For your young, mathy kids, what math do you do from level 6 on?

[DesertBlossom]

This may be a bit premature, but I'm a planner. :)   

 

DS is almost 9. He's working on MM5A right now. He did BA4A at the end of last year and I have BA4B that I may have him do before he starts MM5B.  He's a bright kid and catches on quickly. He prefers to work as independently as he can.  Right now he does about half the problems in any given MM lesson because he just doesn't need more than that. I'm always surprised at how fast he gets things and that he can do multi-step word problems completely in his head. (We're working on him writing more stuff down) He's also highly allergic to anything that looks like review. ;)

 

What comes after MM5A & B?  Is MM6 enough new material or is it mostly review?  I love BA, though it's a bit pricey for me. I have younger kids so I can at least reuse the guides for them, but I don't think the rest of the levels are going to come out fast enough for DS.  I'm not sure if I want to get BA4C & D, but am open to that if it's worth it.

 

I've heard of a lot of the math programs, but don't know much about them beyond their names.  What programs (and it what order) have you used with your younger, mathy (and independentish) kids once they are beyond 5th grade work?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

My self-directed learner older started AoPS prealgebra by himself at around 7.5 years old. He taught himself most things since he was very young and prefer me helping when ask then to teach him. He went on to finish intro to algebra and is now doing a combo of algebra, geometry and combinatorics. He is very intense and independent. He finish SM6 standards before that.

 

My younger is a daydreamer. He doesn't need me to teach but needs me to remind him to get back on task for anything.

[EndOfOrdinary]

We started PreAlgebra work at 7 using an old public school text.  At 8 DS started AoPS PreA.  In retrospect, this was not helpful.  Since he had the simpler curriculum first, he felt like it should all come easily.  He had quite a significant meltdown with AoPS.  I should have started the AoPS at 7 and just gone slower.

 

Now he is cruising with math and we are just keeping the AoPS going.  By junior year we are going to need something else as he will have completed Calculus through the AP level.  Up until then, we are just plugging away at AoPS.

[kiwi mum]

We switched to Life of Fred from fractions on when DS was age 7. That was the lowest level available at the time. After working right through the Fred high school series we discovered AOPS and have done Intro to Algebra and Number Theory so far. DS would not have had the patience/stamina for these at a young age but is loving them now.

[Gil]

You should contact Maria Miller and ask her what she thinks about continuing on to MM6 and/or MM7 in your particular case. I'm sure that she'll have interesting feedback and it might provide some extra keen insight that no one else has since she actually authored the program. What you do next should depend largely on your plans for your kids. I'm looking to expose my boys to a variety of math by the time they reach their HS graduation. I am also tentatively interested in Early College for my guys, though those plans are a lot more vague. I don't have anything against Direct Instruction, nor do I carry a special flame in my heart for using "the most rigorous" of curriculum and I'm not looking to slow my sons down. I'm looking to keep them engaged in math for as long as possible and enable them to pursue any STEM degree they may want when they are ready. If they express an interest in AoPS down the road, we'll reevaluate, but right now, they don't like it and its not something that I'm hankering to use anyway.

 

My boys are in 1st and 2nd grade at the local PS, so we have plenty of time to fill before they graduate. I'm trying to figure out a rough guide for the next few years and what I've got so far is a very, very rough guide but here's what I'm sort of thinking right now.

Note 1: (I reserve the right to change my mind)

Note 2: (Life reserves the right to ruin my plans, no matter how tentative).

 

We intend to go back to homeschooling in Jan. of 2015, our focus for next year isn't going to be math, so it will be a lesser priority on my schedule for 2015.

08yo - 2015: Rehash arithmetic via "Hard Math for Elem./Mid." + Ed Zacarros 5 Math Books + Algebra 1 (emphasis on word problems)

09yo - 2016: Unified Modern Mathematics Course 1 + Algebra 2 (emphasis on word problems and theory)

10yo - 2017: Unified Modern Mathematics Course 2 + PreCalculus (emphasis on word problems and theory)
11yo - 2018: Unified Modern Mathematics Course 3 + Single Variable Calculus

12yo - 2019  1/2 of IB Math HL from a textbook and a tutor + Differential Equations
13yo - 2020  1/2 of IB Math HL from a textbook and a tutor + Multivariate Calculus

14yo - 2021  ??? Early College??? AoPS???? SomethingElseEntirely????

 

Also, please note that I have very little idea how the whole early college thing will work out. I'm not sure when we'll take various tests such as the SAT/ACT--I haven't even looked into it yet, but I want them to start taking those type of tests as early as possible so that they can have the practice of taking the tests. I also am undecided whether I want them to take exams for AB and/or BC Calculus before enrolling in college or after or how that works out. I'll do more investigating as we get closer to that.

[Gil]

Sorry to side bar, but I have to ask.

We switched to Life of Fred from fractions on when DS was age 7. That was the lowest level available at the time. After working right through the Fred high school series we discovered AOPS and have done Intro to Algebra and Number Theory so far. DS would not have had the patience/stamina for these at a young age but is loving them now.

How far in LOF did your son go? How does your son find the AoPS books since he's been through Life of Fred books? (ie already learned/been exposed to the material?) I've seen the AoPS books and there is stuff in their that stomped me, so I'm confident that even after having seen/been through a typical HS math sequence, the boys can learn more from AoPS if they are so inclined, but I'd love to hear from someone whose kid(s) used AoPS as a 2nd go-round for AoPS.

[MEmama]

Your son sounds like mine! :).

 

I did have DS go through MM6 (old version), but in retrospect he could have just skipped it. It was mostly review and thus pretty boring for him. Jousting Armadillos, I think, would have been a lot more fun, or just moving on to algebra. The one benefit to a dull year was that he was able to really focus on not making so many "clerical errors"--simple mistakes or miscomputations. I think that was mainly due to maturity and has mostly worked itself out.

 

He didn't have any problem going straight from MM6 to algebra and despite my pleas, he still does most of the questions in his head. :) I highly recommend Jacobs Elementary Algebra for younger students. He's getting a huge kick out of it.

[kiwi mum]

Sorry to side bar, but I have to ask.

How far in LOF did your son go? How does your son find the AoPS books since he's been through Life of Fred books? (ie already learned/been exposed to the material?) I've seen the AoPS books and there is stuff in their that stomped me, so I'm confident that even after having seen/been through a typical HS math sequence, the boys can learn more from AoPS if they are so inclined, but I'd love to hear from someone whose kid(s) used AoPS as a 2nd go-round for AoPS.

 

We were solidly into Trig about the time he turned 12, with no problems up until then. But we hit a huge wall with "puberty brain". DS has Aspergers, ADD and lots of sensory issues and we had been warned that the brain rewiring of puberty would make all of these things worse for a while. So we went sideways at that point. We did Chemistry and Physics instead of math for a year and then delved into Number Theory.

 

By this September we were starting to see an improvement with puberty brain (he turns 14 this week) so we decided to try Intro to Algebra. He has got though the first five chapters in eight weeks (we never do more than an hour a day). He has the maturity now to enjoy the challenge and stick at the harder problems. He prefers the challenge problems to the easier ones because he still makes silly mistakes on the easy ones.

 

Because it has been nearly six years since he first started Algebra, a lot of the stuff feels new again even though he has seen it before. And yes, there is plenty in there that he hasn't seen before. I breezed through Calc and Stats in High School, but there is plenty that I am learning from AOPS Intro Algebra.

 

I kind of wish we had found AOPS earlier, but I think that for this particular kid our current route is a good one. He won't be ready (emotionally) to go off to College before 18 but I should be able to keep him going with AOPS until then.

[Momof3littles]

In 4th we added in some Life of Fred along with Singapore 4 and 5.  Fractions, Decimals, and percents, Physics, and Pre Algebra with Bio.  I'm not the biggest fan of Fred, but DS likes having a different format to work through than Singapore and will mostly self teach from Fred with just support from me.  We dabbled a little in Jacob's and AOPS, but I decided to wait a little longer.  In 5th, he's doing AOPS pre algebra and it is going well.

[Dmmetler]

We did LOF with Key to Algebra at age 7-8, and started AOPS PA at age 8. I think that was a good path for my DD, because while she is advanced at math, she definitely wasn't in things like being able to copy problems over to a notebook correctly and being able to organize her work, and LOF was a lot gentler than AOPS in that regard.

 

 

[wapiti]

I love AoPS Prealgebra, though the younger the kid, the more difficult the fit, perhaps, a very individual thing.  After MM5 and parts of MM6, my ds started AoPS Prealgebra in 4th grade, around 9.5 y.o.  It would not have worked for him at a younger age; as it was, he had to take a few breaks though he ended up finishing it that school year.  My dd and other ds did AoPS Prealgebra in 5th gr, so 10-11 y.o. - challenging but doable - I felt they were quite nicely stretched.

 

Even for a kid who covered the topics at an earlier age but with something not as deep, the problem solving on these topics is worth going back to later on, once the student is ready (even if that isn't until middle school; there are other ways to do this too, e.g. Alcumus, MOEMS and MathCounts problems, Intro to C&P, etc.).  It is worth taking one's time with AoPS and/or problem solving generally, even moreso for a younger student who has plenty of time - patience, for both student and parent :).  Someplace there are whole threads on the topic of AoPS and younger kids.

 

I like Jacobs Elementary Algebra a lot for a young student.

 

I like BA though I have only used tiny bits of it here and there with one of my other kids (I tend to prefer the workbooks alone; I kinda wish I hadn't bought the guides).

[MamaSprout]

We finished Singapore 5b and moved into MM6/7 and are adding in a combo for CTC Geometry and Real World Algebra. My dd doesn't want to do AoPS PreA, although she likes the videos and Alcumus.

 

We have used Alcumus and some Dolciani PreAlgebra. I would not suggest skipping sixth/(seventh) grade MM all together, but maybe test through, compact and only use it 2-3 days a week along side something challenging, especially if you plan to go into AoPS.

 

After we finish MM, we will probably move to AoPS Intro to Number theory, finish Zaccaro and CTC Geo, then decide Algebra, which will be either Forester's or AoPS. At our current pace, dd will probably be around 10.