If your child participates in math competitions

[Anonymous]

What ages are kids qualified for mathcount, AMC & AIME?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What ages are kids qualified for mathcount, AMC & AIME?

For mathcounts, only MS schoolers can participate. It is organized at every local MSs. At MCPS, typically the state qualifiers are from TP, Roberto Clemente (upper-county TP equivalent), RF, Hoover, CJ, and Thomas Pyle. It's a popular math competition for middle schoolers nation-wide, as the problems are not hard but very time constrained. There are quite some local and remote MS math competition opportunities, but probably kids or parents need to self-organize and participate. Some of the remote ones require driving, so equivalent to travel team.

For individual competition, the ladders are AMC10/AMC12 -> AIME -> USJMO/USAMO -> MOP -> IMO. Kids usually start from AMC8 at upper elementary or MS age.

For ES student, starting from Math Kangaroo is a good idea. Questions are easy and word problems are engaging. Kids are given long enough time to solve the problems. The beestar challenge level problem or singapore math challenge level problem are at about the same level of difficulty with math kangaroo. They are all good materials to awake kids' early interest into math and a good way for parents to check if your kid has talent in math. In upper elementary, some ESs organize to participate in math olympiad. An equivalent but relatively easier contest is mathleague.

In HS, other than the AMC -> IMO track, there are UMD math competition, ARML, etc. Some MSs also participate, depending on the schools.

Even for top math players who are qualified for MOP or even IMO, they can still participate various math competition like the prestigious Putman competition.

[Anonymous]

Following on my above post and answering OP's question: requirements for reading skill for understanding math word problem vs. novel/poem are actually quite different. One of my DCs is very talented in math, had no problem to interpret word problem into math modeling, achieving good scores in math competitions, but couldn't understand the social cue embedded in novel's dialogue. The other DC is totally opposite, had instinct from the very beginning in understanding character's mood from reading the dialogue, crying and laughing with the story development, but couldn't interpret math word problems. I think they are talented at different ways, and no need to force them to be good at both. My first child is very much into reading one genre (yes, it's sci-fi), and I think it's good as long as they enjoy reading.

[Anonymous]

http://mbmt.mbhs.edu


http://purplecomet.org/

Etc


https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_United_States_middle_school_mathematics_competitions

https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Maryland_mathematics_competitions

Etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child participates in math competitions, please share how they are doing with reading. Do they spend as much time on reading? What do they use to learn the subject in depth. AoPS language arts? CTY? How many hours a week do they spend on each subject per week outside of school (I prefer my child study no more than two hours a day at home and keep the passion for learning longer.)?

My kid enjoys both subjects and doesn’t want to focus on either math or reading/ELA yet. It’s easy to find a program for advanced math, but I don’t know about reading/ELA.

It depends on how old your child is. If your child wants to seriously compete, they need to start in early MS. AOPS is the best, but most study on their own also.

Our DC is a math kid -- took Calc BC as a sophomore, got 5 on AP, etc. but they didn't start math competitions until 8th grade. What we learned is that being good in math classes is very different from being good at math competitions. DC made it to statesin 8th grade with very little effort, but by HS DC found it was too late to catch up with those who started competitions in ES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child participates in math competitions, please share how they are doing with reading. Do they spend as much time on reading? What do they use to learn the subject in depth. AoPS language arts? CTY? How many hours a week do they spend on each subject per week outside of school (I prefer my child study no more than two hours a day at home and keep the passion for learning longer.)?

My kid enjoys both subjects and doesn’t want to focus on either math or reading/ELA yet. It’s easy to find a program for advanced math, but I don’t know about reading/ELA.

It depends on how old your child is. If your child wants to seriously compete, they need to start in early MS. AOPS is the best, but most study on their own also.

Our DC is a math kid -- took Calc BC as a sophomore, got 5 on AP, etc. but they didn't start math competitions until 8th grade. What we learned is that being good in math classes is very different from being good at math competitions. DC made it to statesin 8th grade with very little effort, but by HS DC found it was too late to catch up with those who started competitions in ES.

That's right. For math competitors, they usually finish learning all high school math up till Calculus at 7th grade or so (+/- 2 grade). That means they have to speed up at least from upper elementary, and you can't force feeding them. They have to be self-motivated to pace in a high speed at a relatively young age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child participates in math competitions, please share how they are doing with reading. Do they spend as much time on reading? What do they use to learn the subject in depth. AoPS language arts? CTY? How many hours a week do they spend on each subject per week outside of school (I prefer my child study no more than two hours a day at home and keep the passion for learning longer.)?

My kid enjoys both subjects and doesn’t want to focus on either math or reading/ELA yet. It’s easy to find a program for advanced math, but I don’t know about reading/ELA.

It depends on how old your child is. If your child wants to seriously compete, they need to start in early MS. AOPS is the best, but most study on their own also.

Our DC is a math kid -- took Calc BC as a sophomore, got 5 on AP, etc. but they didn't start math competitions until 8th grade. What we learned is that being good in math classes is very different from being good at math competitions. DC made it to statesin 8th grade with very little effort, but by HS DC found it was too late to catch up with those who started competitions in ES.

That's right. For math competitors, they usually finish learning all high school math up till Calculus at 7th grade or so (+/- 2 grade). That means they have to speed up at least from upper elementary, and you can't force feeding them. They have to be self-motivated to pace in a high speed at a relatively young age.

Oh wow, I disagree.

My kid is on the A Team and is on the ‘regular’ advanced math pathway. She is doing Algebra 2 as a 9th grader, FWIW. And has not done Calculus. She will be doing Pre-Calc next year, but still does well on Math Team and is hoping to do ARML.

From what she has told me, most Math competitions don’t include much Calculus.

I do agree that the kids are self-motivated and enjoy Math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child participates in math competitions, please share how they are doing with reading. Do they spend as much time on reading? What do they use to learn the subject in depth. AoPS language arts? CTY? How many hours a week do they spend on each subject per week outside of school (I prefer my child study no more than two hours a day at home and keep the passion for learning longer.)?

My kid enjoys both subjects and doesn’t want to focus on either math or reading/ELA yet. It’s easy to find a program for advanced math, but I don’t know about reading/ELA.

It depends on how old your child is. If your child wants to seriously compete, they need to start in early MS. AOPS is the best, but most study on their own also.

Our DC is a math kid -- took Calc BC as a sophomore, got 5 on AP, etc. but they didn't start math competitions until 8th grade. What we learned is that being good in math classes is very different from being good at math competitions. DC made it to statesin 8th grade with very little effort, but by HS DC found it was too late to catch up with those who started competitions in ES.

That's right. For math competitors, they usually finish learning all high school math up till Calculus at 7th grade or so (+/- 2 grade). That means they have to speed up at least from upper elementary, and you can't force feeding them. They have to be self-motivated to pace in a high speed at a relatively young age.

Oh wow, I disagree.

My kid is on the A Team and is on the ‘regular’ advanced math pathway. She is doing Algebra 2 as a 9th grader, FWIW. And has not done Calculus. She will be doing Pre-Calc next year, but still does well on Math Team and is hoping to do ARML.

From what she has told me, most Math competitions don’t include much Calculus.

I do agree that the kids are self-motivated and enjoy Math.

The math competitions generally do not include calculus. AMC12 recently had a question where knowing cos + isin comes in handy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child participates in math competitions, please share how they are doing with reading. Do they spend as much time on reading? What do they use to learn the subject in depth. AoPS language arts? CTY? How many hours a week do they spend on each subject per week outside of school (I prefer my child study no more than two hours a day at home and keep the passion for learning longer.)?

My kid enjoys both subjects and doesn’t want to focus on either math or reading/ELA yet. It’s easy to find a program for advanced math, but I don’t know about reading/ELA.

It depends on how old your child is. If your child wants to seriously compete, they need to start in early MS. AOPS is the best, but most study on their own also.

Our DC is a math kid -- took Calc BC as a sophomore, got 5 on AP, etc. but they didn't start math competitions until 8th grade. What we learned is that being good in math classes is very different from being good at math competitions. DC made it to statesin 8th grade with very little effort, but by HS DC found it was too late to catch up with those who started competitions in ES.

My kid is on the A Team and is on the ‘regular’ advanced math pathway. She is doing Algebra 2 as a 9th grader, FWIW. And has not done Calculus. She will be doing Pre-Calc next year, but still does well on Math Team and is hoping to do ARML.

From what she has told me, most Math competitions don’t include much Calculus.

I do agree that the kids are self-motivated and enjoy Math.

That's right. For math competitors, they usually finish learning all high school math up till Calculus at 7th grade or so (+/- 2 grade). That means they have to speed up at least from upper elementary, and you can't force feeding them. They have to be self-motivated to pace in a high speed at a relatively young age.

PP here. We are not talking about the same level of math competition. Doing math competition for some EC fun, maybe can be written into a few sentences in the personal statement for college application, sure, your experience is pretty accurate. Doing math competition for qualifying for USJMO or USAMO and even MOP, which can be counted as a significant achievement for college application, the kid has to excel from a very young age. Genius does exist, but learning for genius still takes time, given that they have to achieve a high GPA at the same time so cannot invest 100% into math competition.
Oh wow, I disagree.

[Anonymous]

Doing math competition for qualifying for USJMO or USAMO

Fewer than 250 students per grade level, nationwide.

and even MOP

Fewer than 20 students per grade level, nationwide

which can be counted as a significant achievement for college application, the kid has to excel from a very young age

This is not merely "a significant achievement for college application". This is world-class excellence, who barely even need to go to college. There are far more elite college seats in math + related fields, than there are students at this level.

These are students who pull back from school coursework and other pursuits to focus on math competition study several hours per day, like people in the more-famous Olympics. A significant fraction them are home-schooled. You do not need to achieve anything near this level in order to get into a competitive/"elite" school.

[Anonymous]

OP: 30 years ago I took 3-4 CTY writing courses, some at summer camp and some by correspondence. (In the actual mail, how quaint and old-fashioned it seems!) I assume they’re all online nowadays. I recommend them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Doing math competition for qualifying for USJMO or USAMO

Fewer than 250 students per grade level, nationwide.

and even MOP

Fewer than 20 students per grade level, nationwide

which can be counted as a significant achievement for college application, the kid has to excel from a very young age

This is not merely "a significant achievement for college application". This is world-class excellence, who barely even need to go to college. There are far more elite college seats in math + related fields, than there are students at this level.

These are students who pull back from school coursework and other pursuits to focus on math competition study several hours per day, like people in the more-famous Olympics. A significant fraction them are home-schooled. You do not need to achieve anything near this level in order to get into a competitive/"elite" school.

This might be true 10 years ago, but not the case these days, especially for certain race and gender. My kid is among one of them at this level, and math occupies only 1/10 - 1/5 of their freetime. They have to work their ass off to achieve a balance in every aspect, including but not limited to literacy, leadership, research (publishing journal papers as a co-author), one dedicted EC in sports or music or art, volunteering, etc. I often feel sad but can understand that's the only way to make them standing out from their peer groups during college application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Doing math competition for qualifying for USJMO or USAMO

Fewer than 250 students per grade level, nationwide.

and even MOP

Fewer than 20 students per grade level, nationwide

which can be counted as a significant achievement for college application, the kid has to excel from a very young age

This is not merely "a significant achievement for college application". This is world-class excellence, who barely even need to go to college. There are far more elite college seats in math + related fields, than there are students at this level.

These are students who pull back from school coursework and other pursuits to focus on math competition study several hours per day, like people in the more-famous Olympics. A significant fraction them are home-schooled. You do not need to achieve anything near this level in order to get into a competitive/"elite" school.

This might be true 10 years ago, but not the case these days, especially for certain race and gender. My kid is among one of them at this level, and math occupies only 1/10 - 1/5 of their freetime. They have to work their ass off to achieve a balance in every aspect, including but not limited to literacy, leadership, research (publishing journal papers as a co-author), one dedicted EC in sports or music or art, volunteering, etc. I often feel sad but can understand that's the only way to make them standing out from their peer groups during college application.

Check out Math Daily Challenge. The IMO competitor started a program to help top math kids get into good colleges other than MIT, by working on their communication skills.