Russian School of Math or AOPS?

[Anonymous]

You may also base it on location. We are in DC so chose RSm because we wanted in person, but I’d guess AOPS also great. RSM provides real challenge, no question there. I have a (by testing and observation) highly gifted student.

[Anonymous]

I have a reasonably bright kid who likes math but whose brain works slow and steady. Would either program work for him? Any other programs people would suggest?

[Anonymous]

You can do AoPS at home. I've been using the Beast Academy books with my DS for the past year and it is a really great program. We read the guide book (comic book) and then work on the practice pages. We also have the puzzle book and the online component. We use the online component as a review so he goes back to chapters we've done in the past. We typically do a few pages each day or he plays a few of the online activities each day, about 15 to 30 minutes a day. It isn't very expensive when you do it on your own and we've found it fun to do together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a reasonably bright kid who likes math but whose brain works slow and steady. Would either program work for him? Any other programs people would suggest?

RSM has different levels so there is probably a class that fits your child. AoPS has one class level but home content. You can set up an evaluation abd conversation with both programs to see what the say and how you feel about them. You might prefer working at home over a two hour class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a reasonably bright kid who likes math but whose brain works slow and steady. Would either program work for him? Any other programs people would suggest?

RSM has different levels so there is probably a class that fits your child. AoPS has one class level but home content. You can set up an evaluation abd conversation with both programs to see what the say and how you feel about them. You might prefer working at home over a two hour class.

AOPS classes move fast. Everything is condensed into a school year so 9 months.

I don’t know much about RSM but with 3 levels, it might be a better fit for your child. Or you can consider just doing AOPS beast academy books at your child’s rate over however long you timeline you want but I would not recommend the classes for your child.

Our DS is good in math and picks things up easily. He scored 97% on MAP. We started AOPS classes this year, 2nd grade, because school math was just way to easy and not challenging. I thought it would be pretty laid back since it was just 2nd grade. But pace is brisk and we were caught off guard the 1st 4-6 weeks with coverage, homework, etc…. DS is doing fine now that we know how things go.

[Anonymous]

Which would be recommended for a 14 yo rising sophomore in arlington?

[Anonymous]

My kindergartener scores 192 in the fall & 207 in the winter on MAP-M score. He loves math and logic, and he is super bored at math that taught at public school (mcps). We have not given him any math enrichment at home for a year because I am conflicted. My conflict is enrichment causes more boring in public school math, but I feel like he should be challenged. Do you think which math program is good for him if I decide to enrich? Is his score qualified him to get into AOPS or Russia math program because I hear they need to test him for placement?

I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener scores 192 in the fall & 207 in the winter on MAP-M score. He loves math and logic, and he is super bored at math that taught at public school (mcps). We have not given him any math enrichment at home for a year because I am conflicted. My conflict is enrichment causes more boring in public school math, but I feel like he should be challenged. Do you think which math program is good for him if I decide to enrich? Is his score qualified him to get into AOPS or Russia math program because I hear they need to test him for placement?

I

DS was bored in math before he started AoPS and moved to RSM. He remains bored in math at school. Math at RSM is more challenging and interesting. We remind him that the math at school is an important refresher that should help insure that he has a strong foundation. It is practice of important skills that he will need to draw on as he moves into more advanced math.

Both AoPS and RMS have a placement test that they give to kids individually. It involves them being age appropriate math problems, solving them, and then needing to explain how they solved the problem. It is not particularly hard and doesn't take that long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kindergartener scores 192 in the fall & 207 in the winter on MAP-M score. He loves math and logic, and he is super bored at math that taught at public school (mcps). We have not given him any math enrichment at home for a year because I am conflicted. My conflict is enrichment causes more boring in public school math, but I feel like he should be challenged. Do you think which math program is good for him if I decide to enrich? Is his score qualified him to get into AOPS or Russia math program because I hear they need to test him for placement?

I

K is just too young and not developmentally appropriate to sit in a math class that is 1 hour and 45 minutes. AOPS doesn’t start till 2nd grade and that’s likely the reason. Play math games with your kid and let them play. They will have plenty of time for math later.

I’m surprised your child took MAP in K. I don’t know how much value there is taking it so young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which would be recommended for a 14 yo rising sophomore in arlington?

If in the most advance math track, it’s easy and near top of the class, AOPS. If not RSM better with 3 levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which would be recommended for a 14 yo rising sophomore in arlington?

If in the most advance math track, it’s easy and near top of the class, AOPS. If not RSM better with 3 levels.

Either program works. A kid who is on the advanced track in any school will likely test into the Honors class at RSM. AoPS is a different type of program, although I know less about their high school level classes, that some kids that are ahead in math do well in and others don't. DS had no problem with AoPS math last year. He is in Honors for RSM this year and doing just fine. RSM is traditional math at a faster pace then regular math at school. AoPS uses the same concepts but in a more creative way. There are some kids who are good with math who don't do well at AoPS, plenty of parents have posted this in the AAP forum and in other topics here. Plenty of kids understand math but are not able to play with it. There is a smaller percentage of kids who can handle AoPS, which is probably why there are fewer AoPS locations then RSM locations.

[Anonymous]

Our experience with RSM is that it’s more about learning the algorithm and applying it. I think AoPS may offer a more fundamental understanding of the math

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our experience with RSM is that it’s more about learning the algorithm and applying it. I think AoPS may offer a more fundamental understanding of the math

We have found RSM to be pretty similar to AoPS but DS is in the Honors class. Time is spent on the algorithm and there is some practice but the homework questions we see are a mix of practice and a mix of application. We saw this in the mid level class last year as well. DS moved from his grade level honors class to the next grade levels up mid level class. There were fewer application questions then there had been in the honors class but the application questions were still there.

The approach is a bit different and the type of questions are very different but both programs offer applications of what the kids are learning. DS choose RSM over AoPS and we know several other families who have made the same choice. I do think that AoPS assumes that kids already know the algorithm or will pick it up quickly while RSM makes sure that kids understand the algorithm as well as application. DS did just fine in AoPS, we moved to RSM because they were closer and DS wanted an in person class and not an online class. RSM saved is an hour total in commute time. It turns out that DS enjoys RSM more.

[Anonymous]

DS does AOPS but the text-based instead due to a long drive to Vienna during peak hours. I'd prefer to do the on-campus or text-based classes than the live virtual/zoom option.
AOPS does not just teach you the algorithm & formula up front. It walks you through re-creating the algorithm yourself. So there is no practice necessary. It hops onto complicated problems really fast and all problems are different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our experience with RSM is that it’s more about learning the algorithm and applying it. I think AoPS may offer a more fundamental understanding of the math

We have found RSM to be pretty similar to AoPS but DS is in the Honors class. Time is spent on the algorithm and there is some practice but the homework questions we see are a mix of practice and a mix of application. We saw this in the mid level class last year as well. DS moved from his grade level honors class to the next grade levels up mid level class. There were fewer application questions then there had been in the honors class but the application questions were still there.

The approach is a bit different and the type of questions are very different but both programs offer applications of what the kids are learning. DS choose RSM over AoPS and we know several other families who have made the same choice. I do think that AoPS assumes that kids already know the algorithm or will pick it up quickly while RSM makes sure that kids understand the algorithm as well as application. DS did just fine in AoPS, we moved to RSM because they were closer and DS wanted an in person class and not an online class. RSM saved is an hour total in commute time. It turns out that DS enjoys RSM more.

My DC is new to RSM this year and is in the mid-level grade 5 class. There are some application problems, but nothing too complicated — it’s mostly just practicing order of operations and some basic algebra and geometry at this point. Hoping it will get more foundational soon — it may be that the start of the year is focused on making sure the kids know and can apply the algorithm before moving on.