mathcounts and AMC8 participation as individual homeschooler

[workingmom]

Has anyone had their dc participate as an individual (non team) for these. I have an 8th grader who would like to try and we've been looking into AMC. I just emailed and they said you can proctor up to a week after the set date. Is it a big hassle to register and take the tests. Does mathcounts offer an individual test or do you need to be a team?

[Julie of KY]

My son has competed in Mathcounts, initially as an individual, and more recently on a team of homeschoolers. For Mathcounts, you can sign up as a homeschool and register just one individual. Many schools send both a team and some individuals. Your son would do the sprint and target rounds just like everyone else. Here in our chapter, they match up groups of individuals to do the team teat together, but it is not graded. You compete in the chapter on whatever date the chapter competition is held in your area and you are treated as a school with only one competitor.

 

It was a hassle for me to set up a proctor for AMC, but worth it for my son. As far as I know the AMC 8 still has to be given on the national date.

[workingmom]

Thanks will definitely do the mathcounts then. 

[Kathy in Richmond]

two recent threads on MathCounts and AMC 8, with links to more:

 

Need help navigating math competitions

 

How to get kids to a renowned math competition

 

My kids participated in both as individuals & were able to advance to higher levels. As Julie said, the AMC 8 must be given on a specific date, usually a Tuesday just before Thanksgiving.

 

It's a bit of a hassle to do it on your own (time and $) but definitely worthwhile IMHO. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[Ravi B]

Unless the rules have changed recently, I believe the AMC 8 can be officially administered up to a week after the first date, provided the school has a conflicting event. Here's the AMC 8 Teachers' Manual from 2012:

http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/AMC/amc8/2012/2012-amc8TM.pdf

(See page 6.)

 

This year's announced date for the AMC 8 is Tuesday, November 19, 2013.

[workingmom]

Unless the rules have changed recently, I believe the AMC 8 can be officially administered up to a week after the first date, provided the school has a conflicting event. Here's the AMC 8 Teachers' Manual from 2012:

http://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/AMC/amc8/2012/2012-amc8TM.pdf

(See page 6.)

 

This year's announced date for the AMC 8 is Tuesday, November 19, 2013.

 

Yes, that's what they told me when I inquired. Upto a week.

 

Thanks for the previous post link

[fractalgal]

You may view a post I wrote about my 7th grade daughter's experience with MathCounts and the AMC8 (from the last school year). She competed as an individual in MathCounts and was given the AMC8 by a private school math teacher.  It was not a big hassle in our case. The experiences for both were positive for her.

[angela in ohio]

My middle dd is a math competition gal.

 

We did AMC-8 at the local public library. A friend with no children the right age for AMC-8 proctored, and I invited some other homeschool kiddos, since I had to pay for the tests anyway.

 

Her first year of MathCounts was the year homeschool teams were grandfathered for a year, and she joined an existing team. Her 8th grade year, we had moved, and I just called up the local coordinator (the city civil engineer) and registered her. She had a great experience. There were no other homeschoolers (I tried to get others involved, but this isn't an academic homeschool area. :( She knew a few kids from other things, and they let the "extra" kids take the team test for fun (and the teachers - I won a gift certificate to AOPS!) She advanced to the state competition, where there were other homeschoolers.

[workingmom]

If we register as a homeschool can we include other private school kids from other districts to take the test with us. ( you get 10 booklets)?

[Cosmos]

Another option for the AMC is to take it at a school that is already administering it. I looked up schools on the website and found one school in my area that does it.  I sent an email to the math department, saying I was a parent from XYZ town looking for a place for my son to take the AMC. They were very happy to accommodate.

 

Not all schools offer the test, so it's not an issue just for homeschoolers. For example, the public school in our town doesn't offer it, so even if ds went to school we'd be making the same request.

 

He also does MATHCOUNTS. Probably as an individual this year, because his teammates from past years have aged out.

[Kathy in Richmond]

If we register as a homeschool can we include other private school kids from other districts to take the test with us. ( you get 10 booklets)?

We did that in the past with dd's friend who attended a private school that didn't offer the AMCs. No problem.