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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]New poster - this is directed at the math teacher (hope you'll be back to see it):

I'm also a math teacher (masters degree in pure math) and I also am not enamored with AoPS, but I can't put my finger on why exactly.  I want to like it.  I respect Rusczyk a great deal and agree with most of what I've heard him say.  So far I've only had a good look at the AoPS PreAlgebra and Intro to Algebra books, but despite what I've heard their team say about pouring their hearts and soul into developing the topics with careful questions that develop and elucidate the key ideas, I fail to see it.  I honestly wonder what I'm missing.

[b]What I look for in a great textbook is topics developed thoughtfully in ways that reveal the big picture of higher mathematics and connect backwards and forwards to other material, while challenging with progressively harder or deeper questions.[/b]  Tricky questions are not always the ones that most reveal the key idea or which point ahead to a concept that is coming.

But perhaps it is just the writing style or the cluttered appearance of the texts, or perhaps some of that narrative is present in the AoPS classes but missing in the textbooks?

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the above as well what you see as better alternatives (particularly at the pre-algebra through PreCalculus level).  
[/quote]

The bolded part is *exactly* what AOPS is.

I am really puzzled about what posters mean by tricks. Does it mean challenging? Or something that can only be solved by doing a mathematical manipulation that is not immediately obvious? Isn't that the definition of [b]problem solving[/b]?
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