Switch from RSM to AOPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RSM has tutors to help with homework for kids who need a bit more help.

Honors at RSM is not a joke. It is fast and it is hard. It requires that kids have really strong foundations in past material and are able to quickly pick up new material.

Is AOPS harder? My kid is doing honors at RSM but it doesn’t seem overly challenging

What level? AoPS has Beast academy at the elementary school level that lets the student walk or run at their own speed. Some BA academy (trophy) problems are near-impossible even for adults.

At middle school/high school, you have to weigh robustness (RSM) v. Problem-solving (AoPS). I would say that AoPS Algebra doesn't get into the why of certain things (such as indeterminate solutions), because it expects the reader to understand this concept with minimal hand-holding. RSM, on the other hand, drills these things more. AoPS spends its time teaching students to use multiple concepts across different chapters to solve problems.

Thanks that is helpful. DC is in 6th grade. I think we will try AOPS when this course is over

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RSM has tutors to help with homework for kids who need a bit more help.

Honors at RSM is not a joke. It is fast and it is hard. It requires that kids have really strong foundations in past material and are able to quickly pick up new material.

Is AOPS harder? My kid is doing honors at RSM but it doesn’t seem overly challenging

What level? AoPS has Beast academy at the elementary school level that lets the student walk or run at their own speed. Some BA academy (trophy) problems are near-impossible even for adults.

At middle school/high school, you have to weigh robustness (RSM) v. Problem-solving (AoPS). I would say that AoPS Algebra doesn't get into the why of certain things (such as indeterminate solutions), because it expects the reader to understand this concept with minimal hand-holding. RSM, on the other hand, drills these things more. AoPS spends its time teaching students to use multiple concepts across different chapters to solve problems.

Thanks that is helpful. DC is in 6th grade. I think we will try AOPS when this course is over

OP here. Thanks for the summary of the difference. I too think perhaps my kid needs the problem solving techniques at this point.

[Anonymous]

Is this the first year of Geometry or the 2nd at RSM?

[Anonymous]

For pre-algebra, which place is a better choice? RSM or AOPS? Kid is strong at math and currently taking 5 honor.

[Anonymous]

New poster here.

I am looking at summer classes. How has the experiences been at AoPS Vienna location for summer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For pre-algebra, which place is a better choice? RSM or AOPS? Kid is strong at math and currently taking 5 honor.

I don't know RSM's courses, but DS did prealg at AoPS. The text book is huge (600+ pages) and does a very comprehensive (albeit unorthodox) overview of everything you would learn in elementary school. The problems range from easy to challenging (I think some AIME problems are mixed in). The pace assumes you already know or can instantly
grasp all arithmetic (e.g. order of operations, commutative/associative/distributive properties). DS did BA 4 and BA5 so he was well prepared, but it was tough in some chapters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know there have been many posts about this in the past, but my kid is really questioning the RSM (Geo 7_3) program and wants to try AOPS. Kid complains about how the teachers aren't really explaining the material well and moves very quickly through the concepts. Anyone switch kids from RSM to AOPS during middle school math? If so, can you give benefits and drawbacks?

Is this Tyson’s location? Bc my kid is complaining about the same thing! I’ve had to review geometry in order to explain the concepts to her. Maybe RSM needs to be made aware!

Yes, it's the Tysons location. He complains that the teacher is the issue. Kid is a strong math student so don't think the issue is the honors vs advanced program. I think the RSM Tysons branch struggles with finding good teachers. They had a really strong Algebra I Honors teacher last year but the teacher isn't teaching anything this year at this location. Kid has been pretty consistent with wanting to try AOPS next year.

For parents with kids in AOPS, what do you think of their teaching staff for middle school and high school curriculum?

Don't all kids who struggle complain that the teacher is the issue? I think the issue is that he needs a teacher at all. RSM3 and AoPS are meant to challenge kids who don't need teachers to learn. RSM1 is for those kids who struggle enough that they need a good teacher to hold their hands.

AoPS is more for kids who don’t need much classroom instruction to pick up concepts. I would argue that RSM Honors, the highest level, is similar. The pace is meant to introduce kids to the concept in question and then build on it quickly. There should not be a lot of instruction needed to grasp the basic concept.

RSM 1 and 2 are very much intended to move at a slower pace and focus more on teaching the core concepts. But RSM Honors kids should not need much in the way of teaching. That doesn’t mean that they don’t need someone to introduce the topic, explain how the concepts work, and make sure the students understand it well enough to build on. Kids are moved from each level if their current Teacher thinks they can handle it for the next year.

It is possible that the students are in an in between area where the second level is not challenging but the third level is too much. It is also possible that the Teacher for this particular class is bad. I would contact the Principal and let her/him know that there is an issue. I would not negate the possibility that your child should be in a lower level. Part of the reason you pay for these programs is to find the right level for your child so that they have strong skills. I would be surprised if there are kids struggling with Honors at RSM that would not struggle at AoPS.

My kid is in the middle level for Alg I and Geometry and says that the teacher doesn’t teach at all and just “talks at them” (not OP btw). Sibling is at AoPs bc likes out of box thinking. Having this one stick with RSM for now to get good foundation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RSM has tutors to help with homework for kids who need a bit more help.

Honors at RSM is not a joke. It is fast and it is hard. It requires that kids have really strong foundations in past material and are able to quickly pick up new material.

Is AOPS harder? My kid is doing honors at RSM but it doesn’t seem overly challenging

What level? AoPS has Beast academy at the elementary school level that lets the student walk or run at their own speed. Some BA academy (trophy) problems are near-impossible even for adults.

At middle school/high school, you have to weigh robustness (RSM) v. Problem-solving (AoPS). I would say that AoPS Algebra doesn't get into the why of certain things (such as indeterminate solutions), because it expects the reader to understand this concept with minimal hand-holding. RSM, on the other hand, drills these things more. AoPS spends its time teaching students to use multiple concepts across different chapters to solve problems.

Thanks that is helpful. DC is in 6th grade. I think we will try AOPS when this course is over

AoPS also offers courses in number theory and counting&probability, which RSM doesn't AFAIK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RSM has tutors to help with homework for kids who need a bit more help.

Honors at RSM is not a joke. It is fast and it is hard. It requires that kids have really strong foundations in past material and are able to quickly pick up new material.

Is AOPS harder? My kid is doing honors at RSM but it doesn’t seem overly challenging

What level? AoPS has Beast academy at the elementary school level that lets the student walk or run at their own speed. Some BA academy (trophy) problems are near-impossible even for adults.

At middle school/high school, you have to weigh robustness (RSM) v. Problem-solving (AoPS). I would say that AoPS Algebra doesn't get into the why of certain things (such as indeterminate solutions), because it expects the reader to understand this concept with minimal hand-holding. RSM, on the other hand, drills these things more. AoPS spends its time teaching students to use multiple concepts across different chapters to solve problems.

Thanks that is helpful. DC is in 6th grade. I think we will try AOPS when this course is over

AoPS also offers courses in number theory and counting&probability, which RSM doesn't AFAIK

RSM covers a lot of that material in the Math Competition Class. DS loves the Math Competition Class. They cover number theory, probability, geometry, statistics and the like. There are two levels, there is the local level and a national level. The national program accepts 200 students per grade across the country and is taught at a year ahead of the local program. The local program starts in 4th grade.

RSM's regular classes follow the regular curriculum. I do know that there are kids who stay with RSM through 12th grade which would mean they are taking some classes after the Calculus offering but I am not sure what those classes are. I don't know how RSM handles the math progression when kids are not in Algebra in 7th grade. It might be that kids who are in the two lower 6th grade classes end up in Pre-Algebra in 7th and not Algebra.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at RSM, I am the PP above with Math Competition Class. We moved from AoPS to RSM because DS wanted to take classes in person and Tysons AoPS was 30-40 minutes from us, dependent on traffic. RSM is 10 minutes. I think we would have stayed with AoPS if we lived in Tysons. DS has liked RSM but has not find it challenging this year. He is in the Honors class and they spend about 2 weeks too long on subjects for him, it could move faster for him. The school didn't identify the issue until too late and he had missed too much of the next grade level class to be moved.

He strongly prefers being in a class to learning online or from the books. He works independently on old math competitions, AMC 8, AMC 10, and some of the AIME questions. Thankfully my DH is strong in math and discussing how to solve some of these problems with DS, so it is not a motivation or drive issue. He just likes learning and talking with other kids interested in math in class.

[Anonymous]

Is AOPS Tyson’s online only now? Are there any classroom sites nearby (their website is.. subpar)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know there have been many posts about this in the past, but my kid is really questioning the RSM (Geo 7_3) program and wants to try AOPS. Kid complains about how the teachers aren't really explaining the material well and moves very quickly through the concepts. Anyone switch kids from RSM to AOPS during middle school math? If so, can you give benefits and drawbacks?

Is this the Wednesday class?

[Anonymous]

My child was in RSM honors math from 1st-5th grade, most recently at the Tysons location. DC started to lose interest in the math class and part of it seemed to be the teaching style and the lack of written materials. When it was suggested DC take 2 hrs of algebra and 1 hr of geometry for 6th grade we knew it wasn't a good fit. We moved DC to AoPS where DC's younger sibling had been attending math classes, and DC enjoys it much more. At the placement test, they said that DC already knew some of the pre-algebra concepts but some had not been covered in RSM yet, so they said DC could enroll in either pre-algebra or the geometry class. We opted for the pre-algebra to make sure DC had a good foundation in it before moving to geometry.

DC likes that there's a text book, as well as videos and extra practice problems. I think that is one thing that is good for students as each child learns differently. (My younger child never watches the videos and learns a lot from doing homework assignments are reading the explanations of the ones DC2 gets incorrect.) DC was the only one to get a perfect score on the last pre-algebra test including the extra challenge problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is AOPS Tyson’s online only now? Are there any classroom sites nearby (their website is.. subpar)

This location is all in person.
https://vienna.aopsacademy.org/

Just click on 'course catalog' to see the offerings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is AOPS Tyson’s online only now? Are there any classroom sites nearby (their website is.. subpar)

AoPS Tysons is AoPS Vienna and has a campus on gallows Rd. They have a full in-class curriculum.