How to get co-op kids to a renown math competition?

[Iskra]

So here's a little background info. We are part of a homeschool co-op that is a member of ACSI. Through ACSI we offer our students the opportunity to compete in the ACSI math olympics by mail for grades 3-8, which means on a certain date all the different schools that are members of ACSI give the same tests to their participating students (each at their own school), then each school mails the completed tests to a scoring station, and then the scoring station mails results back, including who won 1st,2nd,etc place in the district, and that's it. There is no regional, national etc. level after that and also the problems on these tests seem like regular problems that you find in curriculum workbooks and textbooks, so they don't seem very challenging to me at all. Those are 2 out of the 4 reasons that I am not crazy about this competition, the other 2 being that the test are organized in 11min. rounds so they are designed to reward speed instead of deep thinking and reason 4 is that they don't seem to prepare you for the kind of rigorous math competitions that are available to mathematically talented high school students like the math Olympiad etc.

I want to get involved into bringing some better math competitions into our co-op, or perhaps I should say bring our co-op kids to some world class competitions. I'm thinking of grades 3 to 8, what are the best options out there that accept homeschoolers and/or non chartered schools?

Here's my plan: I would like to teach a challenging competition prep class at the co-op and then have the kids participate in the competitions. Does it sound like a good plan? What are the best competitions out there and what are the necessary steps to make this happen?

[Dmmetler]

Continental Math League pythagorean division is fairly challenging and is national, and is homeschool team and individual homeschooler-friendly. Math Kangaroo is another option that's quite challenging, and different groups can set up to host a site if there isn't one locally. Students register independently, so there's no problem with homeschoolers My DD did both of these for the first time this year. Noetic Math league is another option-my DD hasn't done that one yet. It seems similar to CML.

[Iskra]

Thanks, I'm wondering if the ones you listed are a good path towards the AMC competitions? In other words, did kids that go to AMC usually participate in CML and Math Kangaroo when they were younger? I don't know if this question even makes sense, but my goal is AMC when they are ready.

Speaking of AMC, can a homeschooler or a non-chartered school register with them? Or if not, can we find a local school that's registered and participate that way (I'm in Ohio)?

And what about mathcounts? Does anyone know if that is open to non-chartered schools? I know I read somewhere that individual homeschoolers are not welcome, but perhaps as a part of a non-chartered school?

[Belacqua]

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, individual homeschoolers are very welcome in Mathcounts. They've vacillated somewhat on homeschooled teams (they'd had some trouble not with real homeschoolers but with people claiming to be homeschooled so they could make artificially strong teams), but last I heard, teams of homeschoolers were able to compete.

 

And homeschooled students can definitely register for the AMC exams (but they can also take the test at a school that offers the exam).

[Kathy in Richmond]

Purple Comet is a terrific competition for groups & has a middle school division (& is very homeschool friendly).

 

I'll second MathCounts enthusiastically.

 

Also, for your age group, the MOEMS program is perfect.

 

All of these emphasize deep reasoning over speed & memorization, so they'd lead well into AMC in later years.

 

Sure, homeschoolers take AMC exams. We did it solo and in groups for years & years.

 

Lucky you, you have a group to work with! That's the hard part. Good luck & have fun.

[Iskra]

Unless things have changed in the last couple of years, individual homeschoolers are very welcome in Mathcounts. They've vacillated somewhat on homeschooled teams (they'd had some trouble not with real homeschoolers but with people claiming to be homeschooled so they could make artificially strong teams), but last I heard, teams of homeschoolers were able to compete.

 

 

Thanks for this! You are right. I checked on the website and homeschoolers can register too. I shouldn't listen to rumors:)

[daijobu]

I will second MOEMS for elementary and middle school students as a nice prep for AMC. Here is what I've been doing for the past 3 years.

 

During the off-season, I send out email announcements to local homeschoolers about a practice MOEMS exam, which I photocopy out one of their books of old exams for this purpose. We take the exam together (parents are welcome), then we go through the problems at the white board, with the students leading the discussion of how they solved each problem. The exam takes a half hour, the discussion takes a half hour and we're done. It's convenient, easy to schedule, the kids learn a lot of good problem-solving, and parents and students get a sense of whether it's right for them.

 

Then during the official season (Nov-March), we basically do the same thing except they turn in their exam to me before the discussion, I report scores to the official MOEMS website. At the end of the season, I present all students with certificates, and additional awards they may have earned. It's all very nice and easy.

 

I will say that the MOEMS people haven't seemed to make up their minds about homeschoolers yet. They've imposed some weird rules about when we can and can't give the exam, conflicting and contradicting rules. It's all weird. I try to adhere to the rules as best I can and stay under the radar.

 

Math Kangaroo is very homeschool friendly. Maria, who is in charge, responds to my email questions quickly and rationally. :001_smile: The exams start in 1st grade and get progressively more difficult, all the way through high school. It's over an hour, and only once a year, but it's great prep.

 

I had my first MathCounts team last year without any problems. There is additional paperwork for homeschoolers, including affirming that all teammates live in the geographic area of the particular chapter...without telling what those boundaries actually are. I found much of success with MC depends on being fast, rather than deep thinking (a topic for another thread), but it's still worthwhile, fun math activity.

 

Let me know if you have any questions about these exams.