Yes, great review! DD has done some Alcumus and work with some of the AoPS books but it does make me wonder whether DD should ever take this course because I am not very mathy at all and it has been sooooo long since I had geometry. So it would take a significant amount of effort for me to even try to 'unstick' her, assuming I could even figure it out. Does AoPS have tutors available, or people you can ask if you get stuck with a problem and don't have a helpful parent or friend around? Otherwise I am not sure how DD would be able to deal with this course, as she is quite mathy but does get very frustrated when stuck, and I am of very little use despite my most earnest efforts.
Oh, parental unsticking is definitely optional, and not necessarily even a good thing. Arguably, it's better for them not to do every question. But DS's frustration tolerance, while excellent for his age, wasn't really up for that, and it was natural for me to help.
There are hints available for the questions. The instructor and TAs watched the forum so students ask there, and there's a mechanism for doing so completely anonymously if they like. Also, I didn't mention that the students arranged to meet "in the classroom" to work on any leftover problems just before each deadline - again, in the middle of the night for us though!
What I'd say is that a student does have to be able to ask coherently for help - I don't know what happens if someone struggles silently, but I suspect they just drop out - and may need to be able to tolerate a delay before they get help (eta but not a longer delay than someone in a b&m school might have if they get stuck on a homework question). I'm sure you could help with those skills even if you did get stuck on the maths, and modelling a good reaction to being stuck might in itself be useful!
You can get a full refund several weeks into the course - up to the start of the third class iirr - so it's possible to try a course and bail if it's not going to b work.
