Hi Guys:
We just had a big Math convention in our state this past week, and my good friend, math teacher and Phd in statistics attended all 4 days. I did ask her to have a look at the Intro to Alg. book. Called me last night and said that it would be way to simple for DS, and pobably to simple for her DS - 6th grade.
Do you know what - SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT SHE IS TALKING ABOUT , (sorry friend:-).
As I have mentioned before in this or other threads, we own several AoPS books. They all look easy when you look at the book! It is what they do with the knowledge you have after reading the book (chapter)during an online lesson. The book is just a starting point in many cases. DS reads assigned chapter on the day of an online class, and while he is an active participant during lesson, he is strugling and makes tons of mistakes - reasoning mistakes. While DS never did AoPS Intro to Algebra, he did Intro to Counting and Probability and is currently in Intro to Number Theory. When I was reading something about the Intro to Alg. text , it did mention that they recommend getting Intro to Number Theory and Intro to Counting and Probability midway throug the Alg. book. Well, trust me, that the above mentioned courses are CHALLENGING for my math boy who is curently doing Algebra 2 at school (disaster!).
I do not know how good the Intro to Alg. book will be by itself? But I am almost sure that combined with the course it would challenge my son well, if not during the first two lessons than for sure a little later on.
I will go as far as to say, that I believe a person should have a fair, if not good, prior knowledge of the subject before attempting an online AoPS course. This way one will get the most out of it.
