Earlier this school year my son finished Singapore 5 and started Art of Problem Solving Pre-Algebra.
I was having my son work through the book on his own, but some of the problems are quite difficult. I’ve since started working through the problems alongside him. He enjoys it much more when I work with him. We challenge each other. I must admit that I am really loving this course. I never enjoyed mathematics in school. It was all rather boring, but this course makes each problem like a puzzle. Some problems take us around 30 minutes to figure out. When we get stuck, the solutions manual lays out step by step how to solve each problem. We typically spend about an hour each school day on math and just do what gets done in that time. Now, I don’t usually have an extra hour of time laying around to have one-on-one time with my son for math. Because of that, I am currently doing math with both of my boys at once. This gives my son a little head start at completing the problems ahead of me because I may be teaching his brother while he is working through some problems. At this point I’m having him spend time on the learning portion of the chapter independently while we do the end of section problems as well as the end of the chapter problems together. He also does Alcumus independently. Alcumus is an online learning system that is aligned to the text book. The AOPS website also has short instructional videos for most sections in the book. Along with Alcumus they are my son’s favorite thing about AOPS Pre-Algebra.
I chose AOPS because at this point it looks like both of my sons are heading toward a STEM career. AOPS courses will give them a solid understanding. While not designed for homeschool, AOPS solution manuals and lengthy explanations in the textbook provide the support we need to complete the class. They also offer online classes which we may use in the future.
We are using Singapore 5 currently, (my son is in 5th grade) and I have heard great things about both AoPS and also Life of Fred, so I’m debating whether to switch from Singapore, or finish out through Singapore 6. One of my most difficult struggles with homeschooling is decision making! I just can’t decide, and I don’t like to spend money on something to drop it later… I guess I can always resell stuff I don’t use. Can I ask why you stopped Singapore for AoPS? Is it because it’s a stronger math preparation? My son aspires to be an engineer in the future, and he picks up math concepts easily, so we actually are going through Singapore 5 quickly. I was thinking of supplementing with Life of Fred, because it also has those tie-ins with Physics, Economics, Biology, which might pique his interest in those subjects. But I’ve also toyed with the idea of AoPS because I heard it’s great for people who are strong in math and want to pursue math, and now I can’t decide! Any advice?
Elaine,
We moved to AOPS after Singapore 5B because from what I could discover, Singapore 6 wasn’t as strong as the previous years. Many who used it reported that they didn’t feel like there was much new that was presented. I had one kid who didn’t like Life of Fred and my other son likes it. I’m having him use is along with AOPS as review – at least for one of two Fred books.
Thanks! That’s helpful to know. I hadn’t heard anything about Singapore 6, so this is definitely good to know! I was trying to look at scopes and sequences, but it gets all jumbled in my head after looking at different ones too long!