Advanced 5th math (algebra stuff too)
4th - we were solving equations
3rd - first thing we did was learn the multiplication table

this is exactly what i had too.

 

[fatpat268]

8th: Algebra 1
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra 2
11th: Precal
12th: Calculus

That was the best I could do in my highschool. Frankly, I would've been ready to start Algebra 1 back in 5th grade. I had a pretty good grasp because my dad taught me a lot of it at an early age. But, my school system sucked, and I did the best I could. In 9th grade, my HS had classes in the format of 16 (18?) week courses, meaning I could get in 2 math classes a year eventually. But because Texas switched their standardized state test from the TAAS to the slightly more difficult TAKS, our school admins felt the need we needed year round courses. Bleh.

 

[DrPizza]

linear algebra and differential equations in high school?

I toss some linear algebra into my precalculus class, and my calculus class usually gets to some differential equations by the end of the year.

 

[Daishiki]

I was ahead by a year in elementary school, so I started to learn some algebra in 5th grade.

 

[Sumguy]

8th - Algebra I
9th - Geometry
10th - Algebra II
11th - Pre-Calc
12th - STATS!

I thought stats would get rid of the basic credits for college, but then they're like "LOL! Statistics for engineers!" I have no idea why they don't go ahead and make you take algebra WAY earlier...I could've taken it 7th grade but nobody told me of this then.

 

[esun]

Technically the course I took that was called algebra I took in 7th grade. However, our 6th grade teacher taught some of us some algebra (basically when he taught most students the regular math curriculum, he let some of us sit in a corner with an algebra textbook and learn on our own).

It was only recently (I think about 3-4 years ago now) that algebra was added as a requirement to graduate high school in California, so standards are still very, very low for most.

 

[Kadarin]

They've apparently really shifted learning of advanced math earlier in the curriculum. I started high school in '82, taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Most people started algebra in 9th grade, with some starting in 8th. Next year was geometry, followed by trig, followed by pre-calc. My first year in college I did a full year of calc, and my 2nd year I went up through differential equations and linear algebra. Now, 20 years later, I've completely forgotten it all, lol.

What I really have to wonder is whether it's a good idea to start early. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I'd be interested in seeing studies that look into whether students learn the material as well at a younger age. There's no real point in starting earlier if a greater percentage of kids struggle with it.

 

[eLiu]

4th? Shit that's early. I had some algebra in 5th grade in school, and my parents insisted on teaching me additional stuff (which I didn't really learn... was more interested in my N64). I could do the mechanics but probably didn't understand what I was doing. And I made a lot of careless errors... like doing dumb shit like a(x+b) = ax+b was the bane of my [mathematical] existence. I then took pre-alg in 6th and algebra in 7th. Though my 7th grade class covered more than my 'algebra 2' class in high school... lol

but anyway
THUMBSUP for kids excited about math! If she wants a challenge, show her this:
http://www.unl.edu/amc/e-exams/e4-amc08/amc8.shtml

 

[gophins72]

7th prealgebra
8th algebra
9th geometry
10th algebra2
post 10th summer -- pre-calc
11th calc
post 11th summer -- differential equations
12th linear algebra/modern algebra (also called abstract algebra)

 

[Modelworks]

6th or 7th. I remember the teacher trying to explain negative numbers to me and me not getting it because I was trying to conceive how can you have something less than nothing.

 

[Kadarin]

6th or 7th. I remember the teacher trying to explain negative numbers to me and me not getting it because I was trying to conceive how can you have something less than nothing.

Did you ever get to learn about imaginary numbers?

 

[Born2bwire]

8th: Algebra 1
9th: Geometry
10th: Algebra 2
11th: Precal
12th: Calculus

Ditto, this sounds like the math curriculum that I followed, though we did one semester of trig and then one semester of pre-calc in 11th grade. I got in on the accelerated math back in elementary so I stayed a year ahead pretty much since 4th grade. There was a fully accelerated program that started in 4th too. I did accelerated math and reading, but the plus program segregated a class of kids for all the regular subjects from 4th to 8th grade. They were two years ahead of everybody in most subjects when they came to high school so they got to do multi-variable calc in 12th grade. I always liked that the school district that I grew up in had several accelerated (and remedial) programs as opposed to trying to fit everyone into a single program of study.

 

[TallBill]

7th: Algebra
8th: Geometry
9th: Algebra 2
10th: Trigonometry
11th: Calculus BC
12th: Statistics (opted not to take calc 3)

 

[TheVrolok]

is it just me or does that time line seem really screwed up?

What flow would have made more sense? It seemed fairly logical when I was going through it, though I don't honestly remember a whole hell of a lot.

linear algebra and differential equations in high school?

It was part of a pilot program for myself and 5 or 6 other "advanced" students. We finished all the math our school offered so they basically just wanted to keep us occupied. Personally, I would rather have just had an hour off of school.