I feel the same way on principle as PanzerAxelSaturn but recognize the pragmatic reality expressed by Bostonian's comments wrt learning by grappling with problems.
On top of that, I wrestle with my conscience several times a day because I after school my DD10 using AoPS. I was a terrible student as a kid and looking back I believe that I was disengaged from school academics because I was under challenged - when interested or motivated by a good teacher I shone but mostly I cruised.
I know that unstructured time in the evenings and weekends is vitally important to a child but also that being under challenged is also fatal.
My DD (5th grade) gets about 30mins to an hour of regular school homework 4 nights a week plus about 5 hours of AoPS a week where a large chunk of that time is spent on the written challenge problem.
After Friday, when she finishes her Algebra 1 class she will do a Python class to have a break for a couple of months.
Last edited by madeinuk; 02/25/15 05:22 AM.
