Yes, that's the article, Austin. Not to answer for Ania, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

Good question. Let's go even further - how do non mathy parents assess their kids knowledge in math? Clearly getting straight A's and being the best in the class does not prove anything.
Competition? Most math competitions, especially the elementary ones involve speed - not all kids will do well just because of this factor.
So what to do, how to make sure that they are on the right path?

Going back to the OP article, look at how accelerated the kids at M.Blair are. They are expected to do pre-calc in 9th grade, so it puts them as starting Algebra 1 in 6th grade. No matter how right the article is, I still envy those living in MD. My state does not have an option like M.Blair - there is no HS here that takes cream of the crop. How unfair to my kids, I think. How can we even talk about standard education?

Oops, sorry..
Yes, the linked article is the one I was referring to

Hi Lori,

My dd8 is schedule to start honors pre-algebra this fall. She had to take the placement test from JHU CTY for grades 5-7 before being allowed to sign up for the class. She will also be tested for placement the first week of school for math placement there. The JHU CTY placement test is pretty comprehensive and difficult (they actually had some trig and advance algebra questions thrown in there). Maybe you could have your son take a placement test or do an out of level test?

I think it really depends on what "depth" you consider enough? I think a lot of kids (here) could easily go through the standard math curricula at a quicker pace than normal. But all that means is that they end up at the same place a more average learner would end up, albeit at a younger age. If your child has great talent, and the passion to go with that talent, then that probably isn't good enough. I'm generalizing here, which I don't like to do, but I don't think that any regular math curricula is enough to foster the kind of math talent and knowledge that many of us are looking for here for our children. Like Ania mentioned in her post, my son has always been at the top of his math class (and he's been whole grade skipped twice with a further year in math). By all appearances he is a strong math student. It wasn't until we enrolled him in a math course specifically geared to high ability math kids (AoPS) that we realized how far he has to go. And he's not enrolled in calculus or anything like that. This is just an Algebra I class geared to middle schoolers. But it is taught at a whole new level than that which he's been exposed to in school. If I had to guess, based on student participation in the class, he's probably right in the middle of this class as far as ability goes. I know he will come out of this class with an "indepth" understanding of Algebra that he would never had obtained in school.

I'm not pushing AoPS here. It's a good course, but online format doesn't work for everyone. There are other resources geared to high ability kids. I just think that if you want your child to have a knowledge of math that goes beyond the regular student, you can't expect them to get that knowledge simply taking regular math classes at a faster pace. I'm all for acceleration, but without the depth to go with it, it's just a quicker road to the same end.

CFK ^^AoPS classes are an eye opener, aren't they

YES! The class just had their first "turn-in" howework assignment due. This was the first time in his life he could not answer all of the questions in his math homework!

My son "did" a serious math camp this summer. It was an eye opener for him (AoPS was more of the same for me), a true eye opener.
I will write more about his experience when he gets back home from a boy scout camp.

Also, my dd likes working on the CML problems. They are very challenging and really tests their problem solving ability and higher reasoning. I believe Mathcounts also publishes books that have all the problems they used in competition.

Bianca, does your DD do it^^ by herself, in a clasroom or with you?