Slipper Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I would really love to switch over to this curriculum next year for both of our girls. My problem is that I think they are a grade 'young'. My youngest won't be a problem as she is working in 2nd grade math and is very motivated to move to 'comic book math' for next year. I think she will be okay. My 4th grader likes math but is currently in PS. She does as much as she needs to do to maintain an A in the class. After that, she's more interested in finding out where her classmates bought their boots and hair feathers, etc. She will be in PS until the end of this year and then we are pulling her out. Our school system is not very good. Currently they are doing short division. She does know how to do long division but doesn't practice it since they aren't doing it yet. (At the last long division test, the teacher worked through the problems AS they took the test. My daughter had the only A. The teacher shelved long division for now). What are the pre-requisites for Grade 6 AoPS? If the gap is not too huge, and she saw the goal, she would (and could) do it. She's very determined when she puts her mind to things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) There is no "grade 6" per se. AOPS Prealgebra was written to follow 5th grade math (eta, and yes, even that is a fairly big jump in terms of style and maturity level involved). There is a pre-test on the website as far as general math skills go, though in no way does it reflect the level of difficulty/depth of the text. Certainly, at a minimum, you'd want to cover 5th grade math with your student before attempting AoPS Prealgebra (e.g., we like MM for 5th grade). Be sure to check out the AoPS Prealgebra samples. Edited February 19, 2012 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankcassiesmom Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 My son is pretty mathy and from using the samples, would not have been readings after fifth grade math. He is finishing Saxon 7/6 now and still will find AoPS Pre-Algebra challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks for pointing me to the pre-test. I have trouble googling obviously as I hadn't seen them before. :) My daughter hadn't seen some of the material, but she only missed two. She hasn't worked with negative numbers at all and didn't realize that two negatives equal a positive. I'd love some more opinions if anyone has any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thanks for pointing me to the pre-test. I have trouble googling obviously as I hadn't seen them before. :) My daughter hadn't seen some of the material, but she only missed two. She hasn't worked with negative numbers at all and didn't realize that two negatives equal a positive. I'd love some more opinions if anyone has any. If you really want an honest opinion, I would not put a 5th grader that has only completed 4th grade math into AoPS pre-alg. I personally think their pre-tests are deceptively easy compared to the content of their books. I think that AoPS is better for mature/disciplined/self-motivated kids that are approaching the material completely on target content-wise vs. using younger and pushing them "up" to the content. The content w/in the texts stretch students that are completely on par w/the material to begin with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 If you really want an honest opinion, I would not put a 5th grader that has only completed 4th grade math into AoPS pre-alg. I personally think their pre-tests are deceptively easy compared to the content of their books. I think that AoPS is better for mature/disciplined/self-motivated kids that are approaching the material completely on target content-wise vs. using younger and pushing them "up" to the content. The content w/in the texts stretch students that are completely on par w/the material to begin with. Thank you. Yes, I do want honest opinions. While my daughter is very self-motivated (when she has something in mind that she wants), I wouldn't consider her on a 5th grade level at this time. (Part of the reason we are pulling her out is because she relaxes her standards and nobody is pushing her to meet her potential.) I'm tempted to go ahead and order it, to look over the whole thing and then use it as motivation for her to go through 5th grade math. She is very bright, but math is one of those subjects that need a firm foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thank you. Yes, I do want honest opinions. While my daughter is very self-motivated (when she has something in mind that she wants), I wouldn't consider her on a 5th grade level at this time. (Part of the reason we are pulling her out is because she relaxes her standards and nobody is pushing her to meet her potential.) I'm tempted to go ahead and order it, to look over the whole thing and then use it as motivation for her to go through 5th grade math. She is very bright, but math is one of those subjects that need a firm foundation. I wasn't meaning to suggest that she was a 5th grader currently. My reply was based on your pulling her out of school at the end of this school yr which, based on how I read your OP, suggests that she will be a 5th grader and will have finished 4th grade math at the ps. I suggest reading these threads: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340177 http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=342798 plus any of the multiple others on the logic board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 You might wait a year and do AoPS Pre-Algebra later. My DD does AoPS Pre-Algebra, last year she did Saxon Algebra 1/2 and the year before that Saxon 76. So technically, she has already mastered all the material that is covered in a normal pre-algebra course. AoPS goes SOOOO much more in depth and the style is SOOO different from any other curriculum I have seen that it is still COMPLETELY challenging enough. There really is a lot to AoPS, and even just changing the style of math learning can be a challenge, especially if your daughter is also going to be adjusting to homeschooling in general. A better guide than the pretest would be to go to Alcumus - it is part of the online component of the AoPS online course, but anyone can use it for free - http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Alcumus/Introduction.php Set the focus topic to Pre-Algebra and let your daughter try to work some of those. Those problems on Alcumus are MUCH more indicative of the program than that pre-test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Yes, I understood what you meant. :) I didn't explain myself very well I guess. What I meant to say was that if a student needs to have completed 5th grade math before starting it, she should currently be doing math at a 5th grade level (which I don't feel like she is doing). She loves math and is 'mathy' and enjoys tricky problems. But I don't think she's doing 5th grade math. I think she 'could' but she hasn't had any reason to do so. Thanks for the threads, I'll go check them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 You might wait a year and do AoPS Pre-Algebra later. My DD does AoPS Pre-Algebra, last year she did Saxon Algebra 1/2 and the year before that Saxon 76. So technically, she has already mastered all the material that is covered in a normal pre-algebra course. AoPS goes SOOOO much more in depth and the style is SOOO different from any other curriculum I have seen that it is still COMPLETELY challenging enough. There really is a lot to AoPS, and even just changing the style of math learning can be a challenge, especially if your daughter is also going to be adjusting to homeschooling in general. A better guide than the pretest would be to go to Alcumus - it is part of the online component of the AoPS online course, but anyone can use it for free - http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Alcumus/Introduction.php Set the focus topic to Pre-Algebra and let your daughter try to work some of those. Those problems on Alcumus are MUCH more indicative of the program than that pre-test. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll do that. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 What I meant to say was that if a student needs to have completed 5th grade math before starting it, she should currently be doing math at a 5th grade level (which I don't feel like she is doing). She loves math and is 'mathy' and enjoys tricky problems. But I don't think she's doing 5th grade math. I think she 'could' but she hasn't had any reason to do so. When you start homeschooling, you can meet her where she is. AoPS Prealgebra is not going anywhere; it'll still be there if and when she is ready for it. Don't feel tied to choosing one and only one math program for your family - there are lots of good options for 5th (and 6th) grade mathy students :) If you are concerned about challenging her in the meantime, which you may or may not be driving at, there are ways to do that as well. That's also a great question for the accelerated board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 (edited) the prerequisite to AOPS PreA is just like all the other PreA. U need to proficient the four operations. You need to proficient fraction, decimal, ratio, proportional and speed and geometry. It is not a 6th grade curriculum. Many kids made a jump here from SM 5 and did fine based on many posts here. However, SM is ahead of other curriculum in the sense of the difficult level. DS is in 4th grade in his private school. Based on what I see what is taught in his school in terms of math. I will not put a kid finishing 4th grade into PreA, let alone AOPS PreA. If you are looking for a challenge, I will look into Singapore intensive practice/Challenge word problem at her grade level. (many people here use a grade below. 4th grader uses IP/CWP3) you will find those book meet your need ... at least for now... Edited February 19, 2012 by jennynd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 A better option might be Challenge Math by Ed Zaccaro: http://www.amazon.com/Challenge-Elementary-Middle-School-Student/dp/0967991552/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_2 It is a lot of fun for the kid who likes "tricky" problems and would fill any gaps before starting AoPS pre-A. Zaccaro also has a "Real World Algebra" book which may be a nicer intro to Algebra than AoPS. AoPS Pre-A is very rigorous but also very formal textbookish (think: proofs and theorems), even though the method is more exploratory than most texts, it takes a certain discipline/maturity to read and work through compared to the more playful (but also deep) Zaccaro books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I am planning on using AoPS pre-algebra next year. The child in question is a decent math student and will have finished Saxon 8/7 when starting. Based on my oldest's work AoPS Algebra I don't think he could have started it much sooner. I agree with those who have suggested looking at the placement tests and Alcumus. That might be a good indicator as to whether she is ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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