DD is 7.5 yo. She is doing Aleks Algebra I.
Just want to know if school will pay for CTY or AOPS then which course is preferred. Looking for anecdotal experiences and reasons why one was chosen over the other. Thanks!
Not sure how much help I can be as we haven't used CTY nor the AOPS classes, but DS7.5 has just done ALEKS Algebra I (spending just a couple of weeks on it, to use up a subscription period I'd already paid for after he did the chemistry course, and not really learning anything in it for the first time, but at least it means I've seen all the question types) and he's also used the AOPS Alcumus program and we have the AOPS Algebra book. On this basis, I'd say that the AOPS material is far far less formulaic than ALEKS, so I would consider it worthwhile to do both (if you want a course at all - an alternative more like what we're doing would be to use Olympiad questions etc. at school instead). From what people say about CTY, it sounds as though it is closer to the ALEKS style than to AOPS, and (as a mathematician) I'd consider AOPS a better bet (and not only for mathematicians - IMO, if you need to use maths at all, it's best to understand it thoroughly and that is what AOPS promotes). I second the suggestion to look at Alcumus before committing to signing up for a course; it might well work best in a school context and it has the advantage of being free!
(Bracketed because it may well be what you've decided anyway: YMMV but I don't think I want my DS learning maths new through ALEKS any more at this stage; we may come back in the summer and use the rest of the high school courses as practice/reinforcement/filler of odd gaps, but at this point it's really too boring for introduction of new stuff.)
