Sweetpeach Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Hello Hivers teaching HSers, My favorite homeschooling theme song goes like this: "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run!" I ran away from math teaching this year because I knew. I just knew. There is nothing I can add to my son's math learning at this point in the game and even thinking about keeping him under my math tutelage was enough to push me into crazy land. We signed him up for AofPS and quite frankly, it's the best decision we've made in our hsing journey, apart from deciding to homeschool. I didn't realize how much he enjoys 'competing' and how thrilled he is when a tough question comes on the board that he can't answer but somebody else can. It motivates him, spurs him on somehow. It's as if he's finally getting to piece together this math puzzle that makes much more sense to him than it ever will to me. I don't have any aspirations/interest of teaching my kids from my 'knowledge bank' until high school nor do I want to pour myself into learning high-school science. I want to give my children a private school education without them having to go to private school or me having to pay for it. We've found our math stream. I'm beyond impressed with AofPS. I wonder about other online learning experiences that would teach chem/physics in a similiar way that AofPS attacks math learning. If we could find online community for highschool science, I would consider allowing the P-Kids to stay home until graduation, if they wanted to do that. Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphispeg Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 You might try to look at some of the MIT on-line science courses. The intro-biology one was very problem-oriented. It isn't a community? But, there is some interaction between students I think. I've used lots of their tests for assignments and assessments, my Dd likes the Problem Solving/Synthesis wrinkle...We do them open-book so, thinking and work are productive. I am using some of their calc. and physics stuff this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm curious about what you mean by AoPS style classes, since my kids have never taken any of their classes. My husband, my brother and I all have PhD's in different science fields, and we've been thinking about trying to set up online science classes. My brother is the only one of us that has a teaching certificate (California). I'm assuming from what you said that you prefer "live" classes, with chat? Jean Hello Hivers teaching HSers,We signed him up for AofPS and quite frankly, it's the best decision we've made in our hsing journey, apart from deciding to homeschool. I didn't realize how much he enjoys 'competing' and how thrilled he is when a tough question comes on the board that he can't answer but somebody else can. It motivates him, spurs him on somehow. It's as if he's finally getting to piece together this math puzzle that makes much more sense to him than it ever will to me. Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I laughed out loud when I read this post because my son is hoping, too, that AoPS or someone else will develop an AoPS style of teaching science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I laughed out loud when I read this post because my son is hoping, too, that AoPS or someone else will develop an AoPS style of teaching science. :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm curious about what you mean by AoPS style classes, since my kids have never taken any of their classes. My husband, my brother and I all have PhD's in different science fields, and we've been thinking about trying to set up online science classes. My brother is the only one of us that has a teaching certificate (California). I'm assuming from what you said that you prefer "live" classes, with chat? Jean Hi Jean, the classes are taught by highly qualified math professionals. What I love the most about AofPS are the boards moderated by MIT math students. As soon as my son bumps up against a question he can't navigate, the board is active, quick responses and leading hints. We've made great use of Khan Academy as a smart supplement. I'm sure somebody who has more experience with AofPS could give you a more detailed explanation of how they roll. From what I can see, the students come together for a virtual classroom but it's not face-to-face -- it's chatting, I guess?!?!?! The students type in their questions or responses and the instructor decides which comments to post for the entire class. My ds loves the Alcumus side of AofPS. It's really smart. Warmly, Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweetpeach Posted October 12, 2011 Author Share Posted October 12, 2011 I laughed out loud when I read this post because my son is hoping, too, that AoPS or someone else will develop an AoPS style of teaching science. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Jean and her gaggle of PhD siblings will put together something great! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanM Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Let's keep our fingers crossed that Jean and her gaggle of PhD siblings will put together something great! :) Thanks for the description. I think my older ds might really enjoy the AoPS. As far as my "gaggle" goes, we're just at the stage of sitting around and saying "wouldn't it be cool if..." Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 This doesn't answer your question, but maybe your student can take the new perspective on problem-solving that he is learning from AoPS and apply it in science. Rusczyk apparently did, at the college level: When I got to Princeton I enrolled in organic chemistry. There were over 200 students in the course, and we quickly separated into two groups. One group understood that all we would be taught could largely be derived from a very small number of basic principles. We loved the class – it was a year long exploration of where these fundamental concepts could take us. The other, much larger, group saw each new destination not as the result of a path from the building blocks, but as yet another place whose coordinates had to be memorized if ever they were to visit again. Almost to a student, the difference between those in the happy group and those in the struggling group was how they learned mathematics. The class seemingly involved no math at all, but those who took a memorization approach to math were doomed to do it again in chemistry. The skills the problem solvers developed in math transferred, and these students flourished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 This doesn't answer your question, but maybe your student can take the new perspective on problem-solving that he is learning from AoPS and apply it in science. Rusczyk apparently did, at the college level: We are seeing this lack of problem-solving mindset in our co-op students, particularly in Chemistry and Physics. The Apologia texts, IMO, do nothing to build problem-solving skills. They typically give the student a sample problem worked out step-by-step to read thru, then give them an "On Your Own" problem to do that is almost like the example, but with different numbers, then a Practice Problem with the same set up but different numbers, and, finally, the same problem with yet again different numbers on the test. And they rarely pull together concepts from different modules into one problem -- that's where the fun comes in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBM Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 AoPS is wonderful because of the unique way they teach math concepts. Students don't have to take the online classes but can self-study using the AoPS texts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphispeg Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I am adjusting our Math and Physics curriculum to do more problem solving. What I like to do in science teaching is to set up a basic scenario at the beginning of a topic and gradually solve more and more complex problems about the situation....maybe asking for conceptual conclusions along the way. The MIT science tests are set up that way and it really is rewarding to dd to have a kind of narrative flow to her problem solving. I like her to generate tables or graphs of the scenarios as they develop so that "what if" questions can be asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'm curious about what you mean by AoPS style classes, since my kids have never taken any of their classes. My husband, my brother and I all have PhD's in different science fields, and we've been thinking about trying to set up online science classes. My brother is the only one of us that has a teaching certificate (California). I'm assuming from what you said that you prefer "live" classes, with chat? Jean The key thing for us is that the class is moderated, which is a big thing for my DD. If they have a wrong answer it just isn't posted, a questions that isn't relevant doesn't interfere and DD isn't distracted by open chat with other students during class. Having the teacher and multiple TA's means that things move really smoothly and individual comments from the instructors can be whispered to students who might need help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 My ds is in his first AoPS online class right now. He is absolutely thrilled and I see a spark in his eye. He is not a naturally competitive kid, but he loves the thrill of getting that answer in there first. I am not a mathy person. I think I might have been if I had been taught correctly. I always wanted to know "why", but was always told "don't worry about why, just follow the formula." It really ticks me off, but it has also made me determined to find something different from the way I was taught. I am so excited to have found AoPS for ds and I am glad you found it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_l_e_0..Q_c Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 My son loved the AOPS chat too, but found it moved too fast in one class. We're taking a break this year but he will be going back. The class really is a lot of fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.