bnneale Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 My 5th grade son is just finishing TT Algebra and I am looking for something more challenging for him for next year. It was recommended that he do AoPS pre-algebra. He's not too thrilled about the "pre-algebra" title, but when he took the placement test from their site, that seems to be the right fit. He is used to being "taught" a lesson with TT. What is the instruction like in AoPS. We can't afford their online class, so it would just be him, me, and the textbook. I had never heard about this program until a few days ago, so this is all new to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 The last post on your other thread describes the books and the philosophy, so I won't repeat all that. A fairly common way people use them is to do the lesson problems on one day, and the exercises the next day. Some people do the lesson problems as ''buddy math''--parents and students working the problems together--some let their students work on their own, and just make themselves available for questions. There's a lot of value in having students check their own solutions in the solutions manual, because there's almost always more than one way to do a problem, and they can learn a lot by reading other solutions even if their own is correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I generally do both the teaching and exercises on one day and take several days to do the chapter review. If the material is on the easy side, then you could run through it more quickly - this is what I've done with some student I tutor. I've taken students that have "completed" algebra and started them in the prealgebra book. The first few lessons go quickly but the have quickly slowed down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 My 5th grade son is just finishing TT Algebra and I am looking for something more challenging for him for next year. It was recommended that he do AoPS pre-algebra. He's not too thrilled about the "pre-algebra" title, but when he took the placement test from their site, that seems to be the right fit. He is used to being "taught" a lesson with TT. What is the instruction like in AoPS. We can't afford their online class, so it would just be him, me, and the textbook. I had never heard about this program until a few days ago, so this is all new to me. There is a thread about the AoPS pre-test up in the logic forum right now. You might want to read it. AoPS is a challenging math program. It is for kids who don't mind working on a problem for a while, or who aren't afraid to get a problem flat out wrong. There are lots of threads on the pre-A program, especially in the logic stage forum. It might be helpful to read a few of those to get a feel for it first, maybe? And there are samples on their website. You can also sign up for their free online math program called 'Alcumus'. It is math problems, and I think you can limit it to pre-A problems. That might give you some insight into what the problems in AoPS pre-A are like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I wrote a detailed review of my son's experience using AoPS pre-algebra. See this post: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/536672-aops-pre-algebra-detailed-review/ Since your son has already done Algebra, he may not find the concepts as difficult to understand. The problem sets, though, are excellent and I wasn't able to find their equivalent in traditional textbooks. My DS grew to really enjoy the program after taking a few chapters to adjust to the different style. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Two things. The videos on the website are excellent. The pre-test is known to be a lot easier than the book and is an absolute minimum of skills and topics studied. Have you looked at Tablet Class etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnneale Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Thank you all for the great input! I'm learning a ton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 We do lesson problems and exercises on the same day, but we do the problems together and they do the exercises independently of me. Then we review together any problems they missed. If your ds has already taken algebra, maybe you can just do the challenge problems at the end of each chapter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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