AoPs planning

[visitor]

Dear all, how did you plan Aops during highschool ? Could you finish all the books. And what is a normal planning. Did you finish every year one book? Can I find out somewhere a planning for the complete curriculum . My DS is very good with Math and is flying through SM . We are planning to buy Beast Academy . But I wanted to know how to plan AOPS in advance . Thanks, visitor

[visitor]

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[Julie of KY]

It is very difficult to "plan" AoPS. It is hard to know how fast a student will progress through the books, it they want to do multiple books at the same time, if they need to slow down and review, etc.

 

I aim to do one section (teaching and exercises) per day and then spend several days on the end of chapter reviews. Some of my kids will start working on a chapter in another book while finishing the chapter review. Some people go faster, others slower.

 

I would start with Prealgebra when you get there. After Prealgebra you can move on to Algebra or any of the other Introduction books. My first son did all four of the introduction books at the same time, just rotating one chapter at a time.

[visitor]

Thanks can I ask you how long did it take for your son to finish all the introduction books?

[Luckymama]

Not Julie but an AoPS veteran :)

 

Beginning in the fall of sixth grade and finishing this past May, my dd did

 

Pre-algebra

Intro to Algebra

Intro to Number Theory

Intro to Counting and Probability

Geometry

Intermediate Algebra

Pre-calculus

 

She took two as online classes---Geometry (which ran March-Sept that time) and Intro to Number Theory (summer). She interrupted Algebra at ch 12 or 13 for Geometry, then returned to it while also studying C&P a few times a week. Other than that, she was a one-book-at-a-time girl :)

[wapiti]

My two cents for a student starting the AoPS texts with Prealgebra around, say, 6th grade:  Intro to Algebra may take longer than one school year as it includes a bit of what is more traditionally Algebra 2 plus the extra depth that is typical for AoPS.  That text in particular makes it difficult, if not impossible, to really plan; for example, some kids may spend closer to two school years with Intro to Alg, or a school year plus a summer or two, or even two full calendar years.  OTOH, Intro to Alg online courses A and B will fit into one school year, but they involve a relatively large daily time commitment and a fast pace.

 

IME, Prealgebra and Intro to Geometry each can fit into a school year for a middle-school-age student.  Intro to Number Theory and Intro to Counting and Probability are about one semester each but note that they are completely optional, not part of the standard high school sequence.  I don't know how much time Intermediate Alg, Precalc and Calc would each take.

 

Every student is different.  However, generally, the younger the student, the longer each text may take.  How long each text takes also depends on how much time per day the student is able to devote, how many end-of-chapter challenge problems are assigned and how much Alcumus is included.

 

For accelerated students, there is plenty of time for all that AoPS has to offer over ordinary high school texts.  It is not possible to plan all the way from early elementary through high school for a gifted student; as annoying as that may feel from a parent perspective, such a very-long-range plan really is not necessary.  Also note that even among gifted math students, it's tough (and therefore rare) to start the Prealgebra text before, say, 4th/5th due to the level of depth involved.