Reply to Should I send my kids to mathnasium?

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[quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have a 5th grader and a 7th grader, both in Algebra I Honors in FCPS.  [b]The 7th grader is a normal, smart kid who is similar to all of the other smart kids in FCPS.  The 5th grader is way beyond that[/b] and is bored in the Algebra class.  Kids who are  more than one year by FCPS are pretty rare, since FCPS doesn't like skipping kids.   [/quote]

That’s not saying much.

Yes. If FCPS is accepting the top 25 percent of a general population. Less than 10 percent of those kids accepted are even actually gifted (top 2 percent) statistically speaking. So maybe 9 kids out of every 100 aap kids. Sometimes will do stand out. [/quote]

That's the point, though.  People have been arguing about whether kids need to sit in a classroom every day to learn Algebra I Honors, and whether a class like AoPS could cover all of the same material.  The normal, smart kids, who are the vast majority of AAP kids, probably need to be in that classroom every day taking FCPS Algebra.  AoPS would move too quickly, not give enough repetition, and make too many intuitive leaps for the regular bright kids. It still might be valuable supplementation, but couldn't stand alone for these kids.

The small fraction of kids who are at the top of AAP would be fine with just the AoPS class.  FCPS will still make those kids sit in a classroom for FCPS Algebra, but it won't benefit the kid in any way.  It's just another bureaucratic hoop that the kids will need to jump through.  I bet the AoPS teacher posting here can tell the difference between the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in Algebra who are highly gifted and will always be far ahead of the FCPS curriculum vs. the ones who just have pushy parents and are only ahead from all of the hothousing.  [/quote]

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead. I am a parent looking into AoPS for my kids because I think the other program we are using (Mathnasium) is burning them out with drilling and not enough instruction.  My kids are in advanced math in FCPS but by no means are math geniuses. Would AoPS work for them?  It appeals to me because it teaches problem solving/critical thinking.

Yes, this is exactly right. In general I've seen that the really young kids in our classrooms tend to outperform and/or be near the top in our classes. (Not always, but most of the time). And these are exactly the kids who wouldn't be allowed to take the equivalent class in school at the same time because of age. By the time they would let them, it would be a ridiculous waste of time for them and likely even hurt their motivation (it would be fine of course if they actually alowed them to work at their own level and pace in class but sometimes they refuse to do that due to logistics, strict rules, no computers/internet allowed, etc.) We've also regularly noticed that more frequently the kids a lot older than the average in our class do NOT do as well as expected (often they even struggle sometimes, which indicates they may possibly be struggling in school, or are just being pushed by parents against their own will). But most kids fall in the middle, i.e they're taking the same class both in school and ours. This is a common scenario and good approach since they are likely to do well (they get the basics in school) then get deeper exposure to problem solving in our class. We also have the kids who "double up" (i.e do one class in school such as algebra, and then take our geometry course at the same time). This can work, but in my experience I've found that they stretch themselves too thin and cannot handle performing well enough in our class because the two subjects do not complement each other much (and in this specific case, our geometry class is MUCH more challenging than our algebra class).[/quote][/quote]

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead. I am a parent looking into AoPS for my kids because I think the other program we are using (Mathnasium) is burning them out with drilling and not enough instruction. My kids are in advanced math in FCPS but by no means are math geniuses. Would AoPS work for them? It appeals to me because it teaches problem solving/critical thinking. 
[/quote]

It's hard to say, it depends on your child's interest in math, and/or their motivation to try to tackle problems they don't initially know how to do. I can definitely tell you that there is no drilling and repetition in the curriculum. It is aimed at kids who want to have a deeper understanding of mathematics. The focus is on problem solving to gain that insight and understanding. They have a local campus which is currently virtual on Zoom, but also run classes online all year round. Not sure about the campus policies, but I know that for their online classes you can just try the first 2 weeks of a class for free as long as you drop the class before the 3rd week.[/quote]

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