I've been hearing a lot about Russian Math lately and would love some reviews.

What is it?

It is one of these after school tutoring math centers, that focus on getting kids ready to do math competition. We have one in my city. I don't really know much about it either.

Yes, it is after-school and weekends. Just wondering if anyone here has tried it.

You may be referring to Russian School of Math (RSM) http://www.russianschool.com/ , which my 8yo boy started this spring and which his 7yo sister will start in September. There are locations in 6 states, with more than half in Massachusetts and California. My son has liked RSM and does not complain about it being too easy, as he does about regular school math (the school system uses Everyday Math). There is a weekly 2-hour class with about 10 students. There is a regular and advanced class for each grade, with placement determined by a pre-test. They don't readily place students in an above-grade class, which is why my eldest son is not in RSM. The homework assignments, which I help him with, are challenging but not unreasonable. Maybe I can post a few homework problems to give a flavor of what 3rd grade math covers.

Some of the results of RSM students are listed at http://www.russianschool.com/about-us/our-results . This year also held its own contest (open to anyone) and held an awards ceremony for children who did well in its contest or AMC or on the SAT. It was the first time my 8yo was in an academic awards ceremony.

Most of the teachers are Russian women. They have started an online program http://www.russianschool.com/location/online that we have not tried.

Some discussion of the motivation for sending children to a place like RSM is at http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....enting_arms_race_article.html#Post186539 .

This looks great to me. If only regular B&M schools had this rigour and encouragement for competence and mastery of Maths.

It does sound great, and I've heard great reviews locally. Do they work with the child's level? The kids I know using it are bright but not necessarily gifted. Wondering if suits PG kiddos.

I was trying to answer that in the first paragraph. The short answer is that I don't think RSM is designed for PG children. Maybe an AOPS online course would be a good alternative.

Thank you for your help, Bostonian. My DS6 is PG and has ~3.5 GE results for math without any instruction. He apparently understood concepts and was able to answer the questions in his own way, even though he hasn't been taught computation. His performance (WISC) results were off the charts. I think ultimately AoPS would be great but he needs to work on skills before he gets there. We signed him up for EPGY (OE) a couple weeks ago and he's zipping through it. Thinking about Beast Academy this fall also. Everyone keeps mentioning Russian Math because it is relatively new in our area.

Would you mind commenting on my EPGY OE thread. I'm looking into it seriously. http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....5573/EPGY_OE_What_s_included_Homesc.html

I know an after school here that uses a combination of RM and Singapore. They place/group students by placement testing, without regard for school grade. I think, like any other approach, a great deal depends on the implementation. Ask the specific instructors what their approach is.

Hi 22B. I'm sorry, just seeing this. DS6 has only been using it since the last week of June and we were on vacation over the 4th so I don't feel confident commenting at this point. I will try to later, though, when we have a better sense of the program.

sorry to get off the main topic here but would like to ask if you are happy with the pace of EPGY? I had the administrator change her setting to gifted but I find that there is still a lot of repetition. Perhaps I need to go up half a level? DD is getting 95 to 98% correct from making careless errors. DD6 is ready for mid level 3rd grade math but since she had very little instruction, I chose 2.5 grade level to make sure she won't miss anything. So far she is enjoying it but groans when she gets the same questions over and over. TIA!

We've just been doing it when we remember, as we're in summer mode. So, not every single day. I did bump him up to 2nd grade, even though he also tested at mid third. He gets concepts, but like you said has had no instruction. He also groans when there's a repeat