LOF and AOPS together (sort of)

[abba12]

So, when I looked this up I saw comments from a few people who were planning to do it, or had done it for a year, but no one that had done it any longer term. I was wondering if any of those people might give an opinion a little while on. 

 

Doing a bit of forward planning right now for a gifted child. I think AOPS looks great, but could be very overwhelming to actually learn, initially, from. Especially for a gifted child who may be taking the courses younger than usual. But I love how it stretches the concepts far deeper than standard curricula and challenges the student, and that aspect is the primary one I want to gain from it, that depth and challenge.

 

On the other hand, I will have a younger student, and I very much like the approach of LOF which is, obviously, a very different curriculum. It doesn't go as deeply or challenge as much, but it does introduce topics in a gentle and thorough way. I love the way it teaches initially. 

 

I have seen a couple of people who use AOPS a year behind LOF

so, LOF prealg one year,

then AOPS prealg and LOF alg1 the next year,

then the first half of AOPS intro alg (since intro to alg covers alg1 and most of alg2), and LOF alg2

then the second half of AOPS intro alg and LOF Geometry

then AOPS Geometry and LOF Trig

etc)

 

The purpose here being the best of both worlds. LOF introduces the topic, relates the topic to real life, helps the basics stick, and then the next year we take a topic the student is already familiar with, and push it much further than they did the previous year.

 

This would seem to avoid the lack of depth/practice in LOF, and avoid the initial frustration of 'i just dont get this' from AOPS and may help with the lack of maturity of a younger student by giving a 'stepping stone' to AOPS. They'd go into AOPS with a basic understanding and then be challenged and pushed by the way they take the concept further, while continuing to learn the basics of the next topic up from LOF. This seems like a great idea to me!

 

Can anyone who has done it give an opinion on how it has worked for them? Like I said, I saw a few old threads of people doing/planning to do it, but no one who had done it for a prolonged period. 

[Dmmetler]

We do that-DD does LOF independently a year ahead of AOPS, and has since she was 7. So this year is the 2nd half of AOPS Algebra/AOPS C&P and LOF Geometry, etc. I don't do the Zillions practice book with LOF, only the core text (although I think she has the expanded edition that includes the Home Companion for geometry). DD loves Fred, and I think getting the first exposure to the content through Fred does help. There is still enough new in AOPS to get the chance to discover math and prove concepts.

[Julie of KY]

My son did it for a little while and then gave up Fred saying that he just didn't go deep enough - he prefers only AoPS.

[abba12]

We do that-DD does LOF independently a year ahead of AOPS, and has since she was 7. So this year is the 2nd half of AOPS Algebra/AOPS C&P and LOF Geometry, etc. I don't do the Zillions practice book with LOF, only the core text (although I think she has the expanded edition that includes the Home Companion for geometry). DD loves Fred, and I think getting the first exposure to the content through Fred does help. There is still enough new in AOPS to get the chance to discover math and prove concepts.

 

Thanks for the response, that's exactly the outcome I'm hoping for!

 

Also thanks for your point of view Julie, I suppose ultimately the child will let me know what they want.

 

I wonder if age will play some part in this, as I assume you're using it at a standard rate. But, if I take this path it would be with an accelerated student which is part of why I'm looking for the 'stepping stone' while still wanting the depth of AOPS. (I'm not sure if I'd use AOPS with an average student or not)

[8filltheheart]

I have no experience doing it with LOF b/c we aren't LOF fans, but here is how it worked with my kids.  Ds didn't want or need anything other than AoPS (he was older though when we discovered AoPS.  He was an 8th grader.)  I had dd try AoPs for a short time prior to Foersters.  She didn't like the approrach.  Then I had her try AoPS alg 1 again after Foerster's.  She still didn't like AoPS and she also wasn't challenged by AoPS at that point bc she had completed Foersters..  The main thing she learned was how to use LaTex.  So for my kids an either/or approach was the better option, not both.