I did a search on Chinese websites, and it seems the books listed from sellers in China do include CDs? Also, have you considered recording each lesson with the tutor? I took a look at the sample from Boya, there are 1000 new words introduced from the two books of Beginner's level. That's very impressive. As a comparison, Ma Liping's books which are widely received in Chinese schools in the states have 1300 new words after grade 12. I would keep the reading flow while practing the writing of the most common characters. I think once he gets more familiar with character strokes and structures, writing might become a little easier.

Trials: He hasn't done as much as we planned in languages arts (reading, writing) and foreign language. Not much art. History is through audio books for now. Also, he needs to work on his organizational skills. Things that go well(trying to avoid the word triumph:) ): Math and programming with AoPS. Challenging sometimes, but he's learned a quite a bit. Programming seems to be his new passion. His typing is getting better. He's learned quite a bit of chemistry and some physics here and there, but nothing formal. He chooses to do algebra-based physics for next year. He chose to add second instrument. Time-consuming, but was able to manage both. I, too, enjoyed reading others' responses.

Regentrude, thanks so much!

Regentrude, I have the 1st edition workbooks. Do you think it's still worth getting the 2nd edition ones? Also, is there a way to get solutions to workbooks other than Media Manager which is out of print? if we want to add lab, is there a ready to use kit that you would recommend? Good but not too expensive? If we go with put-together lab, is there any guide we can follow? Thanks in advance for your help!

At the time we registered for SCAT, I put down "parent referral" or something similar. I don't think you have to have some other testing result to qualify for SCAT testing. We've never done Explore ourselves, but from what I've read, I would prefer Explore to SCAT as a way to see where she is. SCAT is short and quick, and may not be comprehensive. Of course if you're interested in CTY courses or camps, or if money is not an issue to do both tests, then SCAT would be helpful too.

The teacher from DS's AoPS geometry class told the kids that he thought two-column proof was like teaching crutch, and he did not want to see it in students' assignments, message board etc.

Terrilth, DS did it once when he was in PS. He enjoyed it very much. It was more for fun than for competition. They had one set of problems every month from Nov. to March. Each set had 5 problems. They calculated accumulated scores for individuals and used the tops ones from each set for team(not necessarily from the same kids every time). I forgot the details, but I'm sure you probably have found the info from their website. Kids may get the certificates, pins badges etc at the end. Have you checked these books? I bought the volume 1 after the competition ended, but it was still fun for DS to read it at the time. The book was similar in format to the actual competitions. Good for kids to have fun or for practice. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Store/viewitem.php?item=moems:olympiad1 You don't have to buy them from AoPS. They may be available from somewhere else. HTH.

No experience with their prealgebra class, but I would assume it'd be similar to other classes they offer. The studens are not required to turn in any problems from the book(review and challenge problems from the book included). They provide weekly message board problems after each class and solutions before next class,students post their solutions on the message board, but no grading is provided. Challenge set problems(differ from challege problems from the book) are the only ones they grade and provide detailed feedback. For Alcumus, they provide links to each week's Alcumus topics. You click on the links and go through them until you pass the topics. HTH.

Ruth, Intro. Algebra book matches their online Algebra 1 and 2 classes (they split the book in half), intro. geometry matches their intro. geometry class. Intermediate Algebra book matches their algebra 3 class. It'd be fine to go through the books in the sequence you mentioned: intro. algebra, intro geometry, intermediate algebra. That's what they usually suggest on AoPS forums.

We are on this track, except that we do NT/CP on our own and will probably add competition courses somewhere down the road.

RR explained a little bit what was covered in their Algebra 2 and 3. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=397640 http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=140&t=412729

We took Algebra 2 before Geometry. I think AoPS Algebra 2 and part of Aglebra 3 cover what a school Algebra 2 normally covers. But AoPS Algebra 3 go beyond an Algebra 2 at a school.

Here's the discussion from an old thread.

Just curious, for those who have kids taking AoPS classes, do you usually let the instructor or classmates know your kid's age or rather keep it private? I usually remind my kid not to mention his age. Just wonder what others normally do?

This is correct. I think if you have qualifying IQ testing scores without a full report, they won't use it as two of the three required choices. But the high IQ score will probably help the application, if you have qualifying achievement scores and decent portfolios.

quark, I understand your need for a break, just hope your definition of "extended break" is as short as a few days or a week or two at most:) Thank you for the thoughts and insights you have shared with us. Hope to see you back soon.

Seems AoPS will offer their new Java Programming class in Fall.

After reading so much about R&S English, I couldn't resiste and purchased a set last night after I saw the 10% discount on rodandstaffbooks website. :) I think it runs through April 13. I like the content myself. We'll see if the kids like it too. ;)

Yes, it seems to be a typo. x+30 should be moved up or to the left.

We find the different eLists to be really helpful to us(the most helpful aspect of being in Davidson). Though one can get all sorts of information on your own, I've still learned a lot from the wisdom of other Davidson parents. I wouldn't even have come up with some of the questions myself to which they responded and felt their responses were very useful and relevant for our future use. If you don't mind receiving more emails(personally I don't think the email traffic from them to be heavy though), maybe consider to subscribe? I felt less isolated and more connected. About Family Consultant, we haven't found much benefit yet. But it's still good to know that someone is there if we need help.

If testing and qualification is non-issue, I think it'd be worth applying. With solid qualifying scores, filling out the application probably takes only a few days at most.

Kathy, it was so refreshing to read your perspective!:001_smile: It helps me plan ahead for the coming courses. Despite his age, DS was quite prepared when he came into AoPS because of other math readings he had done before(LoF, Khan and others). So I guess he doesn't use discovery method completely, but I have no doubt that AoPS is a good fit. He loves their online classes, Alcumus and FTW. DD, on the other hand, is an advanced reader, but also very good at math, just not enthusiastic about it, which I suspect partly because of her brother. That being said, she has shown a strong desire to start AoPS Prealgebra this summer. So I bought the book set for her, and we'll see how that goes. Maybe with her determination to go through that book, she may walk out of her brother's shadow, develop a deeper interest and really shines in math.

Thank you for putting this together. So helpful! We plan to use WWS for next year, and I just ordered Killgallon to supplement.

Thanks Kathy. It's also posted on MAA's website: http://amc.maa.org/

DS and I couldn't wait for that AoPS board to be unlocked this morning :D. I couldn't believe I myself was as excited as my kid to read all the comments. DS voted the test "hard" for 10A, and it seemed to be hard indeed, at least for him. He did a practice run using a prevous test the day before and scored really well-almost reaching AIME qualification level. For yesterday's test, he only needed less than one correct problem to get in achievement roll:001_huh:. But I'm still very proud of him.:). I'm not sure if he's more excited about taking the test or more excited about the opportunity to share comments about the test with other kids, or maybe both:)