StaceyinLA Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Do you have to do the online classes or can you purchase the books and work through them yourself? Is there any support if you don't take the online class? Are the texts thorough? I tend to LOVE video courses and the like because they make me feel better, but these look and sound great based on some past discussions I read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 You can definitely work through the books on your own. The solutions guides are really thorough. As far as support goes, the AoPS boards are invaluable. The boards are divided up generally by age range/subject; you can ask for clarification of a problem and you'll get lots of help and suggestions, mostly from other students. Every problem in the books has probably been analyzed to death on those boards, so it's not hard to find help (thankfully, as I sure as heck need it!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted July 14, 2010 Author Share Posted July 14, 2010 And are the courses listed in the order you should do them? I wonder if you could do Algebra I and Geometry concurrently... My son has done a good bit of Algebra I, but I wouldn't mind him redoing it starting with their Algebra I and working through it in a semester. He's starting 10th grade, and actually very bright in math but I have slacked a TON in that area since I've been working. My plan is to get him to review and complete an Algebra course as well as a Geometry this year. That'll have him on track to do an Algebra II as well as a pre-calc or trig before graduating. I like the other courses they offer too. Are those full year courses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 The website lists the classes in order of difficulty, so you could probably use that as a guide for what order to study the topics. But I think you could definitely read some concurrently. The Intro to Geometry is considered the toughest intro-level book. My son did Jacobs Geometry several years ago, but he's been working through the AoPS geometry book concurrently with his regular math course and he's finding it plenty challenging. The more general AoPS books, volumes 1 and 2, are also excellent, especially if your son has any interest in competitive math (AMC exams, USAMTS, etc.). I think most of the courses are roughly semester-length, though they don't all track the traditional school year. Some are shorter seminars, WOOT (Olympiad training) goes most of the year, and there are even a few weekend-long boot camps before big exams such as the AIME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cheryl in SoCal Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 (edited) In case you find this helpful, this is how AoPS responded to me when I asked about class order and what to call classes on transcripts if we go through the books on our own instead of taking their classes (if you look at the classes you'll notice they use the Intro to Algebra book for both Algebra 1 and Algebra 2). On the front page and on the schedule page, we have Geometry after Algebra 2. This is the order I recommend taking the classes, because the Intro Geometry course is a bit harder and requires more mathematical maturity than the Algebra 2 course. You could comfortably book the Intro Algebra for a year of Algebra 1 and a semester of what most people call Algebra 2, and call the Intermediate Algebra a semester of Algebra 2 and a semester of "Precalculus". ETA that since I'm planning on using AoPS as a supplement I plan on using the "Algebra 2 parts" of Intro to Algebra and Intermediate Algebra with MUS Algebra 2, Intro to Geometry with MUS Geometry, the "PreCalc parts" of Intermediate Algebra and Precalculus with MUS PreCalculus, and Calculus with MUS Calculus, etc. If I was planning on doing just the AoPS books I'd do Intro to Algebra, Intro to Geometry, Intermediate Algebra, etc... Of course, plans may change but that's what they are for now ;) Edited July 14, 2010 by Cheryl in SoCal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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