lamppost Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I think I'd like to sign up my 1st grader for this and I'm hoping somebody can give me a rundown on what the experience is like. First of all, I guess on the day of- which for this school year will be March 20, 2014- you take your kid to a local "public center" to do the test? There's not one super close to me, and I see a mention of semi-private centers... does anyone have experience with setting up a semi-private center? I think the only current public center I could reasonably drive to is just somebody's house that I don't know and that feels awkward- I'd rather take her to someplace truly public like a school. Second, how do you help your child prepare for this? I have found some past exams, but I'm feeling sort of at a loss as to what to do with them. Should I just hand them to her and have her try to puzzle through them? Or show her some problem-solving strategies? I've always personally been a more intuitive person when it comes to math and I'm not confident that I'd be good at helping her with that. Any other tips or experiences you'd care to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 We did it last year-there's a group that sets up a center at a library about 10 minutes from there, and DD was able to take it with them. I had her do some practice problems from the MK site online, but otherwise, I figured she could wing it. She had fun, and saw some of the kids she'd seen at other contests. What I found from MK is that my DD is great at numerical problems, but not so good at visual ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 My dds did Math Kangaroo (4th and 5th grade). Our center is about 5 mins away, so I can't offer advice regarding other venues. As for prep, I had dds take a few practice tests. Then, we'd go over any problems together that they had trouble with. However, they were a bit older than your dd. For a 1st grader, I think I would get a practice test and work through the problems together to get a feel for how comfortable she is with the problems and format. Then, if it seems like something she is comfortable with, work through a few more tests together, perhaps giving her more leeway to work through a number of problems on her own. Otherwise, I wouldn't do a lot of actual "prep". I would make sure she is using a solid core math program (Singapore is what we used). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I'm so glad you posted about this. After dd did Mathnasium Trimathlon last year I tried to find other competitions near me with no luck. I just looked this up and there is a location 15 miles from us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 We've done it for 3 years now. For the elementary, 1-2 have the same questions but the 1st graders are graded against other 1st graders etc. 3-4 also have the same questions and 5-6. I can't remember if the higher grades are also combined or not. Most centers do not show up until onwards the end of the year so if you keep looking, other centers may open up that will be more acceptable to you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponichka Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 We've done MK a few times. Our community tends to use the same center. However, over the years the number of centers in the area have grown dramatically. Although we do practice tests, when it comes to the actual exam more than 50% of the problems usually look unfamiliar. My son is doing good, but at times he misinterprets the actual question when it comes to the word problems. This is something that he is trying to focus on. I think I'd like to sign up my 1st grader for this and I'm hoping somebody can give me a rundown on what the experience is like. First of all, I guess on the day of- which for this school year will be March 20, 2014- you take your kid to a local "public center" to do the test? There's not one super close to me, and I see a mention of semi-private centers... does anyone have experience with setting up a semi-private center? I think the only current public center I could reasonably drive to is just somebody's house that I don't know and that feels awkward- I'd rather take her to someplace truly public like a school. Second, how do you help your child prepare for this? I have found some past exams, but I'm feeling sort of at a loss as to what to do with them. Should I just hand them to her and have her try to puzzle through them? Or show her some problem-solving strategies? I've always personally been a more intuitive person when it comes to math and I'm not confident that I'd be good at helping her with that. Any other tips or experiences you'd care to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnegurochkaL Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I just found out that there is a new center located 10 minutes away from our house so I am planning my 2 oldest kids to participate next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 experience with setting up a semi-private center? I think the only current public center I could reasonably drive to is just somebody's house that I don't know and that feels awkward- I'd rather take her to someplace truly public like a school. (I'm catching up on old WTM posts, so I'm a little late here.) I've hosted a public center at the local library for 3 years now. MK is very homeschool-friendly, and if you have any questions, you can email them and you will receive a response very quickly. I've really appreciated that. You shouldn't feel uncomfortable for their sake about attending a public center. My center is public, and I understand that anyone can sign up, anyone can show up. I didn't host a private center because I didn't want the hassle of collecting fees and all the admin work. I give up some control over who shows up in return for them keeping track of everything. Overall, I've found hosting MK to be relatively easy. They are organized and I've received my materials in a timely fashion. They are very responsive to email communication. I suspect English isn't the first language for the folks organizing, so sometimes I've had a little difficulty parsing their communications, but it's been more humorous than inconvenient. All the kids get token toys as prizes, so it's very fun. If you have more questions about MK, let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 And the t-shirt! Don't forget the t-shirt! I think that's DD's favorite part. After all, there are all these kids wearing their team shirts after sports season, most dance studios do recital t-shirts each year, and so on, so for her to have a MATH competition t-shirt is just, in her eyes, one more recognition that math IS her sport ;). I would suggest, if you want practice problems, using the Canadian site. It's set up better than the US one, and has a "problem of the day". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamppost Posted October 4, 2013 Author Share Posted October 4, 2013 I didn't host a private center because I didn't want the hassle of collecting fees and all the admin work. I give up some control over who shows up in return for them keeping track of everything. Overall, I've found hosting MK to be relatively easy. They are organized and I've received my materials in a timely fashion. Oh okay, so hosting a public center is easier? What do you have to do yourself in order to host the public center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 You need a location. I use a community room at the library. If your son/daughter is taking the exam, you need a person to proctor. I hire a local homeschooled teen to do this job. (I wait outside the exam room while he's inside. Then after the exam he hands the scantrons to me to mail in. I know, I know.) You email Maria or whoever is in charge at MK HQ that you want to host a center. She'll thank you profusely and walk you through the process of getting the registration process set up at their website. The best thing is you can pick how many students to host. I only take a dozen, since that's about as many as I can manage. Plus, we only have that many tables. ETA: If your site is public, you will receive emails for every student who registers at your site. As a bonus, your children will be able to register for free. Ask Maria how to arrange this. A few weeks before the exam they mail to you the exams, t shirts, toys, pencils, etc.. Bring all that stuff on exam day, meet up with your proctor, greet all the kids. After the exam, you mail the scantrons to MK HQ. Since we admin the exam relatively early in the day, we can't let the students go home with their exams, so I mail it to them later. If you host your exam in the evening I believe you can let them take their exams home. If you do decide to go through with it, I have a bunch more detailed info I can share with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Oh okay, so hosting a public center is easier? Not necessarily. If you prefer to host only your kids and their friends or people you know well, you may want to keep your center private. At my site, anyone can sign up. Plus I field emails all year long from desperate parents who beg me to make extra room for their kids because every place else is full! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 There is no center in our city, but I did manage to sign DD up in the suburbs. I'm very tempted to host in March 2015. So the first step is to look for a place, like a room in a library. Does it have to be separate desks or can one large table and 10 chairs around it suffice? I'm going next week to see how easy it is to reserve a room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 9, 2013 Share Posted October 9, 2013 Our site is at a library where the room has long tables, and what they do is to put kids doing the same grade level scattered, so you might have a 1st grader, 3rd grader, 5th grader and 9th grader at one table, but no two kids doing the same test. Here, as long as it's not an activity you're making money on, you can use a library conference room for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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