MEP Math Alongside AOPS

[Btervet]

Has anyone worked MEP math alongside AOPS PreAlegra - Algebra? I'm curious how the levels line up. We are halfway through AOPS and I'm looking to add MEP but have no clue on what Year, as the UK doesn't seem to follow the same math sequence as the US.

Also I'd love to hear from anyone who used Years 7+ in MEP, how it worked, etc. Is it still possible to get the password for the answers? I emailed as a home educator but never got a response.

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, Btervet said:

Has anyone worked MEP math alongside AOPS PreAlegra - Algebra? I'm curious how the levels line up. We are halfway through AOPS and I'm looking to add MEP but have no clue on what Year, as the UK doesn't seem to follow the same math sequence as the US.

Also I'd love to hear from anyone who used Years 7+ in MEP, how it worked, etc. Is it still possible to get the password for the answers? I emailed as a home educator but never got a response.

I haven't, but wouldn't that kind of be problem overload? I know there are plenty of people in here whose kids took a good long while over AoPS books. 

[Btervet]

1 hour ago, Not_a_Number said:

I haven't, but wouldn't that kind of be problem overload? I know there are plenty of people in here whose kids took a good long while over AoPS books. 

We are doing PreAlgebra over about two years so we have time. Plus for my kid AOPS is lacking in more basic problems needed for...umm...is fluency the right term in math? He also did 3-4 math programs at a time before PreAlgebra, the different approaches always helped. 

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, Btervet said:

We are doing PreAlgebra over about two years so we have time. Plus for my kid AOPS is lacking in more basic problems needed for...umm...is fluency the right term in math? He also did 3-4 math programs at a time before PreAlgebra, the different approaches always helped. 

Ah, OK. I don't have so much experience mixing programs like this, so I hope someone chimes in. I know that some people use Alcumus for fluency, if you wanted to match it up. 

[Sherry in OH]

MEP is an integrated math program.  AOPS follows the traditional US math sequencing.

Years 7 and 8 cover topics usually included in US prealgebra programs (plus additional topics).  Compared to AOPS, MEP Years 7 and 8 place greater emphasis on logic, patterning, statistics, and geometry.  

Unlike the chapters in AOPS which build upon each other and thus must be completed in order, a student using MEP does not have to work through year 7 and 8 units linearly. This you could take the table of contents for AOPS PreAlgebra and map corresponding MEP units to that chapter.   

I second Not a Number in using Alcumus for fluency.   Use MEP if your student wants a different approach or to cover topics not included in AOPS.

 

The following is from the old MEP Yahoo group:

• PreAlgebra = MEP 7 and 8
• Algebra I = MEP 8 and 9
• Geometry = MEP 9, GCSE
• Algebra 2 = MEP 9, GCSE 10 and 11
• Trigonometry = MEP 9, GCSE 10 and 11
• Calculus = AS

[Btervet]

7 hours ago, Sherry in OH said:

MEP is an integrated math program.  AOPS follows the traditional US math sequencing.

Years 7 and 8 cover topics usually included in US prealgebra programs (plus additional topics).  Compared to AOPS, MEP Years 7 and 8 place greater emphasis on logic, patterning, statistics, and geometry.  

Unlike the chapters in AOPS which build upon each other and thus must be completed in order, a student using MEP does not have to work through year 7 and 8 units linearly. This you could take the table of contents for AOPS PreAlgebra and map corresponding MEP units to that chapter.   

I second Not a Number in using Alcumus for fluency.   Use MEP if your student wants a different approach or to cover topics not included in AOPS.

 

The following is from the old MEP Yahoo group:

• PreAlgebra = MEP 7 and 8
• Algebra I = MEP 8 and 9
• Geometry = MEP 9, GCSE
• Algebra 2 = MEP 9, GCSE 10 and 11
• Trigonometry = MEP 9, GCSE 10 and 11
• Calculus = AS

This is so helpful thank you!

I am not looking to align topic by topic, I was just looking for a general sense of what level would cover similar material as PreAlgebra. We have always run multiple math programs at the same supposed grade level but not lined up the topic as a way of reviewing material and getting extra explanations. Unfortunately, my oldest finished our favorites of Right Start, Miquon, Beast, and Math Mammoth so I was hoping MEP would help as we did like it in the early years. We are also using Alcumus alongside AoPS PreAlgebra, but I limit him to just 30 minutes a week as I don't like schoolwork to be on the computer.

I've given him a few of the tests in Year 8, and honestly that looks perfect. Some units we haven't covered at all (like the Pythagorean theorem), but about half he got perfect scores on the tests, so we are just doing the units he needs work from. I am really excited about the integrated Geometry, as I think that is such a better approach for learning both Geometry and Algebra to work them simultaneously.

[Lilaclady]

I used MEP in then elementary years but do not continue with it after MEP 6 as it does not align well with US math. I love the spiral approach and that you don’t get exposure to lots of different ways of solving the same things. For my oldest, she transitioned to AOPS prealgebra after MEP 5 but the others needed the reinforcement so we did MEP 6 before prealgebra. 

[kiwik]

One of my kids did MEP 7 using the interactive version as afterschool enrichment in year 5 and I have played with it.  I like it.  Since ds11 wasn't really quite ready for EMF I am planning for him to do some between his workbooks.

[Arcadia]

We use the statistics chapter to supplement prealgebra and algebra

https://www.cimt.org.uk/projects/mepres/allgcse/allgcse.htm (unit 20) 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by Arcadia

[stripe]

I am doing y8 and 9 with one kid this year who wanted to cover algebra and geometry, with a variety of supplements. There is also a lot of probability in every year. I’ve used MEP through GCSE level, and a bit of A level, and have supplemented with bits of AOPS and Harold R Jacobs. I will PM a you the password. There is a LOT of material you can skip if your child remembers anything from previous math, but sometimes the review is helpful. (But seriously, you have a full review of arithmetic in there.) I enrolled another child in Blue Tent’s precalculus after rolling the two years of GCSE into one year, and some of the material was new, and some was old. 

ETA: MEP spends a lot less time on horrific simplification of variables and exponents than some American Algebra books like Holt. I think its factoring coverage needs supplementing. However I thought the same about the algebra class at the local public school, which only spent the last week of the year on factoring. The geometry is more, I would say, practical than theoretical. Definitely not proof based.

Edited April 18, 2021 by stripe

[cypresspinktomato]

Could someone PM me the MEP password?  Specifically for years 7, 8, 9 and GCSE 10 & 11, if those are different.  

TIA!

[kiwik]

You shouldn't need it except for exams.