Words are my specialty, not numbers. Of course, I can count change, balance my checkbook (haven’t done that in awhile) and split a bill five ways … I’m not that bad, c’mon. But when it comes to advanced mathematical concepts, particularly those involving unknown variables, I’m lost.

And it seems the higher I climbed in school, the more confused I became. I barely passed calculus in college, though I was a regular in the tutoring center. Not everyone is as inept as I am in math. But still I am just a little bit concerned by an increasing trend in schools to push upper-level math courses into lower grade levels.

I understand it’s in response to a (valid) fear that the U.S. is losing its competitive edge, but here in the shadow of our nation’s capital, school districts are taking it too far, too fast … and some parents are asking for someone to step on the brakes.

As the Washington Post reports, nearly a third of elementary students in Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County schools are on the fast track to hit algebra by the seventh grade. And in the largely affluent Maryland suburb of Montgomery County, the district is pushing to have 80 percent of its students finish Algebra I in middle school by 2010 -- an aggressive goal, considering about 56 percent of their students currently accomplish that feat.

While some parents are happy about the accelerated pace, many others aren’t. More telling, however, are the teachers’ reaction. In a November forum, dozens of Montgomery math teachers said students were coming into advanced math courses ill-prepared.

Several years back, I was implored by my parents to help them understand algebra, a required course in their quest for a Bachelors degree. To my surprise, I proved invaluable. Who knew that after time, I would finally comprehend the subject? Sometimes, that’s all it takes for something to click: time.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor