Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Is anyone doing the AMC 8 exam this year? (This week is the deadline for standard shipping rates.) We did this last year and it was quite a stretching experience for the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) . Edited March 15, 2016 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Can you explain what you mean by "stretching experience"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Can you explain what you mean by "stretching experience"? A lot of other testing experiences have reasonable expectation that the student will know all or most of the answers. I don't think this is necessarily the case with AMC. My kids worked quite hard on it last year and were still far from getting 100%. It is the sort of test where you could walk out, happy if you were confident on half of the questions. You can see old exams (and solutions) at the Art of Problem Solving wiki. Some kids thrive on the challenge. Some need the kick in the pants that seeing what they don't know can provide. Some will end up very unhappy at a situation where answers are not easily visible or where they don't get everything right. So for some kids, the test is a great challenge and for others it might be a real discouragement. It's important to know which your kid is and act accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snickerdoodle Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thank you for explaining. So for some kids, the test is a great challenge and for others it might be a real discouragement. It's important to know which your kid is and act accordingly. I need to think on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Thank you for explaining. I need to think on this. Part of it is how the test is presented. I want to make sure my kids know that it is quite uncommon to get all of the problems right. That struggling with them isn't a sign of failure. That attitude toward the process and the experience is what I think is important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Do your kids take the AMC 8 through the local schools, your co-op, or your homeschool group? (The FAQ seems to discourage homeschool (groups) from applying without a 4-6 week waiting period for them to decide if you can take it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Do your kids take the AMC 8 through the local schools, your co-op, or your homeschool group? (The FAQ seems to discourage homeschool (groups) from applying without a 4-6 week waiting period for them to decide if you can take it.) My daughter signed up for the AMC 8 this year. She did not have any problems signing up, nor did we have to wait 4 to 6 weeks for approval. You could also call the AMC and ask them if you have concerns. You would need to find a proctor. Check with your school district to see if a math teacher would proctor the test for you, or you could contact your library to see if they have anyone who would be willing. Some librarians will proctor exams for a small fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I've got a group of kids (5) to take the exam this year. I arranged everything without a problem :) Dd has been practicing by taking some old tests we found in the AoPS wiki. She's already done a gazillion AMC 8/10/12 problems through the AoPS PreAlgebra, Algebra, and Intro to Counting and Probability texts. In fact, we learned about the AMC8 from the PreAlgebra book-----I thought there was only the 10 and 12 that my ds took in high school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 We did it last year, but I am in between kiddos this year for the 8 (and MathCounts :sad:.) I will have one taking the 10 and 12, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Yes, both my boys will be taking it this year. Not sure yet where, I am having a bear of a time finding a place to take it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 I'm off to the post office with our registration. I have a proctor and a room ready to go. Woo hoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 My dd11 will be taking it this year with our local math circle. She is excited! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merylvdm Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I have been running it in our homeschool group for years. The highest anyone in our group has ever scored is 21 I think out of 25. Usually our high score (out of about 20 kids) is around 17. Last year I started running a math club for 4th - 8th grade every second Wednesday afternoon. I do all kinds of math brain teasers and problems and math games - but also focus on the math contests (our group does a lot of different ones). I did work through quite a few AMC problems and all this definitely helped and we had the highest average score in our group ever. I like the contest because it make the kids think - and as parents we can see if they really grasp mathematical concepts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I'm off to the post office with our registration. I have a proctor and a room ready to go. Woo hoo. May i ask, who did you find to proctor it? Our librarians won't do it (one committed, then refused this week after seeing the teacher manual, ugh). I am working with the public school teacher who runs the math team, but she is really busy and doesn't seem to have time for this. There is a retired teacher who also coaches the math team and she said she will ask him but hasn't gotten to it yet. I don't have his contact info and the math club is not meeting yet. She is not offering it at the school. A semi-local learning center used to offer it but now the AMC folks don't allow that... but the learning center doesn't seem to believe that and is still taking sign ups. It's a mess! I did find a community college that will do it... their proctor fee is $35 per kid. I'm a bit irked that I will have to pay the school fee, the test bundle fee, a proctor fee, and now a late registration fee. I am still stunned about that librarian throwing a last minute hissy fit over the manual size! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mukmuk Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I've sucked in my gut and signed DS up. He's raring as he loves math, but he hasn't seen the test papers either :lol:. He did like puzzles before, then we had a long lull, after which he had a nice developmental spurt. The only thing I can say is, he's okay with getting stuff wrong, so I think it's alright to proceed. It's nice to know the averages (from the website) so I can advise him on what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisco Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I'm on the fence about signing my oldest up... he's not the competitive type, but I think it could be a good stretch/push for him. :001_unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I will sign up my dd11 through our local math circle at the university. She's taken a few old AMCs which you can buy on CD from MAA. She hasn't had a perfect score on the old exams, but is excited that her scores improve with each practice test. I didn't know AOPS had the exams for free. Bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 We've arranged for a local minister to Procter the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalmom Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 We're heading to a Saturday School in another city to take it. I couldn't find enough people interested locally to set it up this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 I talked our coop into hosting. Our proctor is another homeschool parent who does not have a kid testing. This is a mom who was a military officer, has proctored annual exams for years and runs some great science labs so I know she'll do a great job. Bummer about the librarian. Why can't the learning center host exams? The group we tested with last year seems to be testing again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I just saw this from the AMC. It is a zip code finder to locate schools giving the AMC. You must contact the school and the results will be sent to the school. Perhaps someone will find it helpful. Search for a school that is likely giving the AMC test Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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