AoPS Algebra

[trudence1]

I have such a hard time searching these boards for things I know I have read about in the past.

 

I am fairly certain I read that AoPS's "Introduction to Algebra" book covered a traditional Algebra 1 course before the completion of the book.   Am I remembering this correctly?

 

If this is so, how do you do transcripts?  Is the rest of this book and "Intermediate Algebra" together Algebra 2, or more than?  

As you can tell this confuses me a bit.   :confused1:

 

I love homeschooling.  I wasn't prepared to be a guidance counselor. :crying:  :lol:

[Alice]

I have read things that say through Chap 13 is roughly a Algebra 1 course and that the rest is material more commonly covered in Algebra 2 but not necessarily equal to a full alg 2 course.

 

From what I have read here I was planning on listing it as Algebra 1 and putting as a course description briefly what it covers to show that it is more comprehensive than the typica class. That is partially because my son took about 1 1/2 yrs to do it so I wanted to indicate why.

 

But my son is only in 8th and I haven't actually done a transcript yet, I'm just basing that on threads I have read in the past. Hopefully someone with older kids will chime in.

[trudence1]

Thank you!  That sounds like what I read.  My son started the book about a month ago, and I am hoping he finishes it before the end of his 8th grade year (next year). Does that sound doable?  I can count all classes taught at a high school level on his transcript in the state I am in, which is why I am thinking about his transcript.  The AoPS classes are named differently than traditional high school texts and that can make it confusing on how to put them on a transcript and still how the depth of what was taught.  This boy has always been attracted to future careers that are math/science heavy, and I feel very, very unqualified to guide him.

[Alice]

Thank you!  That sounds like what I read.  My son started the book about a month ago, and I am hoping he finishes it before the end of his 8th grade year (next year). Does that sound doable?  I can count all classes taught at a high school level on his transcript in the state I am in, which is why I am thinking about his transcript.  The AoPS classes are named differently than traditional high school texts and that can make it confusing on how to put them on a transcript and still how the depth of what was taught.  This boy has always been attracted to future careers that are math/science heavy, and I feel very, very unqualified to guide him.

 

It sounds doable to me. I think a lot of people do the entire Intro Algebra book in one year, if you do the AOPS online classes that is what it would be. 

 

My son did the first 13 chapters in 7th grade. Then for the first half of 8th grade he did Intro Counting and Probability as something a little more fun and different. Then he went back and is on track to finish Intro Algebra by the end of this year (8th grade). 

 

He is a student who likes Math and is willing to work hard on Math but isn't one of the super math whiz kids . In 7th grade I would say he worked an average of 1-2 hours 4 days a week. This year it is more consistently 2 hours a day, sometimes a little more, 4 days a week. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by Alice

[Julie of KY]

I say that approx. the first 13 chapters are algebra 1. I called the rest of the book algebra 2.

 

One of my sons did the Intermediate algebra book - I called it Algebra 3 (as did AoPS at the time).

 

My second son, very good in math, but not a math lover went from the Intro to Algebra book to Derek Owens Honors Precalc. I don't feel like he missed anything by skipping the AoPS Intermediate algebra book. He will do some of the AoPS Precalc book just because so much of the book feels like my engineering courses and that is the direction he is heading.

 

 

[StephanieZ]

First half = Algebra 1.

Second half = Algebra 2.

 

Intermediate Algebra Book = Algebra 3 (topics not covered in traditional high school or college Algebra)

 

 

[chiguirre]

Agreeing with Stephanie and Julie, the Well Trained Mind Academy used the Intro book for both Alg 1 and Alg 2. They did add in division of polynomials to the Alg 2 using an extra workbook. They also have another 6 weeks so they might add in some more. Memoria Press Online Academy accepted those courses toward their new high school diploma program for Trinqueta.

[trudence1]

Thank you, everyone!  This is exactly what I needed to know.  I am feeling much more comfortable with what to put on a transcript and with him having the amount of math he needs before finishing high school.  I love these boards.

[daijobu]

The people on this board love to discuss AoPS.  Even repeated questions.  

 

I think completing Algebra by end of 8th grade is doable, especially if your student:

 

(1) schools at least part way through the summer (excluding trips, camps, other fun summer stuff)

(2) spends 1 day on each section and roughly 1-3 days each on review problems and challenge problems.  

 

(If fact, I would budget (2) above and see how the dates work out.  Then see how much summer time you might need to spend on math.  We school year round anyway, so it's no big deal for us.)

 

Time can be saved by skipping challenge problems, but really, the challenge problems are sort of the special sauce of AoPS, so I would avoid skipping unless you are in a big hurry to finish.  

 

I might suggest that there be a pinned thread just about all things AoPS, but there are too many opinions to perfectly encapsulate everyone's varied experiences.  

[trudence1]

The people on this board love to discuss AoPS.  Even repeated questions.  

 

I think completing Algebra by end of 8th grade is doable, especially if your student:

 

 

(1) schools at least part way through the summer (excluding trips, camps, other fun summer stuff)

(2) spends 1 day on each section and roughly 1-3 days each on review problems and challenge problems.  

 

(If fact, I would budget (2) above and see how the dates work out.  Then see how much summer time you might need to spend on math.  We school year round anyway, so it's no big deal for us.)

 

Time can be saved by skipping challenge problems, but really, the challenge problems are sort of the special sauce of AoPS, so I would avoid skipping unless you are in a big hurry to finish.  

 

I might suggest that there be a pinned thread just about all things AoPS, but there are too many opinions to perfectly encapsulate everyone's varied experiences.  

 

 

I would love a pinned area.  I almost never can find an old post if I didn't think I needed to follow it at the start.

 

When you say 1 day on each section, are your talking 3.1. 3.2, etc and not chapters, correct?  I think that would be doable for him.  A total of 4-6 days for review and challenge should work.  He seldom gets the challenge problems in less than two days, but he can fly through the review enough to balance that out.  Was I understanding you properly?  Oh, and we school year round except for June when we are gone to camps as much as we're home, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

FWIW, you don't have to use the title of the book as the name of the course on your transcript.  You can name the course and list the textbook by title and author in a course description.

 

For example, this is my course description for Algebra 1 for my older kid.  (For my youngest, we went through chapter 13 in Algebra 1.)

 

Algebra 1: A year-long class that covered the fundamental concepts of algebra.  Problem sets utilized a discovery approach to encourage an in-depth understanding of concepts and facilitate applications to real-world situations.  In addition to regular module tests, students participated in the AMC 8 Math Exam.  Concepts studied included: exponents and radicals, linear equations and inequalities, ratio and proportion, systems of linear equations, working with polynomials, and factoring quadratics.  This course also included an introduction to geometry and trigonometry. 

Textbooks: 

Ruscyk, Richard. Introduction to Algebra.  Art of Problem Solving, Inc, 2010. (Chapters 1-11.  This text contains both Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 material.)

Dolciani Mary.  Modern Algebra: Structure and Method Book One.  Houghton Mifflin, 1962. 

 

If you think about a non-math example, you can more easily see that book title doesn't have to be the same as course name.  For example, American Pageant is the title of the text we used for our US History course.  

 

(I do tend to stick closer to the titles used by outside providers, but even then I reserve the right to edit the course title on the transcript.  For example, I used General Chemistry w/ Lab because the CC course was General Chemistry.  But I used Classical Greek Lit on the transcript instead of Muse Unloosed, which was mentioned as the name of the online course in the course descriptions.)

 

 

 

[daijobu]

 

I would love a pinned area.  I almost never can find an old post if I didn't think I needed to follow it at the start.

 

When you say 1 day on each section, are your talking 3.1. 3.2, etc and not chapters, correct?  I think that would be doable for him.  A total of 4-6 days for review and challenge should work.  He seldom gets the challenge problems in less than two days, but he can fly through the review enough to balance that out.  Was I understanding you properly?  Oh, and we school year round except for June when we are gone to camps as much as we're home, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

 

 

Yes, that's correct.  So Monday we do 3.1, problems and exercises.  Tuesday is 3.2, etc.  Set aside what you think he needs for review problems, maybe add an extra day as a buffer, so 2 days for each chapter.  Then 3 days for each chapter's challenge problems.  

 

I just brought up the PreA TOC from the AoPS website.  For chapter 3 I would allocate 7 days for the sections 3.1-3.7.  I lump together the Summary section with the Review Problems, so you can add 2 days for that.  And maybe 3 days for challenge problems.  I like to overestimate just in case.  So 12 days max, and if he finishes early, that's a bonus.  

 

Good luck!