Wow, you are an inspiration! To go from freak outs to solid mathematical thinking is quite an accomplishment. He's lucky to have you!

Can I ask how you structured your AoPS lessons with your tutor? Did this person come every day to your home? What did they do together and what was assigned as homework? I am interested in any details you can provide because I'm considering tutoring AoPS PreA for another family, but I'm wondering if I need to be there every day, or if skype would work or what. It seems that for younger students AoPS PreA is pretty labor intensive. Thank you for your help.

We treat the Problems as the lecture and the Exercises as the homework. That is, we go through each of the problems together, with me writing out the problem, attempting to find a solution. Even if we find a solution we still read the book's solution carefully to make sure we understand the point of the lesson. Immediately after, my kids would attempt as many of the exercises as they can, and review the solutions for each problem, especially the ones they missed. I would help them to review each missed exercise. My kids would spend 2-3 days each on review and challenge problems. If you have extra time, you can do the exercises in the morning and the problems in the afternoon or the next day, maybe after a brief review of the section. Particularly in PreAlgebra, if a relationship is forgotten like the exponents (multiplying numbers with exponents, understanding negative exponents), it's important to be able to do a quickie derivation on the fly. Whenever possible relationships and formulas should not be memorized, but readily derivable, even if in your head, or in the margin of your paper. AoPS is well worth the effort if you can manage it. It really helps if the parent is solid on their math, or at least can stay a chapter ahead.

You're welcome! You and OP might also want to consider hosting a MOEMS team next year, if you have enough interest in the community. It's easy and fun, and math-loving students get to meet each other. It's also provides a nice springboard into future math competitions like MathCounts. We've done MOEMS for years now, and both my dd's now coach younger students, so it's been a positive experience for us all around.

Add in some exams from MOEMS. You can books of old exams from Amazon. Skip volume 1 and buy volumes 2 and 3. They are a lot of fun, and probably take 45 minutes to take an exam and review the solutions. When my kids were elementary, we did 4 days of singapore math, with a MOEMS practice on Wednesday to break things up. HTH.

Lol, and congratulations!

Can I just have dd do DuoLingo and call it Spanish 1? How many minutes per day? Should we supplement it?

I once accidentally stumbled on a wikipedia page similar to this one that she might enjoy perusing. ETA: also German expressions in English.

Agreed. They spend an unnecessary amount of time on the easy stuff at the start of class, then hand-wave quickly through the most difficult stuff at the end.

Dd tells me she would not call it busywork.

I'm glad you started this thread. Dd is relieved to know she isn't the only one working so much!

Elementary level? At that age we did singapore math 4 days a week, and on wednesdays we had a math fun day. We started out with some math game, like something from Theoni Pappas, and then we started doing a moems exam every wednesdays. Will that help shake things up? Sometimes math is boring.

The video component has slides, and it looks like the kids can take turns writing on the slides using a mouse in the interactive component. During the lecture, students can ask questions directly, but my dd prefers to text her questions in which do get answered in lecture. It's kind of neat to see eveyone's comments in the text window. eta: I'll check with dd on the busywork aspect. Right now she's uh...studying biology.

Thanks for the tip about trig. I wasn't planning to skip the whole thing, but we'll be sure to cover it all now.

Yes, this class threw us for a loop on work load, though dd is in 7th grade and I wondered if she is just too young at this point. I've had to cut way back on other subjects so she can devote time to biology. In fact, we're considering dropping 2nd semester and completing the rest of the syllabus on our own. She's writing her paper on Selfish Gene, which also takes time, but we're made that her English writing assignment with her tutor. But I am pleased with how much she has learned, and I love hearing Amy Upperman's friendly voice during lectures. I've emailed her a few times with questions, and she's always responded promptly and has been very helpful.

How does your student like WTM Bio? DD is enjoying, but it's time-consuming for her.

Regarding blue books (I can't let this drop): In a fit of nostalgia, I did an image search for them, and I had forgotten that they actually say, "Blue Book" on the cover, as if to make it absolutely clear (1) what it is and (2) what color it is. I imagine getting into my car with the words "White Minivan" painted on the side.

Could you start it? I've just about spent my writing skills for today.

Would you share what you skipped in Int. Algebra and Precalc?

Sorry, I debated using the word "rushing" and I see that I should not have used that word. I probably should have written "accelerated" or something less emotional. I would argue that the amount of detail spent on polynomials in the AoPS book is... a lot for most students. In high school, I learned some basic factoring techniques (difference of cubes), synthetic division, and not much more than that. My dd now knows way more about polynomials than I ever did, but I wonder at what cost? There's the opportunity cost of time spent on other subjects, as you discovered. Likewise, if one is using a more superficial curriculum and moving on to advanced subjects more quickly, there is the opportunity cost of not doing AoPS and delving more deeply into these subjects. Or maybe these kids are did AoPS and then continued on with college math? I don't consider it "rushing" if we covered polynomials at a more superficial level, unless you are determined to eek out more AMC points. But maybe her deep knowledge of polynomials and inequalities will serve her well in college? Looking ahead to the precalculus book, there is a great amount of detailed coverage of trigonometry. Many many laws and theorems that I never covered, but I had enough to prepare me for a 5 on calculus BC. So I wonder if time spent on all that extra trig is well spent? (This is all probably a moot point since dd is bound and determined to eek out every last AMC point.)

Oops. I agree, I think this OP's (actual!) question is an excellent one, and needs to be reposted with a clear title. "bad name" is likely to drive emotional responses (like mine).

I have options and I am not accustomed to negotiating my kids' education. This is what I contribute to our bad reputation. I enrolled my dd in private school for a month until she had had enough. If I hadn't been a homeschooler, she would probably still be there, tolerating it, because I wouldn't be comfortable with the homeschooling option. If we don't like something, we take quick action to make things right. Math homework at this school meant writing about her feelings. If we think negotiating with a teacher is going to take too much time and effort, we don't bother. We leave the school and get our tuition reimbursed. I feel bad that our actions may make it more difficult for other homeschoolers to gain admission to this school, but my kids come first.

So what are the relative merits of rushing into advanced math classes (diff eq's, linear algebra, etc.) versus delving deeply into "lower level" math problem solving that you might get with AoPS? Or are these traits not mutually exclusive and these advanced math students also extremely good at problem solving? (Argh.) I ask, because we are spending a great deal time struggling through the Intermediate Algebra problems at a depth far beyond what I had in high school. Is this a good use of our time? It will certainly help in the AMCs, but is our time better spent advancing through this stuff quickly and moving on to higher levels of math?

There's a special form for Amtrak VIPs like dmmetler's dd. Kind of like eHarmony for aspiring scientists. :laugh: Okay, now I'm really procrastinating.

Yikes, seriously? Does your dd feel she's at a disadvantage compared to her advanced colleagues?