They have a foundation, although it doesn't look like it supports the academy.

I agree with Mark. CS is more logic than math. It's just that math is used to teach that logic.

[i lied.] I think we can all agree that 2x3=3x2 (in the set of reals), but if I bring two sets of 3 balls to juggle with that third kid will be watching the other two.

It's better if you start earlier. A little at a time now, before CWP3/4 hits you like a ton of bricks. If you wait the problems will be much harder and he will not have the requisite technical skills to explain the work.

I think AAA just contracts with local companies who then come to provide service. So where you have the incident and the quality of the services provided is not really a reflection on AAA so much as it is on the local firms. AAA itself is only for in person services (meaning you go to an actual AAA office).

I gave my kid these guidelines: Read the question carefully. Check your work after each step. Answer the question asked (not some other question you wish they had asked). Since we started doing this the careless error rate has really dropped.

Using the logical implication truth table from Wikipedia as a guide, consider the following: Suppose P, Q, and R are all FALSE. Then: Since P is FALSE, [P->(Q->R)] is TRUE, regardless of what value is assigned to (Q->R) (P->Q) = TRUE, therefore (P->Q) -> R is FALSE (since R is assumed FALSE) Thus, [P->(Q->R)]->[(P->Q)->R] is equivalent to [TRUE -> FALSE] which is FALSE.

The practice tests from CB break down the questions into various topics. Have you been able to use that for more directed instruction?

Flipping through I found an error on 7-7. Maybe look it over thoroughly first.

I started a 529 when my kid was born. Since that time the value has doubled. But that's probably largely because we are in the middle of one of the longest bull markets in history. Since a 529 is basically a mutual fund that is tax free for educational use, if your portfolio can earn more after tax return per annum then it is suboptimal. Without a lot of luck or sophistication it is not likely that any retail investor will consistently beat the general market return.

FYI the AOPS placement tests are really easy but the program is not. If it's a good fit it will be very solid and worthwhile.

I read this somewhere: "Old sayings are things old people say to make sure that only old people get to say those things." While I'm sure the author means well, his addendum sounds like a cop-out; but maybe my brain needs to develop physiologically before I can understand his line of seasoned reasoning. After many years of watching my kid conceptually understand math he shouldn't be old enough to comprehend, I have a very low tolerance for this stuff.

Of course it's on the west side. Becausing putting it inland would just be too easy :laugh: Seriously though, this is really great! Can't wait to see the schedule.

I showed this to my son and he said "hmm, for some reason 'unreasonably ambitious' sounds suspciously like 'crazy'." :laugh: Although adding another book wouldn't be overload, we've decided I only get to torture him one book at a time. Maybe when he's halfway through Geo I can try again...

My son picks up math pretty quick and he's done their PreA and and wrapping up the Intro A soon. He says he wants more algebra but I want to get some geo in. Would we be crazy to try it? If not, how might we go about it?

Is there a similar set of texts using traditional characters?

We used the Standards Edition because that's what they had. I'm not a big on "teaching to the test" so I'll use anything that I feel teaches the material properly (properly being relative and subjective). As for manipulatives, I wanted to keep everything abstract so we just used anything lying around at the time. The idea is not to get hung up on any one thing representing a given value (i.e., 10 has to be this long or this color or whatever). At 1st and 2nd I made sure that the ideas are imposed on the objects rather than the objects enforce the idea. That way you will know immediately if they don't understand.

CWP is painful at L4 and higher. Lower levels aren't that bad, but still harder than average. They are not a teaching series (it's got maybe 2 examples per section). For more explicit teaching of problem solving strategies the process skills books are fantastic. That said, they are great for what they are designed to do: stretch the student and force them to apply concepts and see solutions as a whole rather than as a series of random steps.

There's a difference between grammatically clear and actually making sense. I think it is reasonable to require that a 5th grade student use complete sentences to describe something to another person. Whether the student can explain the math (or whatever subject) in a clear way has more to do with maturity and practice than understanding. That is, one cannot tell if the student understands or not if they fail to explain orally. My kid can't narrate a proof to save his life but his written ones are quite good.

The online books are tied to your account, so you can use them with as many children as you want. Obviously you will need internet access to read them (no download option), but if you have a portable device it is very convenient. As for tests, why do you feel they are needed (unless for some official record keeping)? As long as you are participating actively in his usage of the book, I think you would have a good idea whether or not he is understanding the material. Generally, AOPS isn't the kind of book he can skate through without understanding the material. FYI, the Pre-Algebra book is somewhat front-loaded, meaning the earlier chapters take a lot longer than the later ones.

A couple of years ago I was looking into KA as independent enrichment for summer. Then I saw this and decided I could not risk it. http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25920011&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Fblogs%2F131%2F%3Fuuid%3D25032

We used the CA Standards edition 1-6; CC Edition wasn't out yet. FYI I feel the SM2 is a seminal level that should be completely mastered for best chance of success at higher levels. It will seem like "not that big a deal" but ask me how I know :D

.

To a large extent this is true. Much in the same way that one can perform lots of arithmetic without understanding any of it.

I have not read the BA 4A explanation. Binary number system is certainly interesting (Aliens with 2 fingers need to count, too!), but is generally not needed. Binary is no different from decimal: It all comes down to place value. The trouble is we spend 10 years using [0,9] but only a couple of weeks using [0,1]. Consider the following: Base 10 (for reference) 42 = (4 * 10^1) + (2 * 10^0), where a^b is taken to mean 'raise a to the power b'. It is further assumed that all powers of 10 larger than 0 have coefficient 0 (that is, 0 * 10^2 + 0 * 10^3 and so on). Base 2 42 = 101010 = (1 * 2^5) + (0 * 2^4) + (1 * 2^3) + (0 * 2^2) + (1 * 2^1) + (0 * 2^0) As with decimal, all powers of 2 larger than 6 are assumed to have coefficient 0. Conversion from Binary to Decimal is a direct application of base-2 place value (as above). Conversion from Decimal to Binary can be conceptualized like this: Divide the number by 2 and keep track of the quotients and remainders separately. The bit (binary digit) is 0 if the dividend is even, and the bit is 1 if the dividend is odd. The thing to remember is the first division you perform results in the lowest valued bit (2^0), and advances to higher value ('to the left') for each subsequent division. This is a departure from decimal division, where the initial operation results in the largest value in the quotient. To convert 42 into binary: 42 / 2 = 21 remainder 0 21 / 2 = 10 remainder 1 10 / 2 = 5 remainder 0 5 / 2 = 2 remainder 1 2 / 2 = 1 remainder 0 1 / 2 = 0 remainder 1 [stop since dividend is 0] 42 decimal = 101010 binary There are other methods but I always liked this one to start.