AOPS precalculus class

[Roadrunner]

Is it my imagination or does this class move much slower than other classes? It looks like hey cover 1 chapter in 2 weeks as opposed to chapter per week often assigned in other courses. Does that reflect the difficulty of the class? Is precalculus that much harder that it deserved doubling of allotted time? Or am I misreading the syllabus?

[Arcadia]

Calculus class is 9 chapters in 25 weeks.

Precalculus class is 13 chapters in 25 weeks

Intermediate algebra class is 20 chapters in 24 weeks

 

My oldest didn’t complain about the pace so I don’t think it is much slower in pace. I think 24/25 weeks per book is okay and I won’t want course length to be based on a chapter per week. That would make the calculus class a very short class.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Arcadia

[Roadrunner]

Calculus class is 9 chapters in 25 weeks.

Precalculus class is 13 chapters in 25 weeks

Intermediate algebra class is 20 chapters in 24 weeks

 

My oldest didn’t complain about the pace so I don’t think it is much slower in pace. I think 24/25 weeks per book is okay and I won’t want course length to be based on a chapter per week. That would make the calculus class a very short class.

I understand the pace isn’t a problem for everybody, but it is for us. Those classes move vary fast for us so usually we need a headstart. I need to know for planning purposes if that’s the case with precalculus as well or not.

My kid needs two weeks per chapter in all AOPS books so far. Looks like we could jump into precalculus without much prep. But is this deceptive thinking? Is the material that much harder that we would need longer per chapter?

I hope I am being clear with my question. I am not complaining about length.

[Arcadia]

My oldest kid is still asleep so I can’t check with him. The weekly homework for the precalculus course took him about the same amount of time as the weekly homework for the intermediate algebra course.

 

My younger boy consistently needs to have a headstart before an AoPS class and then we tie up the loose ends after. We aren’t using the grades from the AoPS classes for 7th and 8th grade though as he would likely have more than enough high school math credits to fulfil college admissions requirements.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Arcadia

[MarkT]

Calculus class is 9 chapters in 25 weeks.

Precalculus class is 13 chapters in 25 weeks

Intermediate algebra class is 20 chapters in 24 weeks

Are the chapter "sizes" similar for these?

[Arcadia]

Are the chapter "sizes" similar for these?

In terms of the physical number of pages, they are similar. In terms of content, I would say doing the calculus book over 25 weeks is a nice pace and doesn’t feel slow.

 

I would think of the precalculus and calculus books as more of a consolidation phase before college level classes. So a child can definitely go faster through the books if the child wants to.

 

ETA:

My oldest took the precalculus class in Dec 2015 so I’m fuzzy on the exact details of the textbook.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Arcadia

[Arcadia]

Looks like we could jump into precalculus without much prep. But is this deceptive thinking? Is the material that much harder that we would need longer per chapter?

My kid says the Precalculus class was slow at times but overall the pace was okay.

[Roadrunner]

My kid says the Precalculus class was slow at times but overall the pace was okay.

This is excellent news here. 😋