Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources AOPS books vs LOF

My ds did the pre-algebra in 4th grade after school (not the formal class). We started in Sept and finished in May. He also had a tutor once a week ( Senior boy from the local high school) to answer questions he might have and kick start the next weeks lessons. He still does alcumus but not as much as I would like him to.

The thing that takes getting used to with AoPS is that there are almost no repeat questions. Virtually every. single. question. introduces a twist, so it's well worth doing all of them. Which can take a really long time, but is worth every minute.

We did pre-Algebra the first time in about 6 weeks (with only grade 4 math at that point) - doing just enough out of the textbook to get the basics and complete all the Alcumus questions. Then we did Algebra 1 online. DS had the concepts, and did OK in Algebra, but we really wanted to do all the questions on this course, and it was going WAY too fast for us, with our limited prep and limited time (after-schooling). Now, we've gone back and are slowly working our way back through the whole pre-Algebra book, skipping no questions this time, and realizing the book gets a lot more complex than Alcumus.

And this time, DS is loving the math, and really, really understanding how to use these very simple concepts to solve some pretty tricky problems. Now that I've learned my lesson, I've no doubt we'll go back and re-do a big chunk of Algebra as well, cuz this time I won't rush him, and it will actually be fun.

Agree with Portia completely. LOF is a really fun way to be introduced to some concepts; but AOPS builds the actual skills.

AOPS online course is a lot of work. The pace would be OK IF you have the time for it. I remember DS sometimes struggling over a geometry problem for 2-3 hours. I also felt that the problems given by the online class teacher (at least for geometry and algebra 2) were harder than the problems in the books. Some kids don't finish every problem in the assignment and it's absolutely OK. But for kids like DS who can't get the peace of mind unless he finishes everything on the assignment, AOPS is very time-consuming.

Thank you all of you for your input! I am convinced that when he is ready we will go for the AOPS books and Alcumus with LOF as the intro and then AOPS as the main meal so to speak.

I love love love the idea of him learning to do the proofs, to present everything properly etc. I know it will help so much!

Thank you again.

Portia - thanks for the link to the older thread and for all your input - I really appreciate it.