redsquirrel Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I don't believe I just did that. We have never done any online or outsourced classes before. If anyone here has done this can you tell me what it is like? How do the assignments work? My son is worried he will be sleepy during class time. It starts at 7:30. He is usually in his bedroom by then. This is a big step for us! It is either going to be great or a very expensive learning experience. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Is it the Pre-Algebra class? I think there were a few people whose kids took the class last year. Dd12 took the Mathcounts/AMC8 class this summer. She liked it but I don't know if she'd want to take a "real" online math class just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 yes, pre-A. This is such a new thing for us. I just significantly increased how much we spend on school, lol. I am worried because he is going to be taking this class with VERY strong math kids. He's a bright kid, but he knows AoPS is going to stretch him. He asked for it, not the online class, but the book. He wanted to feel like he was really learning and growing. I hope it's an ok experience for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I don't believe I just did that. We have never done any online or outsourced classes before. If anyone here has done this can you tell me what it is like? How do the assignments work? My son is worried he will be sleepy during class time. It starts at 7:30. He is usually in his bedroom by then. This is a big step for us! It is either going to be great or a very expensive learning experience. Deep breaths, deep breaths. That's the age when my daughter started AoPS online classes. We're huge AoPS fans here.:) Class time is a mix of lecture and (mostly) problem-solving. If it's a good fit for him, he'll be too busy and engaged to notice the late hour. And if he can't make it to class on any given night, he can read the entire class transcript later at his convenience. We've had some AoPS classes that conflicted with my kids' other activities, and that proved to be a workable solution at times. I never had a child take their pre-algebra (my kids pre-dated the introductory courses), but my daughter occasionally TA's that course. She says it's fun to watch the excitement of the young kids. It was a great experience for my two kids to be in a class where the peer group challenged them. No, they couldn't be the 'best' in an AoPS class. That's OK. The focus shifted to learning instead of getting every math problem 100% correct. The atmosphere is definitely friendly and encouraging. He will have plenty of opportunities to answer questions during class time. It's OK to take risks and get them wrong, since the teacher will only display a subset of correct answers for each question. Wrong answers aren't posted. And he can ask for help if he gets stuck at any time during class, and the TA will answer privately (not on the class board where everyone can see). I know that the AoPS homework system has changed recently, and I'm not up to date with how the assignments work. But my daughter says that it will be explained once class starts. If it doesn't prove to be a good fit for any reason, AoPS will refund your tuition in full up till the beginning of the third class, so you're really not risking anything. Hope he has fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I hope he enjoys it. Please post back and let us know how it goes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 I hope he enjoys it. Please post back and let us know how it goes! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 My DD loves the format of the AoPS classes. She loves that only correct answers are displayed, she will race to see how high her answer is on the list of kids answering. She loves that she can ask questions without sounding stupid (her words) and the TA's will work through whatever she doesn't understand. In Prealgebra she always did all the chapter examples, videos, and textbook assignments completely (not just reading them) before class so she was always well prepared and could participate. She had much more enthusiasm when she understood and the online portion was more of a review of what she was supposed to have learned. When discussing the class with RR, it was reinforced that kids get out of the classes what they put in to them, so my DD always did all the work, not just the online problems, and alcumus, but all the book problems as well. I didn't realize that other students weren't doing the same until after class was over but I wouldn't change it, AoPS was her only math class at the time. DD certainly earned her grades in AoPS Prealgebra, it was a wonderful experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 In Prealgebra she always did all the chapter examples, videos, and textbook assignments completely (not just reading them) before class so she was always well prepared and could participate. She had much more enthusiasm when she understood and the online portion was more of a review of what she was supposed to have learned. In my opinion, this is the best approach to take in order to get the most out of the class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 Well, you see, that is something I didn't know. I figured that the class was teaching the section of the book and then assigning the problems in the book to be done during the week. Shows what I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Well, you see, that is something I didn't know. I figured that the class was teaching the section of the book and then assigning the problems in the book to be done during the week. Shows what I know. AoPS's approach is not one of teaching a concept and then having students do similar problems. AoPS guides students to discover the process. Even in the class, the teacher will ask questions that lead toward the concept vs. direct teaching and students repeating what is taught. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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