I heard from my friends that there are many other option like Beestar online math competition and Math Kangaroo. Which one would be better for my kid, my son is grade 4 so which one should be better to participate for him. Please give me a suggestion and thank you very much. |
My son is doing so well with the Beestar, it only takes 20 mins a week and I could see that there is an improvement in his calculation skills and speed. It is completely free so it is worth to give a try. The teaching techniques are pretty familiar to the kids so not even worry about kids might get bored of it. Parents can also monitor for the kid's progress. Anyway good luck and hope it helps u. |
They're both done by kids usually for fun, and sometimes because parents are pushing them to fit with their notions of prestige/success. Hence the comparison |
Math Kangaroo, Noetic Learning Math contest, Caribou Contests, MOEMS, etc. https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_United_States_elementary_school_mathematics_competitions https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/List_of_international_mathematics_competitions#Elementary_school_competitions A lot of these contests have past exams either for free or for sale; you can also check out these books: Creative Problem Solving in School Mathematics by George Lenchner, Upper Elementary Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro, Becoming a Problem Solving Genius: A Handbook of Math Strategies by Edward Zaccaro, Challenging Word Problems 3 or 4, or Intensive Practice 4 by singapore math |
Same goes for Soccer or Baseball or Football or any number of activities. |
I am searching some math competition related post so I saw this. I think one of the point of doing these is to meet other like-minded mathy kids. And the problems are fun. I sometimes solve AMC-10 questions myself and test them with ChatGPT for fun. Math is like music, art and good wine, having a high level of appreciation of them will provide life-long joy. |
It's not like the TJ. It's good practice for the AMC 10 and 12, which in turn lead to the AIME, USA(J)MO, MOP, and IMO. Other than the AMC 8, colleges care about all the other tests I listed. In fact, MIT even has a section on their application for your AMC and AIME scores. |
It's a pretty good analogy. Both seem pointless to people who don't "get it". If you're hung up on the team based aspect, MatchCOUNTS and many high school math competitions are team based, while swimming and many high school sports are individual. |
It's not. "Plug and chug-ness" is a spectrum. The AMC competitions may seem plug and chug to a research mathematician whose job is unsolved abstract theorems, but it requires much more creative and original thinking than the SAT. And this requirement of original thinking increases the higher up the chain you go. |
+1. In fact, I sometimes like to combine the two and do an AMC 10 set after a glass of wine before bed. Sometimes I make the AIME cutoff, sometimes I fall asleep, but it's always fun. |