<p>My 8th grader has missed a lot of school this year due to a medical issue. So much so, that I’m worried that he’s not going to be well prepared for Geometry next year. I think he’ll finish Algebra 1 with a B, but likely a very very low B that’s only brought up by a 100% homework grade. So, I’m thinking of sending him to summer school to repeat Algebra.</p>
<p>Looking around there are 2 basic options</p>
<p>1) Send him to the county summer school. The downside is that it’s located more than an hour away by public transportation, in the opposite direction from my work so I can’t take it, and it starts at 8:00 a.m… Making him get out the door at 6:40 seems almost cruel. The upsides are that it’s cheap, it’s exactly the same curriculum, and if he does well and gets an A the B will disappear from his transcript. I think he’s got a good chance of doing that </p>
<p>2) Send him summer school at a private school. The upside are that they’re an easy trip, and start at civilized hours, plus it’s close to other things he’s likely to want to do. It’s also a different curriculum which might be a little less boring than repeating the same exact course. Downsides are cost, and the fact that I don’t think it will change the grade on his transcript.</p>
<p>My question is, how much should I weigh the B to A grade change? If it makes a difference we’re in a district with no +/- on the report card, and no class rank. I also don’t think our state schools seem to have automatic GPA cut offs. He’s also more of a B student than an A student, so I don’t anticipate this particular B keeping him out of the running for valedictorian or something.</p>
<p>Not sure if it makes a difference but our school system includes middle school grades on the HS transcript and doesn’t label them as such. </p>
<p>The question in the title is 0.03 points, which is, assuming that he graduates with 30 credits (7 a year, plus the 2 he’s bringing up from middle school), how much of a difference between 1 letter grade in 1 class makes. So it’s a 3.70 vs. a 3.67 or a 3.0 vs a 2.97.</p>
<p>Lastminute, he’s disciplined but also a pretty extroverted kid. I think he’d enjoy being in a class and meeting new kids more than he’d enjoy sitting at home on the computer. </p>
<p>Given that it’s 100% not his fault that I’m making him do this, I’d rather make it as enjoyable as possible.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the grade or the transcript. Really.</p>
<p>A slight concern would be him having missed some important concepts that he will build on for future years. In your shoes, I might ask the teacher what an appropriate review would be for the past school year. Maybe he/she could give you some blank copies of the major tests. </p>
<p>Let him enjoy most of the summer, then a few weeks before school starts have him take the tests (possibly with a tutor) for review. You can then find any holes and plug them. (It may be that your school offers math review to do over the summer anyway. If this is the case, ignore the previous suggestion.)</p>
<p>My 8th grade D’s algebra grade will be on her HS transcript too and they had us sign something that we knew that going in (although you can opt out). I agree with what others have said: geometry is a whole different animal and to not worry about the grade as the later math classes your S takes IN HS will matter a lot more.</p>
<p>However, my D has found that Khan Academy, which is online and free, is excellent at filling in holes or making the muddy clear. It was created by someone who wanted a way to make math clearer for his younger brother. And it offer multiple modes of work. D’s school allows it for proof of competency. D used it last summer to fill in her weak spots in pre-algebra for her own peace of mind. It worked-she’s had an A all year.</p>
<p>Hope your son’s allergies and missed school are improving!</p>
<p>Oh good grief. A B in eighth grade?! This has got to be a thread straight out of the Urban Dictionary entry on CC. </p>
<p>Let the kid have his summer. Maybe review and fill in the gaps with Khan or something. Above all, stop calculating your kid’s gpa years in advance.</p>
<p>I actually agree with the point about when to worry about this. It would not be this summer, because geometry isn’t really the same as algebra. I wish I would have provided an Algebra 1 booster before Algebra II for my son. Would have helped him.
Don’t worry about the grade, worry about mastery.</p>
<p>The last 6 weeks or so of Algebra I was really difficult for my child. He had done well enough in the rest of the class not to repeat it, but the last 6 weeks turned out to be a pretty good predictor of how difficult Algebra II would be for him.</p>
<p>Our high school counts middle school grades into the high school GPA, so yes, getting a B can make a small difference in the GPA and your ultimate rank. I know the year my son graduated .03 wouldn’t have made much difference. Number one in the class had a 106 weighted GPA, number eight had a 103. I would not sweat it. Doing well in geometry has very little relationship to how well you do in algebra.</p>
<p>But if you or your child is REALLY concerned, you can do the free Aleks.com assessment to find the holes, and then use Aleks or Khan or other internet sources to brush up on those areas shortly before they become relevant.</p>
<p>To be clear, I’m not making him go to summer school because he got a B. I didn’t provide more details because I was asking a specific question, not looking for an opinion on him</p>
<p>At this point he’ll have missed about 60 math classes this year, including about 30 so far this quarter. The way grades are figured at his school, their final grade reflects all 4 quarters and 3 B’s and a C or D still come out to be a B in the course grade. He really doesn’t understand the work that they’re doing right now at all, and I assume it’s content he’ll need down the road. At this point, I don’t think his math teacher would let him go on to Geo. next year without some kind of summer intervention. He’s reviewing hard, and if he can demonstrate that he understands the stuff then I assume she and I will change our minds. </p>
<p>I do agree that reviewing Alg.1 right before Alg 2 might make more sense, but for a variety of reasons I’d rather not do it that way. One is that I’m not sure he’ll get approval to take Geo next year without summer school this summer. The second is that he’s involved in a couple of EC’s that have really exciting summer opportunities available for students entering 10th grade. I’d hate for him to miss those due to summer school next summer. </p>
<p>So my question isn’t “should I make my kid go to summer school”. He’s OK with summer school. He knows he’s got a variety of options – Algebra 1 in 9th, working with me over the summer, a tutor, and online program or summer school. Of those he prefers the social aspects of a class. So, my question is, if we’re choosing between 2 summer schools, how much weight in the decision should I give to the fact that one program’s grades will be on his HS transcript, while the others’ won’t?</p>
<p>I am trying to figure out a way to read this that doesn’t lead me to make offense. </p>
<p>My kid is made of the “right stuff”. He’s a wonderful person. Whether or not he needs to “break a sweat” to keep up in math, or whether he benefits from direct instruction, has nothing to do with his value.</p>