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AOPS Pre-Algebra Question


travelgirlut
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When working through the problems at the beginning of each section, should you go through the solution to each problem as you do it, or do all the problems first then look through the solutions?  The wording in the solutions makes me think you should do problem, solution, problem, solution, because it will say something like "Let's see how this applies to the next problem."  This would also keep mistakes from compounding into the next problem, but I wasn't sure if looking at the solution right after doing the problem would eliminate some of the benefits of the discovery method.

 

Thanks for any help you can give me!

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What my daughter did is this.  Do the problem.  I checked her answer - if correct (which mostly was the case) she did the next problem (if incorrect she tried again).  When finished with the problems, I'd tell her which solutions to read (based on if she solved them the same way or not).  Then videos,  and then exercises.  

 

My son had  a harder time with it.  He did a problem.  I checked his answer.  Then had him read the solution.  Then move on to the next problem.  Sometimes I'd have him watch the corresponding video to the problem before moving on as well. Or even watching all the videos(thus forgetting about the discovery method)  I adjusted depending on what he needed.

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My ds did all of the problems and then onto the solutions but occasionally he'd skip a problem he just couldn't figure out. I think it made more sense for him to work through it that way but I can see the case for the individual problem/solution method also. I would say to do it whichever way works for your student.

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Whenever possible, Ds worked through the entire problem set before reading the solutions. If he got stuck on a problem, he'd read through the solutions for all the problems he'd already solved to see if they would show him a pattern and help him to solve the tough problem. If he was still stuck, he'd skip the problem, complete as many of the other problems as he could, read their solutions, and give the tough problems another try. 

 

I think it's worth trying a few different methods during the first chapter or two. AoPS is so different than any other math program we've used that it took us a few weeks to figure out how to make it work for us. 

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When my son worked through this book last year, he did the 'teaching' problems one by one and we read the solutions after each whether he got it right or not.  Then he watched the video to review. Finally, he did the problem set which I checked after completed as well as alcumus. 

Edited by J&JMom
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When my son worked through this book last year, he did the 'teaching' problems one by one and we read the solutions after each whether he got it right or not.    

 

I also recommend this.  I always take a quick look at the solution even if we get the right answer to make sure we didn't miss any important teaching points.  Sometimes multiple approaches or additional teaching is woven into the solution.  

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