Has anyone's kid taken Introduction to Algebra B with AoPS? Do they need it to take Geometry, or is it "extra"? |
It's not extra, it's the second half of Intro Algebra.
You can start synthetic Geometry (construction and similarity, not measurement and Pythagorean theorem) without Algebra B, but I wouldn't recommend doing all of Geometry before intro Algebra B. pettifogger? |
It's the second half of Algebra 1.
AOPS lets you use their online placement tests to place yourself. So, it's not strictly necessary to have taken their version of Intro to Algebra B to take Geometry, but as you can see from the test, you'll need the concepts from all of Algebra 1. https://data.artofproblemsolving.com/course-docs/diagnostics/intro-geometry-pretest.pdf?croid=oeu1733329138241r0.23774226737147974 If your kid is a homeschooler doing AOPS as their only math curriculum, then they should finish Intro to Algebra before they take Geometry. They will need Algebra for their transcrip. If they are taking math elsewhere, and supplementing, and they can pass the placement test, then go for it. |
Thanks for the replies.
The reason I asked was the placement test for Geometry seemed super easy (no concepts from Algebra B, everything from Algebra A). We're just using AoPS to supplement/challenge. But the pace is intense for us (hard to manage with homework). That pace makes sense if it's for homeschooled kids! |
Have you looked at the Virtual Academy? It runs at a slower pace, same content as I understand it (my own kid does it from the books, so I don’t have experience with with either pacing) |
This is correct. For example, my son is currently taking their geometry class and he's only worked through about half of the Intro to Algebra book (corresponding to most of the Algebra A class online). He's doing perfectly fine in geometry, but he's taking it at the local aops academy, which does go slower than the online version (36 classes at 1.75 hrs per class). By comparison, the online text based Aops course covers the whole geometry book in just 24 weeks/classes at 1.5 hrs per class each week.. a blistering pace in my opinion. While you can start geometry without covering Algebra B (the 2nd half of the Intro to Algebra book), the geometry material is significantly more challenging and requires more mathematical maturity to really pick up the concepts. As such, I would recommend to take a cautious approach if wanting to do this and the child only has experience with the first half of algebra book (i.e everything up to about chapter 10, the start of quadratics). While it is true that they wouldn't be seeing much, if any, of quadratics and this more advanced algebra material in geometry (at least not until around halfway or later in the course, during the analytic geometry portions), the geometry material itself is quite deep. It covers things such as proofs, tight logical reasoning, creative use of adding new objects such as segments to diagrams, and using variables to angle/length chase, etc. These tools and many others are introduced pretty quickly in the geometry course, so ability to follow and develop logical reasoning is critical to understanding the concepts. I would suggest that kids have some other math experiences, to compensate for the lack of a full blown Aops algebra course, such as math contests, or maybe having worked through one of their other Intro books (Intro to Counting and Probability, or Intro to Number Theory). If they don't have this type of experience or similar, and are just coming in with some algebra, then I would not recommend taking the online text based version as it would be very, very, challenging. Better options would be either virtual aops academy, a local aops academy, or just working through the book at their own pace at home. These would all be less stressful and more manageable, although Aops geometry will still be significantly more challenging than any of the other Intro Aops books. And a side note, since online placement tests came up in the thread: Their pre test is pretty much the bare minimum needed to place in a course, while their post test questions are much more involved. The post test questions would typically show mastery of the material in a class. While I haven't looked, I am pretty sure that you'll find for example their Prealgebra post test to be more difficult than their Algebra pre test. |
Algebra I part B aligns to which FCPS class? |
The topics include the latter portions of Algebra I, as well as a good chunk of Algebra 2. |
That's because geometry doesn't really depends on algebra. It is harder than intro to algebra, so you might as will finish B at your own pace before starting geometry |
Is there anything from FCPS algebra 2 that isn't covered in B? |
It's better to spread them out and overlap. AOPS Geometry is more than a 1-year course. You can spend a year going through the basics ("school math") and then another year going over again more deeply. The same is true for the other courses, but the 3-course Algebra sequence already builds that in -Intro Algebra well cover deep Prealgebra, and Intermediate Algebra will cover deep Intro Algebra. |
Yes, most of it. Intro Algebra gives a peek into imaginary numbers and polynomials and exponents, but not the rest. FCPS Algebra 2 includes a lot of basic review material and that AOPS Intro Algebra covers. And FCPS does lots of graphing calculator explorations that AOPS doesn't do. And of course AOPS offers far, far more deep investigation of all the (non-calculator) topics than FCPS does, although many to most students don't go that deep. |
Analytic geometry (anything involving numerical measurement) certainly does depend on algebra. |