Reply to AOPS - why didn't it work for you?

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[quote=Anonymous]I have a PhD in Physics from MIT, and I used to tutor my son both AOPS (pre-algebra) with taking their online classes, and Eureka, which is a program many public schools use all over the country, so this would be an accurate comparison with typical classroom instruction.
Eureka is designed to be led by a teacher that walks the student through an example and is more like a script that even goes into what cues to use. Then it dumps a lot of similar exercises on the student to help develop muscle memory and automation. AOPS starts from working on problems and relies more on a discovery mindset, although the student still needs a teacher. Another key difference, AOPS aims to present math in a unified way with topics being derived from previous sections. There are no worksheet exercises and most of the questions are not cookie cutter type, no two problems are alike. Maybe some of the posters refer to this when they say it’s 90% tricks, but that would be a gross misunderstanding. It is expected the student gets the idea fast without endless drills, and most of the problems are designed to give a deeper insight compared to just regular formula plug in worksheet.
Overall for a faster but more shallow understanding of basic facts is probably better to stick to a classroom type curriculum like Eureka. If you have the desire to go deeper, put more effort for a more nuanced understanding, AOPS is better, so in the end it really depends on the student.
FWIW we quit Eureka and are sticking with AOPS as it serves our needs much better. Another plus for AOPS, the have a broad offering, so you have books videos, adaptive computer problem database, online and in person classes, forum and much more so you can take whatever part you like. Difficulty wise the questions are harder than the typical curriculum, but that’s the point, it’s is supposed to be more challenging.

On why it might not work. I believe it would require quite a bit of support for the student with some knowledgeable teacher available for guidance and bouncing off ideas. Also, it depends how much time there is available for math alone, other extra curriculars etc get into it only if you can dedicate at least 10 hours a week besides the class. Another reason, the kid might not be sufficiently inclined for math (don’t want to use the word smart, but think of the distribution of aptitude in this respect). I think AOPS is for the top 20% of the students and with enough support maybe for the top 50%, but in no way for everyone.[/quote]

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