He was terrified because he was a hard slow worker, and not a speed kid.

That December (he was 13), they asked him to take the BMO - British Math Olympiad. His work paid off, and he was the only 8th grader to get in that year. He worked for like 100 hours on it, and got 9 of the 12 problems. He had to do the equivalent of USAMTS exam - a take home, proof based, really hard exam. We had such trouble finding a mentor or other kids, so he decided to apply to the national olympiad math camp in the summer after his 7th grade year. My ds just kind of fell into olympiad math. (She's much more accomplished than I am.)ĮTA: How to form an ARML team. I always enjoy discussing math contests! I'll tag case she wants to add anything. HMMT is also a great option CalTech/Harvey Mudd have a similar contest on the West Coast.

I'm in the Bay Area and our local competition is in VEGAS! (Actually the students stay at UNLV, not the Strip, lol.) If you don't have an ARML team locally, you can look into starting your own. It's basically MathCounts for high school. If your student enjoyed the team aspect of MathCounts, you might see if there is an ARML team in your area. Or he might consider coaching his own homeschooled MathCounts team if that's an interest. Your student can lead group meetups to discuss problems.

(Full disclosure: this is exactly how I prepare my students.) If he can earn an AIME qualification during high school, that will be a nice feather in his cap for college applications, and most importantly, making him well prepared for college level STEM work once he arrives at college.īut leading a group is also fun and promotes leadership and camaderie. You'll get the highest ROI if your student prepares independently working through as many old exams as possible and most importantly studying the solutions to the problems he couldn't solve. Thank you for the tag, grade 9 a student should be preparing to take the AMC 10. I use expert tutors for high school math after much experience (as of this year, I have four students who have graduated my homeschool). I can certainly support and provide adult supervision and so forth- but I really am out of my league with math. to the problems and help students understand the math. Note: I do not have the math mind and could not be the coach as far as a coach who can work solutions, etc. He is willing and able to spearhead this but just thought I would ask the Hive as this is completely new terrain for me. Has anyone done this and could offer suggestions or advice? He is also interested in the HMMT math competitions. We talked about starting a 'Mathlete' Club or team but really have no idea how or what to do. He will take a rigorous honors level Algebra 2 for 9th grade and has planned out AOPS coursework to include Olympiad Geometry. He has expressed interest in preparing for the AMC math competitions and is currently enrolled in AOPS Intro to Number theory and doing very well. He just finished honors geometry and his interest in math has really taken a deep dive forward. He did well, joining the team late when they needed another team member, and placed into the State Math competition. I have a rising 9th grader (child number 6 of 9) who participated on a homeschool MathCounts team this past season (2021-22). Other Resources for Learning Challenges.Resources (and Curricula) for Processing Difficulties.Science Courses: Text/Online Support Packages.Apps, Learning Games, and Online Enrichment Activities.Getting Started: Beginning the Home Education Adventure.Stories and Tales From Around the World.

Mathlete practice problems