mathnerd Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Has anyone used the Math Kangaroo practice book by Borac? Practice Tests in Math Kangaroo Style for Students in Grades 1-2 : http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Kangaroo-Students-Grades-Challenges/dp/0692235280 I am wondering if it has useful problem solving strategies? I need to do some math review with my son for the contest any way and this could be easier than printing out a lot of review worksheets for him. The other option is to buy sample test booklets from MK, of which, there are too many on their website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tattarrattat Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Have you checked the samples from Canadian Math Kangaroo website? HTH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Have you checked the samples from Canadian Math Kangaroo website? HTH Awesome resource! That does help a lot, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The Canadian site is MUCH better than the US one, so I second it. I'd also suggest subscribing to the MK US Facebook page for daily problems. We really don't prep for MK. My DD seems to just enjoy it as a social event with other kids who love math, and it always seems like she's totally fried by that time of year, but she does enjoy doing the problems scattered throughout the year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 The Canadian site is MUCH better than the US one, so I second it. I'd also suggest subscribing to the MK US Facebook page for daily problems. We really don't prep for MK. My DD seems to just enjoy it as a social event with other kids who love math, and it always seems like she's totally fried by that time of year, but she does enjoy doing the problems scattered throughout the year. Thank you! I went over to Facebook and found the daily problems on MK US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Do the Canadians take the same exams as MK students in the US? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I don't think it's exactly the same exam, but the question types are similar, and I've seen some of the same questions on the Canadian and US MK practice, so I don't think using the Canadian site to practice is a problem-and it's MUCH easier to navigate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1053 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTBernard Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I ordered this book for my DS. We are mostly wanting to practice due to the fact he has never done a fill in the bubble type of thing. This book has a total of 6 tests. I am not sure if that makes a difference to you, but I thought there would be more to it personally. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avilma Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 We have the book. It has 6 tests and their solutions. We also bought the available tests from MK website. We haven't done any of those but I have looked through them and I think that the questions in the book are a little bit harder than the questions in the real tests. We also looked at the Canadian website. Not only there are 18 problems on the Canadian test versus 24 on the USA test but some problems that are in the Canadian test are not in the USA test. I think the Canadian test is easier than the USA test. I really like MK type problems and wish there were more available for grades 1-2. They are great logical problems that can be done with a minimum of arithmetic. In fact since November when dd7 finished MEP 2 we have been doing only MK problems (No regular math). Right now we are doing level 3-4 problems and can see her problem solving ability improve every day. We plan to start with level 1-2 in February. The 14 tests that we have for level 1-2 (6 from the book and 8 from MK website) should be enough to fill the about 45 days from Feb 1 to the day of the test (we do about 30 min of math every day). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 We've been hosting the exams for several years and it's always been fun. And I've found the people who run MK in the US to be very accommodating of homeschoolers. I do have a small quibble with the quality of the exams. For example, when I use the word "midpoint" I'm usually thinking of the point on a line segment that divides it into two equal lengths. On a recent exam, the MK describes the "midpoint of a hexagon." I would have described it as the "center" of the hexagon. Again, it's a minor thing, but I wonder whether English is the first language for the exam writers? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 I ended up buying the book and am glad I did it. The first test ended in tears for DS. He literally does not stop to think or use scratch paper to work out steps. He did not comprehend what was asked accurately. We are having a lot of discussions on how to slow down, spot key words in the problems and to double check one's work. I am happy that I have time to coach him on these type of questions before the test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avilma Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I should have posted earlier about this. After I looked closely at the Borac book I decided not to use it with my second grade daughter. I said earlier that the problems seem more difficult than the real level 1-2 problems which should be fine. But the wording of many of those problems seems to be very confusing and worse some of them seem to have been designed to "get" the student. I thought my daughter would be reduced to tears. I am sorry this happened with your son. I think it probably is the book's problem not your son's. My suggestion is to buy the real tests from MK website. The 2013 test can be found here https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDAQFjAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bridgew.edu%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2F2013%2520all%2520levels.pdf&ei=wCnNVJLYOI3poASMoICwCw&usg=AFQjCNEXl4zrs3Lc7UGXcfYKMxzjQSUFpg&bvm=bv.85076809,d.cGU. As I said I have decided not to do the Borac book at this time (Probably will do it next year when she will be preparing for level 3) but if I were to do it today I would simply explain the solutions to my daughter instead of asking her to solve them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avilma Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 I found that the Pakistani Math Kangaroo web page has many past papers that seem to be identical with the USA tests for the same year. http://www.kangaroo.edu.pk/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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