Modular Arithmatic and Stanford precollege courses

[MamaSprout]

My 9th grade dd has always been meh about AoPS and liked EMF/ imacs more. I was considering having her do the eimacs mathematical logic course next year as an elective.

This week, though, she became interested in modular arithmetic. She'd seen it before in EMF and hit it again in her AoPS AMC 10 class. I'm not surprised she likes it since she's musical and had a passion for cryptography when she was younger.

Since it's a number theory topic, I'm wondering if the Stanford Precollege Number Theory course might be better choice for her next math elective. The prereq is Precalculus, which she is cruising through DO's course fairly quickly right now. I suppose she could take one and then the other, but wow, these courses are expensive.

Does anyone have any reviews of the pre-college courses?

I wouldn't be able to just hand her a book, and we've tapped out our math tutor. I don't think AoPS would be a good option as she's not really loving the class she's in right now. Our local dual credit option requires a calc prereq for number theory.

[Kathy in Richmond]

My daughter took the Stanford number theory class online several years ago, back when it was part of EPGY (and not nearly so expensive!) The course still has the same syllabus and uses the same text (Harold Stark's).

It was a good course for her in grade 12.  Though the prerequisite is Precalculus, it doesn't really utilize precalculus techniques. It's rather more of a mathematical maturity prerequisite than anything else. You need to be able to read and write proofs in this course.

My dd had already studied both Intro and Intermediate Number Theory with AoPS before the Stanford class. It was definitely a step above the Intro level, and slightly more difficult than their Intermediate level. The early part of the Stanford course overlapped AoPS intermediate level before moving on to some different topics, with whole chapters on Diophantine equations, continued fractions, magic squares, and quadratic fields. There was weekly homework that was graded and midterm and final exams.

Dd was (and is) an AoPS kid, but she did enjoy this course. She missed having online interaction with other students, though. It was reading the book, online lessons, and homework that was sent to an EPGY professor and returned graded. Maybe that's changed since then? It looks like they now also include optional online office hours where kids can ask questions...

 

[lewelma]

1 hour ago, Kathy in Richmond said:

My daughter took the Stanford number theory class online several years ago,

Hi Kathy!  Good to see you visit the board! 🙂 

[MamaSprout]

Thanks, Kathy! This is very helpful. I think it’s safe to say she would need an earlier NT class. I’ll see if I can get a hold of copies of the AoPS books.

Edited November 10, 2019 by MamaSprout
phone-posting typo

[Kathy in Richmond]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

Hi Kathy!  Good to see you visit the board! 🙂 

Waving hi back to you, Ruth! Hope all is well with you and the boys. 😊

22 minutes ago, MamaSprout said:

Thanks, Kathy! This is very helpful. I think it’s safe to say she would need an earlier NT class. I’ll see if I can get ahold of copies of the AoPS books.

AoPS only has a textbook for the intro number theory level number theory. The intermediate is class only so far.

You could always buy the Stark book (it's a paperback & cheap used copies are available on Amazon) after she masters the basics, and she could see if it looks readable then.

Good luck to your dd!

[SoCal_Bear]

Tagging along this discussion with this question: is EMF strictly online with no physical textbook? My son does not learn as well without a physical textbook. I keep seeing discussions about EMF...

[MamaSprout]

3 minutes ago, calbear said:

Tagging along this discussion with this question: is EMF strictly online with no physical textbook? My son does not learn as well without a physical textbook. I keep seeing discussions about EMF...

Yes. That’s why we went Derek Owens for Precalculus instead of doing the whole EMF series. It would be worth doing the first few classes as a supplement, though. They are unique and interesting.

[SoCal_Bear]

Thanks @MamaSprout we will likely have to follow suit. I appreciate the info!

[SoCal_Bear]

@MamaSprout Could you tell me when during your math progression did you slot those classes in, and how long did a course on average take? 

[MamaSprout]

4 hours ago, calbear said:

@MamaSprout Could you tell me when during your math progression did you slot those classes in, and how long did a course on average take? 

Dd did them as an elective the school year she did Algebra 2. She went through the first classes in weeks, but after that she slowed down. She had taken the placement exam 2-3 years before and had been ready then, but the program was new and she was young. The first 4-5 classes don't really fit into any progression, it's mostly a maturity thing.