Reply to AoPS Introduction to Algebra B

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[quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous]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? [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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