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Ds completed AoPS Intro to Alg A online last year, 1st semester as a 7th grader. He received an A & excellent remarks from his instructor but he doesn't feel like he mastered the material. By the end of the semester he said he felt lost at times. 2nd semester he ran through a tiny bit of LoF Algebra, but was not challenged & stopped. He finished the year with AoPS online AMC 8 Advanced, which he did fine with, except the geometry. He hasn't had much geometry.

 

I'm thinking Algebra basics need to be really solid, & maybe we should review this year rather than move on to AoPS Intro to Alg B. I have Jacob's on the shelf along with DVD's. Would this work? I can't actually look at it right now b/c it is packed & in storage. We've just moved & are not yet completely moved in & unpacked.

 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Any would be welcome.

 

Thanks.

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I would make a list of the skills you feel are important for Alg 1, ranked by "need to be mastered", "can be still working on in the coming year", and "need to have been introduced but will get significant further work in the next year".  Then choose your curriculum accordingly, measuring each option against your list to find one with the appropriate scope and sequence.  

 

This year, for some of my students we chose a book that allowed us to move quickly through the early chapters.  ('"Remember this?  OK, let's work a few problems.  Got it?  Ok let's do an end-of-chapter test and see how you do.")  Then we slowed down and really focused on the remaining chapters, doing all of the book problems and at times extra worksheets (providing either more practice with average problems, more review of the basics, or more challenging problems, depending on the students' needs in that topic.)

 

Algebra I texts vary widely, and you can pick and choose both depth and pace as you go.

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Did he finish all the exercises in the intro to algebra book that corresponds to the class? Also practice with the Alcumus portion that tally with the book.

 

AMC8 past year papers and solutions are good for review too especially if he intends to take the November AMC8 exam. Just Google for those.

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You know, I had him complete every exercise in the book that was marked where it came from. (AMC, MOEMS, etc.) So he did many of the exercises, but not all.

 

He took the AMC last year, no practice, and is hoping to take it again this year. He scored 17 last year. 

 

Arcadia, do you think we should just go back through the earlier chapters rather than run through Jacobs?

 

This is a weakness area for me.

 

ETA: I think he can often intuit where something is going & figure things out that way. He can explain his answers in the proof problem so I'm not sure where the disconnect is.

 

Edited by 4ofus
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I have only read Jacobs geometry 2nd ed but have not seen the algebra book. I do find both my boys benefited from starting the aops book, doing the online class, complete and review book after class ends. The review of the whole book was especially useful for my DS10 after his algebra B class. He did not take the algebra A class.

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I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this.  Your son earned an A from an AoPS algebra class, arguably one of the most difficult algebra classes available.  To me, that's the very definition of having a solid grasp of algebra.  

 

You say he started having problems toward the end of the class.  Were his bars still in the blue or green areas for those last chapters?   Take a look at those bar charts and ask him what in particular he feels he's not understanding, and maybe go through those problems in the textbook.   I would continue using the AoPS textbook for this review; the solutions guide is excellent for self study.

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I agree with daijobu that, if your son did so well in the class, your son likely has a very good understanding of the material.  Could this be more of a crisis of confidence?  Obviously, I don't know your son, but he is in the age range where that would not be unheard of.

 

In any event, I would think that running through Jacobs could only help; I have Foerster's on my shelf for just that reason!  Initially, when we switched to AoPS, I would have DD do the end-of-chapter Foerster tests (more for my confidence than hers).  Could you try something like that?  I wouldn't necessarily schedule it for the whole year (I suspect he'd get bored), but maybe have him quickly review the chapter and challenge the test.  My suspicion is he knows it better than he may think he does.  Those AoPS questions are hard; it's no surprise that he feels a bit uncertain sometimes!

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I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Your son earned an A from an AoPS algebra class, arguably one of the most difficult algebra classes available. To me, that's the very definition of having a solid grasp of algebra.

Not referring to OP's son, but it is possible to get A from homework collaboration. They allow kids to discuss homework as long as everyone who helped is credited in the answer to the written question.

For the computer graded questions, kids can still help each other and obviously there is no way to credit anyone helping.

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Maybe it is a crisis of confidence. I'm not sure. My younger did AoPS PA 1 & he also did well, received an A & good remarks, but did not feel prepared to move into PA 2. He ran through LoF PA1 & 2 the did AMC8 Beginner.

 

Maybe they were just tired of the struggle. That still leaves me deciding what to do this year. Resume AoPS, because they can, review the previous material either with AoPS or another resource, or change resource material.

 

I don't think older did much (any) collaborating with others. He did not spend time on the boards or connect with others in the class outside of class. He just wants to Get It Done. On his own. Even if it takes 10x as long & he has to go around the barn & back to get there when there's a straightforward way out front. 

 

ETA: I really appreciate y'all's input. I'm confused too. That's part of why I am having such trouble making a decision. Move ahead? The grades say yes. The child says no. This is new territory.

 

ETA (again): I know I was personally able to advance in the math sequence beyond Algebra, with little more than an algorithmic understanding. This really came back to bite me later. I'm just trying to prevent the same thing.

Edited by 4ofus
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He just wants to Get It Done. On his own. Even if it takes 10x as long & he has to go around the barn & back to get there when there's a straightforward way out front.

 

ETA: I really appreciate y'all's input. I'm confused too. That's part of why I am having such trouble making a decision. Move ahead? The grades say yes. The child says no. This is new territory.

Maybe he is tired by the pace of the online class. My DS10 did not like doing the intro to algebra book everyday. So what we did was to have both intro to algebra and intro to geometry books out and he pick one to do for the day.

 

What you could try is put the AoPS intro to algebra book and Jacobs algebra book out. Let him pick which one to use for review. Let him know that if he wants to take intro to algebra B online class, he just need to let you know and both of you can look at the class schedule.

 

One of mine is a good test taker while the other is a good at guessing, I go with what my kids feel rather than grades.

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Someone up thread mentioned testing through Jacobs (or another Algebra). I think that is a good idea. We did that with PreAlgebra after Dd had done a mix of things for PreA. It took about 4 months because I did find some holes and wanted to spend some time with Alcumus. Take a chapter test, do the sections for what he missed, move to the next chapter. I assume you have the tests/ keys from Dr. Callahan's page?

 

Dolciani (at least the 1980's edition I have) is good for this because the Chapter tests label what section of the book the problems came from.

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