Algebra is a milestone in math education — the foundation for every branch of math afterward. Therefore, students must be thoroughly comfortable with it in order to take on geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and so forth, just as they once had to practice multiplication tables until those became second nature.

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The transition from elementary to middle school is, arguably, the most important step toward success on the way to college. Middle school is, for many students the first stage when classrooms are divided by subject, when the time spent on homework stretches into hours — when organization and study habits begin to determine how well they can keep up.

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For many students, the sixth grade is the first time that social studies venture outside the United States, and that history begins earlier than 1492.  The standard sixth grade history curriculum — covering ancient civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, et cetera — challenges even the brightest students.  The remoteness of thousands of miles and thousands of years makes history suddenly more abstract, as it describes places that students cannot see immediately around them.  Southern California students are, after all, more likely to visit the San Juan Capistrano mission than Jerusalem.

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