Talk To Me About High School Maths

[Immanuel]

http://www.corestandards.org/Math/

 

Veritas is correct about the math standards becoming a little muddled in High School. Not the standards themselves but what would be taught in each grade 9 - 12. U.S. High Schools can be so different from one another. Some HSs are more traditional and they cover a comprehensive study of a single math topic (say Algebra 1)and students would take this class for the entire year or perhaps a full semester (half year). Other HSs have a more integrated approach and portions of all the math topics must be studied throughout each of the 4 years. In this case, schools must coordinate within themselves which grades will teach what part of each standard (math topic).

 

[blazeingstar]

No! There is no province in Canada that does this, and hasn't for quite some time.  Ontario was the only province with Gr. 13 and they still had kindergarten (it counted as first year university in many regards).

 

I believe most children would turn 11 in Gr. 6.  (Kindergarten is usually must be 5 by December 31 of that year).  

Curriculum is entirely set by provinces - they will vary pretty greatly.  BC is a little behind in sciences and math until Gr. 11, when they start playing major catch-up so that everyone is about equal when they enter university.  

 

Well they did, once.  I relized after you posted saying "quite some time" that by calculation of my uncle being about 20 years older than me, he'd of graduated highschool some 20-30 years ago.  But I do rememeber him talking about going to grade 13 as he'd have his highschool friends over.

[Nihil Obstat]

I believe Saskatchewan also had a grade 13 about a generation ago.

 

 

Here is the Alberta math curriculum. It has changed a bit since I took it, but not too much.

http://education.alberta.ca/media/655889/math10to12.pdf

[Starets]

I graduated in 1981 in Yorkton SK and even back then the only province with a Grade 13 was Ontario. And it was uphill and against the wind both ways :hehe2:

[truthfinder]

Just to clarify: grade 13 was the 14th year of education.

[puellapaschalis]

Just to clarify: grade 13 was the 14th year of education.

 

So it was the school year in which you turn 18, or 19?

 

(My point is here that I come from a part of the world where you might start your first year of schooling at 4, 5, 6 or even 7, so that's how I think of it. Granted, if in North America it's common to just start earlier, or later, or to skip a year's schooling or even to mix n match, talking about ages isn't useful.)
 

[blazeingstar]

So it was the school year in which you turn 18, or 19?

 

(My point is here that I come from a part of the world where you might start your first year of schooling at 4, 5, 6 or even 7, so that's how I think of it. Granted, if in North America it's common to just start earlier, or later, or to skip a year's schooling or even to mix n match, talking about ages isn't useful.)
 

 

My uncle graduated grade 13 at age 18, the rest of his siblings, graduated at 17 from American schools, so they teased him a great deal about that.  And it was like 30 years ago, so probably different now.  It seems there's alot more 18 and 19yo's graduating Highschool than ever before.

 

10 years ago it wasn't uncommon to have a minor in the dorms...between a dozen or two out of 300-500 (you had to turn 18 by Jan 1) who'd graduated HS at 17, this year there were record dorm applications (well over 500) but only 2 minors this past school year.

[truthfinder]

So it was the school year in which you turn 18, or 19?

 

(My point is here that I come from a part of the world where you might start your first year of schooling at 4, 5, 6 or even 7, so that's how I think of it. Granted, if in North America it's common to just start earlier, or later, or to skip a year's schooling or even to mix n match, talking about ages isn't useful.)
 

They would graduate, and enter university, the year they would turn 19.  There was actually a study done on the effects of an extra year in the Ontario context.  Apparently, orientations used to be served alcohol but because of the influx of minors that got quashed.  

[Luigi]

The first thing you need to know about "maths" is that, at least in the US, they're not "mathS."

 

It's just plain "math" - a non-count, or mass, noun as opposed to a plural noun.

 

 

I'm not sure any US school would hire you - no matter how skilled you were - if you called the subject "maths." (Although... the full word is "mathematics". Nonetheless, it's a mass noun, not a plural.)

[Nihil Obstat]

The first thing you need to know about "maths" is that, at least in the US, they're not "mathS."

 

It's just plain "math" - a non-count, or mass, noun as opposed to a plural noun.

 

 

I'm not sure any US school would hire you - no matter how skilled you were - if you called the subject "maths." (Although... the full word is "mathematics". Nonetheless, it's a mass noun, not a plural.)

Because 'Murica!

 

[puellapaschalis]

The first thing you need to know about "maths" is that, at least in the US, they're not "mathS."

 

It's just plain "math" - a non-count, or mass, noun as opposed to a plural noun.

 

 

I'm not sure any US school would hire you - no matter how skilled you were - if you called the subject "maths." (Although... the full word is "mathematics". Nonetheless, it's a mass noun, not a plural.)

 

I'll bear your excellent advice in mind when I reverse my decision to stop working in education. Not to mention when the Atlantic dries up and I decide to teach in the US system. And of course when I knock my head and forget everything I had already learnt about English etymology, I'll come to Phatmass to ask whether or not 'mathematics' is a plural noun or not.

 

Because 'Murica!