RSM or AoPS for Math 4?
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Anonymous
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Help me decide between programs. AoPS is opening very soon about 20 minutes from out place. There's an RSM 10 minutes from our place. Is AoPS worth the extra drive time and additional screen time? Do these programs need time to work the kinks out before its worth it? 3rd-4th grade level / Math 3 or Math 4, in case that matters. I would like DD to learn to think critically and also want to make sure she can double accelerate if she wishes in middle school. She has three years until then, though I don't know when the school will start with placement.
AoPS -further away -2 hours of screen time at home per week, done during class -more rigorous(?) -more critical thinking (?) -parent portal and tracking -new campus RSM -closer to our place -older campus (so they know what they're doing?) -no screens at all -no parent oversight |
Anonymous
| Just teach your kid at home. Carve out 20 min per night. It’s elementary math. You can do this and save yourself a lot of money and commute time AND getting 1:1 direct instruction is far more effective. Those tutors don’t care about your kid- at all |
Anonymous
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I'm confused - how is it at home if it's done during class? I thought the Campuses used the textbooks rather than the online program? What's the point of paying $$$$ for the AoPS campus if they're just going to be doing the $ BA online software?
If the campus class is mostly just BA online then I would try a month of RSM and BA online and ask which style he prefers. |
Anonymous
DI, whole effective, is a bit at odds with Beast Academy's philosophy of getting kids to struggle with tough math problems without giving up when the answer is not apparent. RSM's curriculum is not available for sale. DI, on the other hand, is all about breaking everything into the smallest, simplest, most easily digestible pieces with constant testing so you know exactly when and where a kid is stumbling in order to adjust the instruction and pacing. If OP wants a DI curriculum, check out Connecting Math Concepts by NIFDI. It's priced for per class rather than per student, so you would need to find a used edition if that's an issue. Since it's a grade-level program, you should expect a gifted child to progress very quickly, which may make it even more expensive. Engelmann, the founder of NIFDI, was a truly gifted teacher: https://youtu.be/j9SjFsimywA?t=210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SjFsimywA&t=396s https://untitledhomeschoolproject.blogspot.com/2021/07/zig-and-therese-engelmann-on-algebra.html For something more traditional, there's Singapore math, specifically the challenging world problems and Intensive Practice books. The textbooks are meant to be used with the workbooks, but the textbooks also have questions so I suppose the workbooks can be considered optional for very quick learners or those using it as a supplement for school math. Learning to teach the "Singapore way" (using bar modeling) is highly recommended, either through the home instructor's guides or through some other course or "Elementary Mathematics for Teachers" by Parker and Baldridge (good luck finding it though) |
Anonymous
| *while effective |
Anonymous
| By double accelerate, do you mean algebra in 7th? |
Anonymous
AoPS homework is online through the Beast Academy portal. I'm told parents can log in and see the progress and monitor how much time is actually spent on it. But yeah, it's screen time. The class is in person once a week and they told me no screens or minimal (a project will be used, that kind of thing. Not ipads and laptops). Is this what AoPS is like at. your campuses? Ours is close to opening so there isn't a current class I can go and ask about and no parents in person who know what its like. She did RSM summer camp and while she liked it fine, I didnt really understand the math because it's different from how I learned it and theres no written explanation anywhere and no online portal (at least there wasnt in 3rd grade, maybe its different as kids get older). So I can't go in and read the "how to" and then help explain it to her. She just did the summer program for RSM so I dunno if the semester long programs are different. |
Anonymous
Oh, the homework is online. That makes a lot more sense. I don't have any personal experience with the AoPS csmpuses. If you like the ability to see what she's learning and be involved then it seems like AoPS would be a better fit since Beast Academy online has a lot of parent features, access to digital versions of the comic textbooks, videos with example problems, etc. |
Anonymous
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Both programs use online homework portals.
AoPS focuses on advance math only, your child needs to pick up concepts quickly. It encourages more creation use of math. RSM has three levels, the honors track is most similar to AoPS in terms of pacing but it is more traditional math and less creative. RSMs competition program is more similar to AoPS. DS did the grade level program at RSM and the math competition until 6th grade. Now, as an 8th grader, he only cries the math competition program. He didn’t need the algebra or geometry class. |
Anonymous
We did RSM but in 3rd grade it's just entering answers online. The actual work is in the workbook. I have DS give me his completed workbook work and I enter it on the portal. I don't know when this changes because it does seem like the older kids do more work on the portal. I didn't know you were allowed to be in the competition class without also being enrolled in the grade based class. I was told RSM time commitment goes way up as the child gets older. In middle school you have to take algebra and geometry? Or some other combo of two sections at once. |
Anonymous
The regular classes give paper workbooks and you enter the answers online. The online classes the kids do the work, enter the answers, and upload their written work for the teacher to review. RSMs suggested path is a 1 hour geometry course in 6th and 7th grade and then the regular geometry course in 8th grade. We dropped the grade level math class in 7th grade, so DS did not take Algebra and we did not do Geometry in 6th grade. DS did the math competition class and 6th grade class as a 6th grader. He found the 6th grade class boring and the school would not move him into the Algebra class. We dropped the regular math class then and have only done the math competition classes. Those classes move at a faster pace and introduce algebra, geometry, probability, number theory and other concepts. It is much more interesting and fast paced then the regular classes. |
Anonymous
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Maybe ask the centers about average class size too? I was a little horrified that our kid has 20 kids in their math 4 RSM class. I think the instruction has been good but it's not much smaller than public school.
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Anonymous
| How much does RSM cost? Contemplating signing my daughter up but there's no pricing on the website. |
Anonymous
It's about 1,100 / semester. |
Anonymous
These are all terrible ideas! Do you think every child is so privileged to have access to this sort of enrichment? You seem out of control, OP. |