Help Me Think Through This Regarding Transition to AoPS Pre-A

[Crimson Wife]

Because of everything that has been going on with my youngest child, I've been needing DS to be more independent in his math work. So he's been doing the Math Mammoth blue Fractions 2 worktext. He's almost done with that so next I'm going to have him work through the MM Percents worktext since we have that on hand. I was looking through SM 5 yesterday and realized that between those two MM worktexts, he'll have covered almost everything new in SM 5A/B. Pretty much the only other new topic is ratio. I bought the MM Ratios/Proportions worktext to cover that.

 

I also went ahead and ordered AoPS Pre-Algebra. DS is far more "mathy" than his big sister and he loved BA 3. I debated between getting BA 4A-C vs. the pre-algebra but decided on the latter since I will for sure want it at some point. I figured we can always drop back to BA 4 if the pre-a book proves to be too much for DS.

 

Aside from percents & ratios, are there any other topics that I should make sure to cover with DS before starting AoPS pre-a?

[go_go_gadget]

From what you've described, he should be all set. If he does hit a wall, you can always put the Pre-A on hold on use Khan or whatever to get some practice. And like you said, you can always drop back to BA 4.

[ErinE]

Other than the adjustment to the new learning style, understanding the relationship between ratios, fractions, percentages, and decimals was an area that required more practice for my DS.

 

Be prepared that, in the beginning, he may not be as independent with math as you expect. We did buddy math for the first three chapters and I made myself readily available for the first five chapters. I had to provide explanations and help him work through problems for several weeks before he was able to work alone.

 

ETA: Another adjustment may be the requirement to show all work and steps. My DS was used to simply writing the answer down. To prepare for algebra, I required him to write down all his work in a standard format. The greater writing expectation was a bit of a challenge for him, but has served him well in AoPS algebra.

[wapiti]

Negative numbers (four operations) are a prerequisite.  If he hasn't already had that, it shouldn't be hard to teach it quickly.

 

How independent will you need him to be going forward?  He's 9?  If you can be around, like at least in the same room somewhat keeping tabs as he works through the lesson problems, that might be very helpful.  I'd definitely want to be present during the lesson problems when he's first starting out with the book to see how it goes.

[Arcadia]

He may need to go slower on the exponents chapter or he may just breeze through. The book is really self teaching and suitable for independent work.

[Crimson Wife]

I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will have gotten back to (relative) normal by the time he finishes the two MM worktexts. Percents has around 50 pages and Ratios/Proportions has around 90. I mostly need something that he can work on in waiting rooms while I'm dealing with all of DD2's medical appointments and related red tape. Once DD2 has seen all the various specialists and gotten her hearing aids funded and dispensed, our schedule should lighten up.

[texasmama]

Negative numbers was the only topic not covered in SM 5A/B (US Edition) so I covered them with my boys the summer prior to beginning AoPS pre-A.

[EndOfOrdinary]

The exponents chapter was a brain melter here. The initial problems were okay since DS had previous exposure. When he hit the harder exercises he flipped out a little. That was the only chapter that required a cycling back through. If the initial concept is there, you have worked on it, but things are still a bit fuzzy just move on. We found many of the glimmering fuzzy bits firm up very quickly when the next chapter or subset approaches them from a different angle. Trouble only hits when there is no understanding at all.

 

Initially, I also sat with DS and nudged him forward on the beginning problems, then turned him loose on the exercises. Once he got the vibe of the book, he was all good. Confidence was a big part of it; math is his least confident subject. You might want to see if you just sitting there with little bits of umph every once in a while might get the ball rolling if your son has initial hesitation.

 

Lastly, the first chapter is going over the basic operations. Only, it does so in a very high level, out of the box sort of way. Ds went into the chapter thinking he was all that and a bag of chips! He could do all this! Only to quickly freak out when it was not as easy as he thought. It set him up for larger hesitation and self doubt later.

[Momof3littles]

I will echo others that for us it was not self-teaching initially and required more buddy work and parent support.  We are now moving to it being more independent.  Before starting, DS had covered SM 5 A and B, SM 5 word problems, LoF prealgebra with biology (as a supplement), LoF Fractions, Decimals and Percents.

 

My DS just turned 11, and even at his age, the format, need to show work more clearly, etc. required an adjustment period.  It is going much better now.  Exponents took forever as several PPs said. 

[texasmama]

Exponents melted our brains here, as well.

[Julie of KY]

The hardest parts at the beginning are negative numbers, exponents, and order of operations. The first several chapters are often a rough transition, but after that it all levels out.