AMC8 Participation

[Anonymous]

I have a 6th grader who enjoys math and loves math competitions. He is in Advanced Math and has done well in the typical math competitions, MOEMS, Math Kangaroo, and the like. I know that McNair and Navy have some kids take the AMC8 as 6th graders. I am curious if people think that it is a good idea to do so or what criteria they use for deciding if a child is ready to participate in a competition that is geared for older kids.

We are just looking at the list of competitions out there and wondering what criteria we should be thinking about for participating in competitions that seem to be geared for older kids.

[Anonymous]

Math counts (arguably the marquee math competition for middle schoolers) is available for all 6-8th graders. You should find a program that allows your 6th grader to take math counts.

[Anonymous]

AMC8 is fine for any advanced math 6th grader. It's not really geared for older kids.

For any competition, your best bet is to have your child take a look at the previous year's test and see whether he wants to try it this year. If he feels overwhelmed or feels like he can't answer many of the questions, he may not be ready.

Here are all of the past tests for the AMC8:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_8_Problems_and_Solutions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Math counts (arguably the marquee math competition for middle schoolers) is available for all 6-8th graders. You should find a program that allows your 6th grader to take math counts.

He has been competing in math counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AMC8 is fine for any advanced math 6th grader. It's not really geared for older kids.

For any competition, your best bet is to have your child take a look at the previous year's test and see whether he wants to try it this year. If he feels overwhelmed or feels like he can't answer many of the questions, he may not be ready.

Here are all of the past tests for the AMC8:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_8_Problems_and_Solutions

Thanks. We did that last year with the RSM International test, I should have thought about it for AMC 8.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Math counts (arguably the marquee math competition for middle schoolers) is available for all 6-8th graders. You should find a program that allows your 6th grader to take math counts.

He has been competing in math counts.

OP, maybe not if it is for 6th to 8 grade. He was in 5th last year. His math club at school this year is doing math counts.

[Anonymous]

He should take a practice AMC8. If he scores between 10-15, then doing AMC and math counts and MOEMS is perfect. If he scores 15-20, think about enrolling him in AoPS or RSM to see if he can handle higher math. If he scores 20+, you may have a prodigy on your hands and should find something to guide him on his path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should take a practice AMC8. If he scores between 10-15, then doing AMC and math counts and MOEMS is perfect. If he scores 15-20, think about enrolling him in AoPS or RSM to see if he can handle higher math. If he scores 20+, you may have a prodigy on your hands and should find something to guide him on his path.

He is not a prodigy, he enjoys math and likes competitions though. We like to challenge him but we also like to be realistic. The only reason I was thinking about it was because some of the ES in the area participate. I wasn’t sure if those schools have Algebra 1 in 6th grade or if it something that the Teacher likes to do with the kids as a challenge.

I like hte idea of the practice test. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

The biggest issue for AMC8 is that it's a very fast test, so it can be frustrating for kids who are more methodical. They get only 40 minutes for 25 problems. There is no penalty for wrong answers.

If your ES isn't hosting the contest, you could contact Fairfax math circle, FCAG, or AoPS to see if they are running the contest and can let your child join.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest issue for AMC8 is that it's a very fast test, so it can be frustrating for kids who are more methodical. They get only 40 minutes for 25 problems. There is no penalty for wrong answers.

If your ES isn't hosting the contest, you could contact Fairfax math circle, FCAG, or AoPS to see if they are running the contest and can let your child join.

Thank you! We were thinking of contacting the schools that run it but I appreciate the other options.

[Anonymous]

AMC8 is targeted at students who are enrolled in prealgebra or higher.

There is an honor roll for 6th graders who score 15+ out of 25. (But AMC honor rolls are secret now, so that's not very exciting anymore.)

If s student is not scoring at least 15 on a practice test, I wouldn't go chasing down a random site to test at. But you should encourage your school to offer the contest to all the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AMC8 is targeted at students who are enrolled in prealgebra or higher.

There is an honor roll for 6th graders who score 15+ out of 25. (But AMC honor rolls are secret now, so that's not very exciting anymore.)

If s student is not scoring at least 15 on a practice test, I wouldn't go chasing down a random site to test at. But you should encourage your school to offer the contest to all the students.

6th grade AAP math is basically prealgebra and should suffice.

I disagree about needing a 15 on practice tests. If OP's kid tries a practice test and enjoys it, there's no problem with finding a random testing site to take the test. There's no need to meet an arbitrary benchmark, and the AMC tests are supposed to be open to anyone who wants to take them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AMC8 is targeted at students who are enrolled in prealgebra or higher.

There is an honor roll for 6th graders who score 15+ out of 25. (But AMC honor rolls are secret now, so that's not very exciting anymore.)

If s student is not scoring at least 15 on a practice test, I wouldn't go chasing down a random site to test at. But you should encourage your school to offer the contest to all the students.

6th grade AAP math is basically prealgebra and should suffice.

I disagree about needing a 15 on practice tests. If OP's kid tries a practice test and enjoys it, there's no problem with finding a random testing site to take the test. There's no need to meet an arbitrary benchmark, and the AMC tests are supposed to be open to anyone who wants to take them.

It's not a social / team activity. What's important about going out of your way to get an official score 2 years early? Is sitting quietly in a random classroom more fun than sitting at home?

You can do an extra practice test in the time it takes to commute back and forth to the testing site, then chat about the problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AMC8 is targeted at students who are enrolled in prealgebra or higher.

There is an honor roll for 6th graders who score 15+ out of 25. (But AMC honor rolls are secret now, so that's not very exciting anymore.)

If s student is not scoring at least 15 on a practice test, I wouldn't go chasing down a random site to test at. But you should encourage your school to offer the contest to all the students.

6th grade AAP math is basically prealgebra and should suffice.

I disagree about needing a 15 on practice tests. If OP's kid tries a practice test and enjoys it, there's no problem with finding a random testing site to take the test. There's no need to meet an arbitrary benchmark, and the AMC tests are supposed to be open to anyone who wants to take them.

It's not a social / team activity. What's important about going out of your way to get an official score 2 years early? Is sitting quietly in a random classroom more fun than sitting at home?

You can do an extra practice test in the time it takes to commute back and forth to the testing site, then chat about the problems.

OP here. He enjoys participating in the competitions. He normally scores well, 95th percentile or higher. He learned some important lessons from the one he did not score well on. He had flown through the test and didn’t double check his work. Every test since then he has double checked his work and slowed down. None of his friends participate in competitions, it’s just something he enjoys doing. I have not suggested AMC8 to him, I have read about it here over the past few years and realized that pre-algebra was being taught so maybe AMC8 was an option.

He attends RSM, which is how he heard about competitions. He just enjoys math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AMC8 is targeted at students who are enrolled in prealgebra or higher.

There is an honor roll for 6th graders who score 15+ out of 25. (But AMC honor rolls are secret now, so that's not very exciting anymore.)

If s student is not scoring at least 15 on a practice test, I wouldn't go chasing down a random site to test at. But you should encourage your school to offer the contest to all the students.

6th grade AAP math is basically prealgebra and should suffice.

I disagree about needing a 15 on practice tests. If OP's kid tries a practice test and enjoys it, there's no problem with finding a random testing site to take the test. There's no need to meet an arbitrary benchmark, and the AMC tests are supposed to be open to anyone who wants to take them.

It's not a social / team activity. What's important about going out of your way to get an official score 2 years early? Is sitting quietly in a random classroom more fun than sitting at home?

You can do an extra practice test in the time it takes to commute back and forth to the testing site, then chat about the problems.

It isn't 2 years early. AMC8 is for kids in 8th grade and under. It's not specifically for 8th graders. For the 2022 contest, only about 40% of the participants were 8th graders. About 27% were 6th grade and under. Mocking contests at home is not at all the same as taking them in person. If OP's kid eventually wants to do well, he would be better served by taking actual contests than just practicing them at home.