<p>I have heard that the reason some/many schools have these accelerated programs is because other countries teach higher math at lower grades and the USA was losing ground in comparison. By having this option, we are letting the kids who can do higher math at younger ages be competitive against those students so that USA can “keep up”. I have no problem with letting the kids who can do the math, do the math! We wouldn’t force kids who excel at a musical instrument or an athletic sport to delay their progress just because their peers can’t “keep up”.</p>