AOPS pre-algebra users

[beth83]

For those who have used AOPS pre-algebra... did you have your child do every problem in the book?  We are just starting and I am trying to figure out the right pacing for us.  I really don't want it to take 2 years, but at the same time, I don't want my daughter skipping some questions that would have really benefited her.

[Noreen Claire]

DS11, finishing 5th grade, worked *almost* every problem in the book, chapters 1-9. (When he was obviously having growth-spurt brain fog and things were going slowly, we would skip the last few challenge problems, but we've made note of which ones he's skipped and he goes back every once in a while to work on them, as review.)

He is now doing AoPS online pre-algebra 2 (so someone else can argue with him about written solutions for a while), and he is still working the all the problem sets in the book, and will work on challenge problems as time allows. He will finish all the challenge problems before moving on to algebra, probably in October; so, he'll spend +/-14 months total for the book. 

[Clemsondana]

We've worked through several AOPS books and our approach has changed a bit over time.  At this point, I don't try to rush - some books we do in the 'expected' amount of time with no problem (the 1-seemster books like number theory and probability, and also 1 year for geometry).  We have run into problems when we tried to hurry.  My kid hit those books at a young age (not high school, so no worries about needing to keep up with credits) and we only did math 4 days each week because of co-op on the 5th.  We settled on doing AOPS 3 days and Life of Fred one day because if we had a busy day kiddo got overwhelmed with trying to do math quickly - I can't overstate how much AOPS can't be rushed.  We also do all of the regular problems but not all of the challenge - I let kid pick several of the challenge problems to work.  It took us several courses to figure out the best way to make these books work for us.  Initially we tried treating it like a regular program, doing 1 section per day, with 1 day for review and 1 day for challenge, so that we'd finish in a year.  Kid lacked the frustration tolerance and attention to detail and it was awful - we ended up taking a break and working with Arbor Press materials and LOF for a while.  When we came back to it, we settled on the approach above.  We ended up taking 1.5 years each for pre-A and A and will probably take 1.5 years for Alg. 2.  We probably could have gotten through Alg. 2 in a year, but kid really likes the LOF being interspersed and says it helps to cement ideas, and we'll be finishing Alg. 2 in 9th grade, which is a good time, transcript-wise, so I'm happy with this plan.  All of that being said, I'm not planning to use this series with my younger kid.  We will probably do the semester courses and maybe geometry, but having done it once I can look at the personality of my 2 kids and say that it was probably a good thing for older who is my kid that likes codes and computer programming but wouldn't add anything for younger, who at best sees math as a tool that should be mastered as simply as possible.  

[El...]

Yeah. We do all of them. They're extremely well chosen for developing the concepts, and the problems build on each other. 

It took DD12 about 18 months to complete the prealgebra text. She's tearing through the intro to algebra book much faster.

Now,  we're not using any online support, just the text. We're relying on the text to serve as the instructor. I work through the text myself, usually at least a few chapters ahead of DD, and then if she gets too stuck I have a clue on how to break through. 

[wendyroo]

Yes, DS did all the problems in AOPS Pre-A.  Then every couple of chapters he would take a break and catch up on Alcumus as review.

It took him about 18 months to complete the book.

[mathnerd]

My son was young when we started: so, we did all of them and all of alcumus (and watched the videos in the summer for fun). We were not in a rush, we wanted to take the time to reinforce all the prealgebra concepts, we took longer than most people, but it was well worth it. My son tries to think through harder math problems which is an attitude that he developed because of tackling all the Challenge/Star problems in AOPS prealgebra. If your daughter is young and there is no real rush, it is OK to take 2 years for the program (it goes beyond any typical prealgbra program, so, taking more time is not unusual). 

Edited June 3, 2020 by mathnerd

[purpleowl]

Yes, every problem. The pace that worked for DD#1 was basically 1 section per day, plus 2 days for review problems and 2 days for challenge problems. There were sections here and there that were taking too long so we split them up over two days, but most of them were doable in one. 

[SoCal_Bear]

Yes, we did every problem. We just worked about 45 minutes to an hour. Probably at a similar pace as purpleowl. My DD was 9.5 when he started and finished in 10 months but it was really at his pacing. So I let him take however long he wanted. We paused to do Jacobs Mathematics A Human Endeavor instead of going on to Algebra because I'm not in a rush and because I value the math topics covered in MHE. It seems like he is progressing at the same pace through algebra. The tolerance for the challenge problems is definitely higher now. 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by calbear

[Kendall]

We did every problem until the Challenger and then just spent a set amount of time(2-3 days I think) and then moved on. My kids have done that book in 7th and I wanted them to do Algebra 1 (A different program) in 8th. So we only worked a year and got as far as we could. 

[EmilyGF]

It depends on the kid. DS really didn't need to do every problem (or even the book, in retrospect). DD ought to have done every problem. I should have been more flexible with DS and more strict with DD. 20/20 hindsight.

Emily

[annegables]

We did not. He did all the regular problems and some of the challenge, but certainly not all of them. He would have mutinied. My son is very bright in math, but every problem would have killed his love for math. He enjoys math, but it isnt his passion. And he got more than enough out of the work he did do. He went on to do AoPS algebra and geometry just fine. 

[JennyD]

Oldest DS did every last problem. Middle DS is doing everything through the review problems and then just selected challenge problems.

 

[daijobu]

We did all the problems, including the Challenge Problems, but we weren't in a rush to finish.  In general I'd say the Challenge Problems are skippable, but then you aren't getting your money's worth.