TheAttachedMama Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 If you had a child who was able to complete AoPS calc by the end of 12th grade, can you tell me what your math path for middle school and high school? Which books could a child realistically finish if they started pre-algebra in 6th grade? Which specific books should we prioritize over his last 6 years of homeschooling? Which books have you found take longer than a typical school year to complete? FWIW--- My son really likes math. He tests well, but I would not say he was gifted or anything. He is doing Singapore now with a bit of Beast thrown in for fun. Knowing that---How does this plan look? Or should I try to make time for some of the other books I have skipped? 12th-Calculus 11th-Pre-Calculus 10th-Intro to Counting & Probability 9th-Geometry 8th-Algebra, 7th-Introduction to Algebra 6th-Pre Algebra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 (edited) yes. I did not withdraw DD from public school until 6th grade, so her math education was accordingly mediocre until then. DD did: 7th AoPS Intro to Algebra - entire book she skipped 8th grade 9th AoPS Intro to Geometry and Intermediate Algebra * 10th AoPS Precalculus 11th AoPS Calculus 12 multivariable calc * Geo and Intermediate each is a full year; she doubled up and worked through summer. We eliminated certain topics from Intermediate and Precalc because of our specific math goals. DS: 6th+7th: intro to Algebra + Intro to Counting&Probability 8th finish Intro to Algebra + start geometry 9th finish geometry 10th Intermediale Alg 11th Precalc 12th calc Comments on your sequence: 7th-Introduction to Algebra - this is a LOOOONG textbook. Be prepared not to finish in one school year. My DS needed two years. 8th-Algebra - do you mean Intermediate? Again, be prepared to let Intro take longer than one school year. 10th-Intro to Counting & Probability - this is a one semester course and covers material not typically part of the high school sequence. By far THE most important math topic is algebra1. Make sure your student is absolutely rock solid, not matter how long that takes! Edited March 19, 2016 by regentrude 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 We are not done with AoPS. I just wanted to pop in and say that you do not NEED to do the PreA book. It would be much more important to do two full years with Intro to Algebra than to do the PreA. We did PreA so that Ds could emotionally prepare himself for struggling through a math curriculum. Ther is a bit of overlap between PreA and Intro to Algebra. Mainly PreA takes much more time explaining and exploring the topics wher Algebra just sort of presents and moves on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Have you seen the recommend sequence of texts on the AoPS site? Intermediate Algebra has some alg 2 topics and lots of advanced algebra (usually covered in precalculus). The Precalc text has the remaining topics (trig, complex) usually covered in precalc, plus a hefty intro to vectors and matrices. I'd advise finishing the intro texts (Alg, Geom, Counting & Prob) before tackling Intermediate Alg. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted March 20, 2016 Author Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thank you to both of you for replying. I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that many people spread the Introduction to Algebra book over two years. Is that correct or typical? Or is it reasonable to assume a typical student could complete the book in one year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thank you to both of you for replying. I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that many people spread the Introduction to Algebra book over two years. Is that correct or typical? Or is it reasonable to assume a typical student could complete the book in one year? Oh, did I misunderstand? So you mean two years of Intro Alg, not Intro Alg in 7th followed by Intermediate Alg in 8th? Yes, some kids will need more than a year to complete Intro Alg, but that's difficult to know in advance. What you could do if needed is to finish up the Intro book in 8th, and then use any leftover time to do Intro to Counting & Prob and/or Intro to Number Theory for the remainder of the year (they each take about one semester). Continue with Geometry in 9th, Intermediate Alg in 10th, Precalc in 11th, and Calculus in 12th. That's a rough sketch, but my best advice would be to keep it flexible! :) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 The typical AoPS student is either (1) a public- or private-schooled student who has already taken their school's version of the class and is repeating the material through the AoPS online class to go much deeper or (2) an advanced student who enjoys challenge and is working through the books independently or with a parent/tutor. My dd is a strong math student like regentrude's. She began homeschooling in fifth grade during which we futzed around with a bunch of resources. The prealgebra book was published the summer between fifth and sixth. Intro to Algebra takes a LOT of time to do properly. 6th: prealgebra Sept-Feb, intro to algebra March-early June 7th: continued w intro to algebra Sept-March, did Number Theory concurrently, online geometry class March-Sept 8th: intermediate algebra once geometry finished, Counting & Probability in summer 9th: precalculus 10th: calculus She's graduating early, with next year becoming 12th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I think the trend you are seeing in the responses is that there is no right way for every student. What is right for your student is the right pace. My kids have a completely different scenario than the ones described. My ds took his first AoPS class in 8th grade, counting and probability. He took it simultaneously with Foerster's alg 2. He finished both early in the yr and signed up for their online intermediate alg class. He was hooked. He loved that class. He took AoPS pre-cal in 9th and cal in 10th. He was sad that his AoPS options were over. My current 11th grader took AoPS alg online in 7th. She took it after having completed MUS's alg in 6th and Foerster's in 7th. (Those 2 books are the ones all of my kids have used. She finished Foerster's somewhere around Feb or March.) The AoPS class was something like 12-16 weeks. (I don't remember anymore.) She is not an AoPS fan and didn't think she learned any more from it than Foerster's. I think taking if after Foerster's was overkill and I ruined any interest in AoPS that might have been sparked. :( We went back to Foerster's for alg 2. I wouldn't set a fixed path forward at this point. I would leave options open. My dd is an incredibly strong math student (who really dislikes math. ;) ). My oldest was also a really strong math student who is now an engineer. He used Foerster's. AoPS might or might not be the best approach for your child. It really takes using the texts to decide. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that many people spread the Introduction to Algebra book over two years. Is that correct or typical? Or is it reasonable to assume a typical student could complete the book in one year? I do not know whether one can make a statement about a "typical" student - so much depends on the age, maturity, and interest level. My DD could - she is highly ambitious, very mature, and worked through the summer. My DS could absolutely not - he was 12 years old when he started and did not have the stamina for long math sessions. Some posters here have extremely advanced children who completed the book in less than a year while in the middle grades, but that is definitely not typical. The book is the longest in the series and contains a lot more material than a typical algebra 1 course. Stretching it over two years is sensible for many students. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that many people spread the Introduction to Algebra book over two years. Is that correct or typical? Or is it reasonable to assume a typical student could complete the book in one year? If you plan for 7th and 8th, that is approximately 12 & 13 years old. Budget time for increased sleep needed during growth spurts. My 11 year old is still asleep right now at 10am. I would assume nothing. Even a strong math child might want to go at normal pace to pursue other interests. I would not bother planning the whole sequence right now. Is there a need to? If you are going for AoPS all the way, then do intro to C&P before SAT/PSAT or take a test prep book and do Prob & Stats. Both my boys are using the AoPS books as spine. However they can stop anything they think the book doesn't suit them anymore and use something else. My younger is taking a break from the books and he is unsure if he wants to do the aops intermediate algebra book. My oldest took breaks between books. Both boys did a year of doing very little bookwork and lots of reading books for me to rest and recharge. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I have read many of the threads about AOPS. Right now Eldest and I are working through the Pre-algebra book. My plan is to just keep working at it till done, and then move onto the Introduction to Algebra book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 I think there's lots of flexibility, but the recommended sequence on AOPS website is a good way to go. We did: 6th: preA independently 7th: finished preA, Intro to Algebra A class 8th: Intro to Algebra B, Intro to C&P Planned 9th: Geometry/Int Algebra (there will only be 6 weeks of overlap, and it is a lighter year for science and Lit) 10th: pre calculus/Int C&P (this is a heavier year for science and Lit) 11th: Calculus 12th: either Stats or DE course Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 If you had a child who was able to complete AoPS calc by the end of 12th grade, can you tell me what your math path for middle school and high school? Which books could a child realistically finish if they started pre-algebra in 6th grade? Which specific books should we prioritize over his last 6 years of homeschooling? Which books have you found take longer than a typical school year to complete? FWIW--- My son really likes math. He tests well, but I would not say he was gifted or anything. He is doing Singapore now with a bit of Beast thrown in for fun. Knowing that---How does this plan look? Or should I try to make time for some of the other books I have skipped? 12th-Calculus 11th-Pre-Calculus 10th-Intro to Counting & Probability 9th-Geometry 8th-Algebra, 7th-Introduction to Algebra 6th-Pre Algebra Intro to C&P is only a 15 week class on AOPS, and realistically only a semester's worth of material. I have heard of people doing a year of both intro to C&P and Intro to Number Theory. Usually it's earlier in the sequence (around Intro to Algebra), so perhaps move that back in the sequence? I personally think that PreA and Intro to Alegebra books in total are about 5-6 semesters of material, instead of 4. Most of the books don't fall neatly into semesters, some coming short or some spilling over. It's probably easier to think about it as a sequence with discrete blocks (books) of varying lengths. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 :bigear: I'm just listening in, as I've got a 9 yr old that will be doing 5th grade Singapore next year, with Beast 5 as a follow-up (IF they get it done in time, if not...we'll still do Beast 5, just later than I wanted to). I'm expecting to skip Singapore grade 6 with him in favor of Pre-Algebra and then I'm not sure from there. He is a STEM kid...strong in math and loves science. There will probably be a lot of mathy-science courses in his late middle-school and high school years and I want to make sure he has a solid foundation in advanced math so that he does not flounder when he gets to say, Chemistry. (not that I would know anything about that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Thank you to both of you for replying. I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that many people spread the Introduction to Algebra book over two years. Is that correct or typical? Or is it reasonable to assume a typical student could complete the book in one year? I don't know if dd is typical, But it takes us 2 years, limiting the time of math per day. No 2 hours math sesessions here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I admit, I'm hoping to finish pre-algebra and introduction to algebra in 2 and half years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.