desertflower Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Hello, I just found out that math circles exist. There isn't one for elementary aged students in my area. Is there such thing? If there is, what exactly is covered? What's it like for that age? I was thinking of starting one. I thought I saw a sight that had info on this, but i couldn't seem to navigate it correctly. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Some ideas and links to get you started: Math Circle in a Box (free download) has lots of ideas for starting and structuring a new math circle. There are also activity and problem resources on the website. Math Circle Diaries contains a complete year-long curriculum for a grades 5 to 7 math circle, and would be a nice way to get started. Boston Math Circle has classes for kids from 5 years old through high school. Looking through their course listings will give you an idea of cool math ideas accessible to various ages. San Diego Math circle starts with 5th graders. Check out their current course schedule. Some of AoPS staff volunteers at SDMC! If I were working with elementary age kids, I'd try to involve them in preparing for the Math Kangaroo and MOEMS math competitions. MOEMS requires a group for participation, so I'd not pass up the chance to join :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slackermom Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here is a directory of some existing math circles: https://www.mathcircles.org/Wiki_ExistingMathCirclePrograms_view There are different types of math circles. Some focus on competition prep, some are just for fun. On that website you can also find information about starting your own math circle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Thanks so much! I'll have to check them out. Slackermom - I clicked on the link and that's the site I was talking about. I'll have to look at it more thoroughly now that I know it's legit. Sometimes you never know. :) I just read dmetler's (sorry if I misspelled your name) thread about math in a box. I'll have to check out mathcounts too. This is so great......I'm so excited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Slackermom's link and my first link are two parts of the same website. It's completely legit - no worries there! Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Slackermom's link and my first link are two parts of the same website. It's completely legit - no worries there! Have fun! Thank you! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here are some elementary level Math Handouts from my local Math Circle: http://precollegiate.stanford.edu/circle/math/smcelem.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here are some elementary level Math Handouts from my local Math Circle: http://precollegiate.stanford.edu/circle/math/smcelem.php Wow! This is great! Thank you! I was curious what one did for elementary students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here is a school club run by UW volunteers for 4th and 5th graders. http://www.math.washington.edu/~mathcircle/mmc/mmc.html If you dig through the archives it has some great stuff. The LA math circle also has great archives... http://www.math.ucla.edu/~radko/circles/archive.shtml?year=2013 The Early Elementary circle and the Junior circle are for elementary students. Neither of these is open and go, but hopefully they can give you some good ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 Here is a school club run by UW volunteers for 4th and 5th graders. http://www.math.washington.edu/~mathcircle/mmc/mmc.html If you dig through the archives it has some great stuff. The LA math circle also has great archives... http://www.math.ucla.edu/~radko/circles/archive.shtml?year=2013 The Early Elementary circle and the Junior circle are for elementary students. Neither of these is open and go, but hopefully they can give you some good ideas. That's great! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 We just got "accepted" (from a waiting list) into a local math circle. I am debating if it's right for my son and hoping to get advice from you. DS is 9 (fourth grade) and has just begun AOPS preA. He really enjoys math and seems to be good at it, but I have no idea if he has any above average abilities. So far we completed chapter one of preA without much difficulties. He has completed SM 1 through 5 and all of Beast. He has no trouble with aops, but was challenged by the challenge section. Do you think math circle would be appropriate place for him? Or should we wait couple of years? I really didn't think we were going to get in, so I am a little stamped about what to do now. Maybe yours is better than ours in terms of rigor. DD is a social creature, so she liked it a lot. Parents were not allowed to sit in and for awhile DD wouldn't elaborate what was happening in the class. When she finally admitted that it was easy but fun, I decided it was better to spend that hour doing something else which turned out to be AOPS online. It was actually a lot of hassle to get there, find parking, etc. My observation is that the kids who attended math circle were on level, whereas DD was already using AOPS last year. If the location were easier to access, I may have continued. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Maybe yours is better than ours in terms of rigor. DD is a social creature, so she liked it a lot. Parents were not allowed to sit in and for awhile DD wouldn't elaborate what was happening in the class. When she finally admitted that it was easy but fun, I decided it was better to spend that hour doing something else which turned out to be AOPS online. It was actually a lot of hassle to get there, find parking, etc. My observation is that the kids who attended math circle were on level, whereas DD was already using AOPS last year. If the location were easier to access, I may have continued. And I am afraid it's going yo be just super geniuses and my normal bright kid. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 And I am afraid it's going yo be just super geniuses and my normal bright kid. :)My 8 turning 9 year old's class has many quieter kids. The teacher emails a detailed summary of the problems done in class as well as the homework. Some mothers of accelerated kids in the private science class my boys attend say it was too simple for their kids so they didn't continue after a term. While the math so far is not hard for my kid, it was the first time he was in a class with more than 12 kids and he nearly cried out of fright. This kid has never been to B&M while my older had been in B&M class of 30 kids. The waiting room for parent is connect to the classroom my boy is in so I could hear everything the instructor say if I am in the waiting room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aly9712 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Slackermom's link and my first link are two parts of the same website. It's completely legit - no worries there! Have fun! Kathy, are you aware of anything local? I'm also in Richmond (henrico). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Kathy, are you aware of anything local? I'm also in Richmond (henrico). Sorry, I'm not aware of anything local (I'm in Chesterfield) :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Our local university hosts math circles for middle school and high school students. They bring in outside speakers. This is great, but sometimes these poor folks aren't adept at classroom management. (I sympathize because I fall into that category.) And in both classes there is a group of students who don't seem to want to be there, ie, they are not participating and instead talking loudly among themselves and are generally disrespectful. So I would recommend that if you have outside speakers come to your group, do them a favor and enforce classroom respect and discipline so they won't have to. And boot the kids who don't really want to be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I just wanted to share our experience. We have been participating in one recently, and we think it's the highlight of our week. It's been really focused on expanding logical thinking, proofs, and creative problem solving through a variety of puzzles. We have a mixture of elementary and middle schools kids. I would encourage those on the fence to go explore it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thank you for sharing your experience Roadrunner. There isn't one near where I live. This may be a dumb question, but does anyone know if I can start one even if my family travels? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Moebius noodles website has an email thing they send out and they recently had one on starting your own math circle. They are not a thing here in Aus that I know of and most people I know would look at me like I had two heads if I tried to start one. Sigh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Moebius noodles website has an email thing they send out and they recently had one on starting your own math circle. They are not a thing here in Aus that I know of and most people I know would look at me like I had two heads if I tried to start one. Sigh... Okay. Thank you. I'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 They are not a thing here in Aus that I know of and most people I know would look at me like I had two heads if I tried to start one. Sigh... There was math clubs in schools when I was a kid in Asia which is very similar to the math circle here. Even here math circle is not a term that my American born neighbors are familiar with but they remember math clubs. UNSW runs math enrichment club in Sydney for 8-12 years olds as afterschool activity. The problem sheets and soln. in below link https://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/highschool/unsw-mathematics-enrichment-club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 There was math clubs in schools when I was a kid in Asia which is very similar to the math circle here. Even here math circle is not a term that my American born neighbors are familiar with but they remember math clubs. UNSW runs math enrichment club in Sydney for 8-12 years olds as afterschool activity. The problem sheets and soln. in below link https://www.maths.unsw.edu.au/highschool/unsw-mathematics-enrichment-club Thank you for sharing. Thanks for the link as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 A facet of math circles is covered in this year end round up for the AMA. We end the year with a panoply of fascinating articles. There is an exposition of the study of Ramanujan’s mock theta function. Accompanying that is a review of a new film about Ramanujan. There is a study of Math Teachers’ Circles and an examination of the Kan extension seminar. Finally, there is a remembrance of the distinguished complex geometer Shoshichi Kobayashi. —Steven G. Krantz, EditorLink to online magazine, which is pretty wonderful. http://www.ams.org/notices/201411/Look for the third featured article.Contains outside links and email galore if you need more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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