AOPS online vs AOPS in-person?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Amazon22
Member Offline
Member Offline
| My son has been doing AOPS in-person, however, we are curious whether we should switch him to online for the next semester. Has anyone done that and what is your experience? He will be doing Prealgebra. I am keeping him at the same level as school where he will be doing IM (MCPS) in 6th grade. I know his peers are doing advanced math but I strongly feel math is more about solidifying concepts through revision. FWIW, my father was a mathematician, and this is what he always told me. Curious on what others think? |
Anonymous
One of my kids started doing AOPS Academy online during the pandemic. I think they did 5A, 6A, 6B, and Algebra Parts A and B online. I can't really compare it to in-person since we never did that. It's basically a zoom classroom. I can hear them asking questions about problems the class is working through. They have weekly homework and reading. I don't think they really read the book but seem to always do 75%-90% of the homework without trouble. |
Anonymous
| I would like to know more about AOPS in person. How are they involving students to get their equation done? My DC is doing virtual maths with AOPS and its good. But I feel only kids who are less shy and motivated are benefitted more. |
Amazon22
Member Offline
Member Offline
Do they ask questions over chat? |
Anonymous
| We've done AoPS Virtual Academy for the last few years and it works great for DS. We have a tight schedule so cutting out the commute is really helpful, and he gets social interaction and motivation through the calls. |
Anonymous
AOPS online classrooms do not use audio. AOPS Academy Online does. I think the former courses have about 40-50 per class whereas the latter have 10-16. AOPSAcademy online is about twice the price of AOPS Online. The text-based format of AOPS online works reasonably well if the child is engaged. After a question is asked, all children answer at the same time, and then they publish the correct answers, in the order children submitted them. So they can see how many got the answer quicker than they, and how many got it in total. This is intended to ensure that all kids stay active, even if not called upon or even if someone else has already figured out the answer. In practice, about 10-15 of the 30-45 in the classroom are engaged. |
Anonymous
| AOPS academy online classes is what we do. What is AOPS online classroom, PP is referring to? Why is it less expensive? |
Anonymous
AoPS Academy uses something like Zoom where you see the instructor and classmates. AoPS online is more like an old-school IRC chat where they talk about the topics in a chat room. It's fine but may not be a good choice for younger kids. |
Amazon22
Member Offline
Member Offline
I did not know there was an option to do AOPS academy online classes, thought they were in person. |
Anonymous
I like the online classes from AOPS Academy. It seems fine to me and is less painful than driving 30 mins each way to some center and then having to hang out for an hour. |
Anonymous
Is it the same teacher as in-person? |
Anonymous
Student/teacher ratio, would be my guess. It's likely the same curriculum + textbook. There are typically one lecturer and 2 support people in the chat that help (and correct wrong answers) This URL has more info: https://artofproblemsolving.com/school Note that it starts at Prealgebra A so it's indeed not for younger kids. The kids in Prealgebra at 4th/5th, Algebra 5-7th (my guess) |
Anonymous
No but equally qualified. Also the students are typically from different timezones in the US. |
Anonymous
|
We did AoPS in person for two years (Beast Academy and Prealgebra) and it was a great experience. Then due to the sports schedule, we moved to the text-based AOPS online (Algebra). It did not work for my child so we dropped it after two sessions. To us, the AoPS online moves too fast with too little interaction, and also there are too many students in the class. My child requested to stop so we did.
Kids are different though, the online classes might still offer a free trial period (two sessions? in my case I kept the book), so give it a try and see if it works for your child. |
Anonymous
|
"I know his peers are doing advanced math but I strongly feel math is more about solidifying concepts through revision. FWIW, my father was a mathematician, and this is what he always told me. Curious on what others think?" Agreed. We are actually redoing the AoPS prealgebra book although the kid had passed the class with a high grade, there is no rush.
- STEM college professor |