Kirsten in MO Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Just wondering if any of your kids have taken the online AoPS Introduction to Programming class, and if so, how was it? Does it move quickly? It says 2-3 hours outside of class per week...is that accurate in your experience? If you haven't taken this class, what have you taken online that was doable? Thanks! Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mims Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I hope you get some answers, my son might be interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 :bigear::bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ds took the course and loved it. He thinks he spent about 3 hrs the first couple of weeks, but 4-6 in the later weeks b/c some of the later challenge sets were, well, challenging. He spent a lot of time trying to write his own programs. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choirfarm Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ds took the course and loved it. He thinks he spent about 3 hrs the first couple of weeks, but 4-6 in the later weeks b/c some of the later challenge sets were, well, challenging. He spent a lot of time trying to write his own programs. HTH Would you consider this program enough for a half credit? ( Semester course). I notice it starts in February and ends in June. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ds took the course and loved it. He thinks he spent about 3 hrs the first couple of weeks, but 4-6 in the later weeks b/c some of the later challenge sets were, well, challenging. He spent a lot of time trying to write his own programs. HTH 8FillTheHeart, how old was your son when he took the class? How much math had he had when he took the class? I am looking ahead for my 7th grader, and I am not sure if he would get more out of it if he waited until 9th grade. I don't find the AoPS's "are you ready for this class" pre-test a good gauge of whether or not my own kid is actually ready for a class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persinem Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 my son tried the course and didn't like it (he loves the math classes) so I can attest that AOPS is VERY good at giving you a 2-week (2 class sessions) window to check a class out, and then giving a full refund if it doesn't work out. Dropping the class is a 1-click operation from the class page and the money is refunded swiftly. AOPS offers this money-back-after-2-class-sessions for all its classes and it takes a lot of the guesswork out of what is a fairly significant investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten in MO Posted October 31, 2011 Author Share Posted October 31, 2011 Okay, so we have one "loved it" and one "didn't like it"...that makes it even so far! :001_smile: Persinem: did your son say why he didn't like it? I know my son (and me, for that matter) didn't like the online Spanish with OK state at first, so much so that I was really considering dropping it, but we decided to stick it out and it has gotten much better. I think we just got over the "new skill" hump that can be so frustrating at first. Did the AoPS programming class move too quickly, or were things not explained well? What wasn't working for him? Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Would you consider this program enough for a half credit? ( Semester course). I notice it starts in February and ends in June. Christine I have it listed as .5 credit on his transcript. 8FillTheHeart, how old was your son when he took the class? How much math had he had when he took the class? I am looking ahead for my 7th grader, and I am not sure if he would get more out of it if he waited until 9th grade. I don't find the AoPS's "are you ready for this class" pre-test a good gauge of whether or not my own kid is actually ready for a class. He took it last yr as a 9th grader. I think he actually would have gotten more out of it as an 8th grader b/c he would have had more time to dedicate to it vs. eking out those extra hrs. I don't know if he would have gotten as much out of it in 7th grade, though. With our ds, he went through a huge mental "burst" in 8th grade where his thought processes matured so drastically that there is almost no comparison between how he thought about things in 7th vs. 8th. However, we haven't witnessed anything like that in any of our other older kids, so it may just be a "him thing." Okay, so we have one "loved it" and one "didn't like it"...that makes it even so far! :001_smile: Persinem: did your son say why he didn't like it? I know my son (and me, for that matter) didn't like the online Spanish with OK state at first, so much so that I was really considering dropping it, but we decided to stick it out and it has gotten much better. I think we just got over the "new skill" hump that can be so frustrating at first. Did the AoPS programming class move too quickly, or were things not explained well? What wasn't working for him? Kirsten I can't answer that question, but my ds asked me to share that he thought the teacher was fabulous. I do wonder if Persinem ds's was in the very first class offered (our ds was.) I wonder b/c the first couple of weeks the class was not very AoPs-ish and I was actually rather disappointed in it. However, once the class got in full swing, it made up for the slow beginning and it ended up being typical AoPS quality. (However, that may simply be its pattern or it may be for completely other reasons!! Also, our ds had NO programming experience going into the class. I'm not sure it how it would match up for kids who actually know about programming.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persinem Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 <<Persinem: did your son say why he didn't like it? >> He had done a little programming with his dad and just wanted a little more freedom to explore than the course offered--he wanted to keep programming at a fun level rather than a course at this stage. I think the course itself is a good one, from what I saw, just not what he wanted for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsten in MO Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 Great info! Thanks for taking the time to explain what worked for you and what didn't. Every kid is different, so there is never "one size fits all" when it comes to learning. I was thinking of this class for my 9th and 11th graders who have no experience at all in programming, so they wouldn't have anything to compare it to. I liked that it is something that is still available to do in the spring, and wouldn't take up the entire school year. And, if it turns out to be something they really enjoy, maybe I could find a class for them to do over the summer that would build on the AoPS class. Thanks again for the responses! Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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