Would it be worth it to supplement with AOPS Pre-Algebra?

[Mom0012]

My son is using CLE. He is doing very well with it and scores very high on his standardized tests. He gets at least a 90% on all of his Lightunit tests. 99% of the errors he makes on his daily work are glitchy calculation errors, so he seems to have a good understanding of what he's doing. He is definitely not what I would call mathy, though. I say this because he does not make connections easily on his own and needs lots of practice and repetition to reach mastery.

 

I was wondering if supplementing with AOPS Pre-Algebra would benefit him at this point? He's going into 7th grade and I'm looking for material to really get him thinking and working on problem solving in all subjects. He's finishing CLE 6 and honestly, I think he knows most of the material in the AOPS pre-algebra book, but would it still be worthwhile to go through? He has a very full day, so I really need to pick and choose what I add to his schedule.

 

Lisa

Edited April 26, 2012 by LisaTheresa

[jennynd]

try the post test in AOPS prealgebra. the post test is pretty representative of the book

[Mom0012]

try the post test in AOPS prealgebra. the post test is pretty representative of the book

 

I did take a look at the post test and the only thing that stood out as new material was the section on linear equations. However, I know AOPS approaches things very differently, so I thought maybe my son might still benefit from problem solving aspect of this program?

 

Thanks!

Lisa

[wapiti]

FWIW, the post-test on the book page doesn't include everything. See the post-test following the classes - Prealg 1 (which is similar to the post-test for the book) and, more importantly, Prealg 2. Also pay close attention to the problem-solving questions.

 

Check the TOC for what is covered, though that's not an indication of depth. For that, see the excerpts.

 

It may be possible to go through chapter reviews if there are any that truly have no new material. It's possible that, for the most part, what may be familiar to your student is the first section or two of a chapter, with the remaining sections taking the topic deeper. Also, fwiw, it seems to me that understanding linear equations forms the basis for a lot of the rest of the book.

 

What is his math program for next year? If it's CLE 7, perhaps it might be more efficient to do AoPS Prealgebra instead rather than CLE 7 plus supplementing with AoPS.

[Matryoshka]

If you were going to supplement with something AoPS, I'd try Alcumus first. I started supplementing with Alcumus and dd liked it so much she asked to stop using Singapore and now she's doing the Prealgebra online class.

[Mom0012]

FWIW, the post-test on the book page doesn't include everything. See the post-test following the classes - Prealg 1 (which is similar to the post-test for the book) and, more importantly, Prealg 2. Also pay close attention to the problem-solving questions.

 

Check the TOC for what is covered, though that's not an indication of depth. For that, see the excerpts.

 

It may be possible to go through chapter reviews if there are any that truly have no new material. It's possible that, for the most part, what may be familiar to your student is the first section or two of a chapter, with the remaining sections taking the topic deeper. Also, fwiw, it seems to me that understanding linear equations forms the basis for a lot of the rest of the book.

 

What is his math program for next year? If it's CLE 7, perhaps it might be more efficient to do AoPS Prealgebra instead rather than CLE 7 plus supplementing with AoPS.

 

I will follow your links for the post tests. I just looked at the one on the website. I also looked at the TOC and it seemed that most of the topics had been covered by CLE. I bought Beast Academy for my daughter, so from that experience, I am imagining they are covered very differently. That's why I have been considering supplementing with AOPS.

 

I can't see him just using AOPS. I've been doing a little searching on the boards tonight and it doesn't sound like there is much repetition or review and we need that. I was just hoping to challenge my son in a different way, I guess.

 

Thanks!

Lisa

 

ETA: I went back and looked at the post test and other than the linear equations and finding the square roots of fractions, I can see he would also have trouble with some of the problem solving on page 3 of the test. The first time I looked at it, I read the word problems on page 2 and none of them seemed like they would be overly challenging for him, so I didn't read all the ones on page 3. That's what I'm really looking for.

Edited April 26, 2012 by LisaTheresa

[Mom0012]

If you were going to supplement with something AoPS, I'd try Alcumus first. I started supplementing with Alcumus and dd liked it so much she asked to stop using Singapore and now she's doing the Prealgebra online class.

 

Thank you. I will take a look at that.

 

Lisa

 

ETA: Wow! This looks great and it's free. I will definitely have to try this out first and see if he is able to work through it or if he just finds it frustrating.

Edited April 26, 2012 by LisaTheresa

[Matryoshka]

ETA: Wow! This looks great and it's free. I will definitely have to try this out first and see if he is able to work through it or if he just finds it frustrating.

 

The default is for it to give you random problems (or at least it was when we started). If you look over on the right, you have options you can click on - I think the one you want is Focus Topic - and anyway somewhere in there you can tell it to follow a book (like Prelagebra) so it gives problems in a logical order. It still throws some toughies at you from time to time, but that's much more manageable and focuses more on skill-building.

[Mom0012]

The default is for it to give you random problems (or at least it was when we started). If you look over on the right, you have options you can click on - I think the one you want is Focus Topic - and anyway somewhere in there you can tell it to follow a book (like Prelagebra) so it gives problems in a logical order. It still throws some toughies at you from time to time, but that's much more manageable and focuses more on skill-building.

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. I've applied for an account and I'm just waiting for AOPS to set it up for me.

 

Lisa

[Matryoshka]

Thanks, that's very helpful. I've applied for an account and I'm just waiting for AOPS to set it up for me.

 

FYI, if you entered under your kid's name/email and he's under 13, they send the confirmation stuff to the kid's email (even if you also entered yours). The confirmation sat in my dd's email box for a week or so (because she never checks it) before I realized it was there. I was wondering what was taking so long!

[Trilliums]

He could also watch some of the videos:

 

http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Videos/index.php?type=prealgebra

 

These have helped my son greatly in reviewing concepts for the algebra program. DS also uses Khan academy.

[Mom0012]

He could also watch some of the videos:

 

http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Videos/index.php?type=prealgebra

 

These have helped my son greatly in reviewing concepts for the algebra program. DS also uses Khan academy.

 

Thank you! I will take a look at those as well.

 

Lisa