Most parents meet the BC curriculum one report card at a time. That is a poor way to see it, because the problems that show up in Grade 11 were almost always set up in Grade 8 or 9, and by then the conversation is about recovery rather than prevention.
This is a map of the whole thing, subject by subject. Each subject links to a page listing every topic the Ministry publishes for every course in it.
Mathematics
Mathematics 1 to 7 builds number sense, fractions and the times tables everything later assumes. Mathematics 8 and 9 are the algebra years - fractions under all four operations, exponent laws, polynomials and multi-step equations. Grade 10 splits into Workplace Mathematics 10 and Foundations of Mathematics and Pre-Calculus 10, and that split is the first decision with consequences.
Grade 11 and 12 then split again into Foundations, Workplace, Apprenticeship and Pre-Calculus streams. Our math tutoring in Surrey page lists every topic in all fifteen of those courses.
Pre-Calculus and Calculus
Pre-Calculus 11 and 12 are what most university science, engineering and business programmes expect. Pre-Calculus 11 is quadratics, radicals, rational expressions and trigonometry; Pre-Calculus 12 adds transformations, logarithms, polynomial and rational functions, and a full term of trigonometry. Calculus 12 is optional, and it changes how first year feels.
Full topic lists are on the Pre-Calculus tutoring in Surrey and Calculus tutoring in Surrey pages.
Science, Grades 8 to 10
Science 8 covers cells, the atomic model, light and plate tectonics. Science 9 covers reproduction, the periodic table, electricity and ecosystems. Science 10 covers genetics, chemical reactions, energy and the universe - and it is the year that decides which Grade 11 sciences are realistic. The science tutoring in Surrey page has the full lists.
Chemistry, Physics and Biology
Chemistry 11 rests on the mole and stoichiometry; Chemistry 12 on equilibrium, acids and bases, and electrochemistry. Physics 11 covers kinematics, forces, energy, circuits and waves; Physics 12 moves into fields, relativity and two-dimensional vectors. Biology is the confusing one by name: Biology 11 is officially Life Sciences 11 and Biology 12 is Anatomy and Physiology 12.
Topic by topic: chemistry tutoring in Surrey, physics tutoring in Surrey and biology tutoring in Surrey.
English Language Arts
English is organised differently. The Ministry groups every grade under three headings - story and text, strategies and processes, and language features, structures and conventions - with the real chapter list underneath. Grade 10 splits into Composition, Literary Studies, Creative Writing, New Media and Spoken Language, and Grade 12 requires English Studies 12. The English tutoring in Surrey page sets all of it out.
The years that matter most
- Grades 6 and 7. Order of operations, integers, fractions to percent. Quiet, and decisive.
- Grade 9. Exponent laws and polynomials, carried straight into Grade 10.
- Grade 10. The stream decision, and the run-up to three separate Grade 11 sciences.
- Grade 11. The first year where nothing is re-taught.
How to use this
Open the page for the subject that is causing trouble, find the course your child is in, and read the topic list. Most parents can point at the item where things went wrong within a minute, and that is a far more useful thing to bring to a tutor than a mark.
If you would rather just talk it through, call 604-725-6845. A first conversation costs nothing and usually narrows the problem to one unit.
The assessments that sit outside the courses
Three provincial assessments are graduation requirements and none of them belong to a single course, which is why they get overlooked.
- Grade 10 Numeracy Assessment. Not a maths test in the usual sense. It presents situations and asks a student to interpret, apply and explain. Students who are strong at procedures and weak at explaining find it harder than their maths mark suggests.
- Grade 10 Literacy Assessment. Reading unfamiliar texts and writing considered responses under time.
- Grade 12 Literacy Assessment. The same skills, at a higher level, in the year everything else is happening at once.
All three test skills rather than content, so preparation is practice with the specific response types, not revision of a syllabus.
What to do with a report card
A BC report card gives a proficiency descriptor rather than a percentage in the earlier grades, and parents reasonably find it hard to read. The useful move is to ignore the overall label and look at the comments about method: showing work, explaining reasoning, checking answers. Those are the things that predict the next two years. The label mostly describes the last term.
One conversation, once a year
The families whose children have the least trouble are not the ones who tutor the most. They are the ones who look at the next two years once a year, usually in June, and ask whether anything in the coming courses is built on something that is currently shaky.
That question takes ten minutes and it is the whole of what this page is for. If you would like a second opinion on the answer, call 604-725-6845 and ask - it is not a sales call, and we will tell you if we think nothing needs doing.
