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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My son qualified to take Algebra in 7th but I heard the teacher was not that great and there wasn't a physical textbook but random pages online that they did. So I had my son do Honors 7 math plus AOPS Algebra after school. Honors 7 math was so easy he never really had homework so he had plenty of time to do AOPS instead.

So when he took Algebra in 8th it was a review and left him with really solid algebra skills. He took the next level algebra class in the evenings.[b] He then took geometry in between 8th and 9th.[/b] So when he was in 9th and doing Honors Algebra 2 he had already been exposed to it the year before. He noticed some of his classmates who did Algebra in 7th really struggled in algebra 2 because they were shaky in some algebra topics. [/quote]

This makes me sad. You had a great time with AoPS Algebra, and you noticed that school Algebra was insufficient for others. So why settle for the inferior summer version of school Geometry? I recommend doing something like AoPS Geometry to enhance that.

[/quote]

It kind of makes me laugh because their kid did SOOOO much outside tutoring to ensure math was easy.  The kids in Alg. 2  who took alg in 7 may have to do a little bit of tutoring and find it hard, but the time they put into math overall is probably less AND they learn how to do something difficult.  I see both as decent lessons about growing up.[/quote]

What's so funny about taking time to learn? 
"Finding it hard" isn't the gift you make it out to be, when it's a very basic level of material and it's a cracked foundation for the future. AoPS is a lot harder than school, but it builds the strong foundation you need to succeed. [/quote]

+1.  The AoPS curriculum (and probably RSM, too), is a lot harder.  Kids whose only exposure to math is getting an A in an accelerated school Alg IH/Geom IH class are orders of magnitude behind kids who get all blue in AoPS. In everything: reasoning, speed, mathematical writing, breadth...  In short, they don't know what they're missing - and unless they go in a mathy field, may never know.  And if they do, their college professors will wonder why they chose this field.[/quote]

DP.  For anyone who is taking this seriously, don't.  Taking Algebra privately the prior year is not necessary to learn and do well in Algebra.  Same for Algebra II.  And it's not necessary to do Aops or RSM before going into a math, science, or engineering field.  [/quote]

NP.
AoPS and RSM classes are not meant to be taught before doing the school version, and they're not meant to be a means for acceleration.  Ideally, they should be a supplement, where a kid is taking Algebra in school and simultaneously taking AoPS Algebra to give the extra rigor and fill in any foundational gaps.  I agree that it's not necessary to do AoPS or RSM before going into a STEM field, but it would undoubtedly help the kid have a greater understanding of the math and a much stronger foundation.  In school math, too many kids become experts at applying the right algorithms to get the right answers without having a real understanding of the material.  That will not work in AoPS classes.[/quote]

You really are missing the whole point of AOPS. It absolutely is for acceleration, that is why Richard Rusczyk founded AOPS - for kids who loved math, and did exceptionally well in school so they were bored. It has morphed into something else for many people, but that is who the original audience was for- advanced kids who often did competition math. It was never intended to supplement math at school. For kids who get math and are brilliant at it, math at school is way too slow. So no, it is not meant to fill in foundational gaps.

That being said, I posted about my kid doing geometry in the summer. He is NOT a math prodigy, just a solid math student because he has put in the time. He is not going to be a math major or an engineering major.  For him he really benefited from taking two years of algebra - first through AOPS then Algebra at school. No way was he going to do AOPS geometry. That book is hard! My nephew is a math whiz and was homeschooled for middle school using AOPS books at home. They were written so a math whiz can self study and read the books to learn. AOPS Geometry is a big step up from AOPS algebra and then AOPS intermediate Algebra is a big step up from Geometry. In 8th grade he did another Algebra 2 program at home while doing algebra 1 at school. Most kids doing AOPS intermediate algebra really, really like math and many are into contest math like Math Olympiad.

You just can't do precalc and calculus without a really solid algebra foundation. If you aren't sure your child is going to be with a really good teacher with a solid curriculum then I would reconsider algebra in 7th unless your kid is really good at math. I am not sure why the person wrote that my kid didn't learn to do something hard. AOPS algebra in 7th was hard as was intermediate algebra online at home (with a different program- not AOPS). What was easy was algebra 1 at school in 8th grade. [/quote]

10:00 pp here.  I guess I didn't make my point clearly enough.  AoPS assumes that the kids already have enough fluency with the foundational materials.  Thus, both the online and AoPS academy classes leap straight into the more rigorous materials.  If a kid were to do only the homework required by AoPS, they likely wouldn't spend enough time mastering all of the material.

In a perfect world, kids wouldn't be artificially held back in math by school, and they wouldn't need to use AoPS to jump ahead.  Instead, school math would provide the more basic repetition, while AoPS would extend everything significantly.  Or, they'd only use AoPS, but they'd do all of the book problems or a lot of alcumus to make sure that they fully grasp all of the material.   My kid has taken all of Intro to Algebra, Intro to C&P, Intro to Geometry, Intermediate Algebra, Intermediate NT, and Precalc through AoPS classes.  Intro to Algebra was the only one he took before taking the equivalent school class.  I'm glad that all of Geometry, Intermediate Algebra, and Precalc were done in the same year that he took the equivalent school classes.  I don't think the AoPS class lecture + homework sets alone would have been adequate to master these topics.  [/quote]

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