AoPS Prealgebra

[Anonymous]

My DC is an advanced learner (in the 99th percentile) and knows the basic concepts related to Prealgebra and some Algebra. She asked for more challenges (for fun, not to get stressed out). I was thinking of enrolling her in AoPS Prealgebra so she will get deeper understanding of the concepts.

However, when I read the class discription, it appears the basic concepts will be lectured to students, including those who will be exposed to a given concept for the first time, during the live sessions and then, advanced problems will be given as homework, written feedbacks and videos.

My DC does not like mandatory homework since she gets enough from her school and managing them is enough to deal with. She also does not like listening to the concepts that she already knows well.

So I am thinking that instead of enrolling her in AoPS Prealgebra, I will buy the AoPS text book, and have a tutor work it with her (she likes discussing her thoughts while she goes though challenging problems). Does this sound right? Am I right thinking that the live sessions will be to go over basic concepts (e.g. What are negative exponents)? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I can’t speak to that particular class. My DD took counting and probability, and the live sections assumed kids had already read the book chapters assigned. They reviewed the material some but it was mainly focused on problem solving. And yes they really need to do homework problems to keep up with the material and to get anything out of the class. Some problems can be quite difficult even for my mathy kid. If you want to go at a slower pace than the live class I think the book and a tutor is a good idea, but I don’t think you need to worry that the class lecture content will be too easy or repetitive. Aops prealgebra is more advanced than school prealgebra and the students enrolled are probably mostly 99th percentile test scorers and above.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the reply. How many hours a week should we expect to spend on homework so we can keep up with the class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the reply. How many hours a week should we expect to spend on homework so we can keep up with the class?

The website says, "students should expect to spend 5-7 hours per week for the subject classes." Unless kids are homeschooled, it must be hard to find this many hours in a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the reply. How many hours a week should we expect to spend on homework so we can keep up with the class?

Hmm, I actually don't remember how much time she spent on prealgebra 1 or 2 because its been a while. She took these a couple years ago, but they were the self-paced online version with no live component. I'll bet if you emailed them they could give you a time estimate for the live class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the reply. How many hours a week should we expect to spend on homework so we can keep up with the class?

The website says, "students should expect to spend 5-7 hours per week for the subject classes." Unless kids are homeschooled, it must be hard to find this many hours in a week.

This was about right for the probability and counting class, which my DD took over the summer. I recall thinking that this would not have worked well during the school year with after school activities, etc. It would also not work well for a kid who doesn't enjoy math because it would be a struggle to get them to do the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for the reply. How many hours a week should we expect to spend on homework so we can keep up with the class?

Hmm, I actually don't remember how much time she spent on prealgebra 1 or 2 because its been a while. She took these a couple years ago, but they were the self-paced online version with no live component. I'll bet if you emailed them they could give you a time estimate for the live class.

My DC is doing the self-paced course now after having completed Beast Academy. The material is still plenty challenging even though many of the pre-algebra concepts were introduced in BA. DC spends 3-4 hours a week on it, including time on the Alcumus. I'd start with the free Alcumus to get a feel for it and go from there.

[Anonymous]

Are you looking at the in-person or online AOPS classes? The online classes are not lecture based. It's more like guided problem solving with the instructor asking questions about how to tackle the next step interspersed with points about what they're learning. It is completely text based. Homework is given, but there are no consequences for not completing it. Taking the class and not doing the homework would be kind of pointless.

Based on your description of your child, I do not think either a tutor or a class would be the best fit. You want her to avoid learning concepts that will come up again in school due to her dislike of hearing the same material twice. I would go a slightly different direction. Maybe logic puzzles, matchstick puzzles, origami, zometools, math youtube videos or old MOEMS tests, etc. Then she could do extra math when she feels like without the pressure of deadlines

[Anonymous]

Are classes via "AoPS Academy Virtual Campus" lecture based at all? Honors Math 6 appears to cover the similar material, but the pace is slightly slower and involves more session time, a 105-minute lesson per week (AoPS Academy Virtual Campus) vs. a 75-minute lesson per week (AoPS online).

This looks like a less rigorous version, which would probably be better for my child (loves learning, but not a self-starter).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are classes via "AoPS Academy Virtual Campus" lecture based at all? Honors Math 6 appears to cover the similar material, but the pace is slightly slower and involves more session time, a 105-minute lesson per week (AoPS Academy Virtual Campus) vs. a 75-minute lesson per week (AoPS online).

This looks like a less rigorous version, which would probably be better for my child (loves learning, but not a self-starter).

AoPS Virtual Campus classes are lecture based, unlike the online courses. They should be better for her than the Online courses.

[Anonymous]

Are the AoPS books you can buy online the same as what they cover in class?

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it more important your child learn the value of diversity and inclusion over advanced math?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn’t it more important your child learn the value of diversity and inclusion over advanced math?

You can learn both. AoPS doesn't discriminate by race

[Anonymous]

My kids spend about 2-3 hours on the homework.

[Anonymous]

Why don't you get her the book and have her go through the videos and book herself at her own pace? https://artofproblemsolving.com/videos/prealgebra

My child did this, and she excelled in math in high school and college. She said it was mostly because she learned this AoPS way of approaching math vs. how she was taught in school.