question for math teachers

From: k wallace (wallace.k_at_engr.orst.edNOSPAMu)
Date: 11/22/04 

Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:20:03 -0800

A quick question for anyone who's taught at the high school level, esp.
the AP math classes.
Having 2 teenagers in high school (9th and 10th grades) both in the
'high' math classes for their grades, I have been wondering this for a
while.
Why is the order of classes set up like:
8th grade, Algebra 1
9th grade, geometry
10th grade, Algebra 2
11 th grade, trig
12th grade, calculus

instead of algebra 1, 2 then geometry, trig?
 From personal experience and giving lots of homework help to daughters
and their friends, these kids forget a lot of algebra between 8th and
10th grade! The first month is then spent on review, whereas if it was
just a summer away, it would be far less review.
Is there a teaching-philosophy reason for this?
         regards,
               k wallace

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