omd21 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 DD13 is very interested in participating. There are no homeschool teams in our state so we'd have to start one. How hard is it to coach a team? Are there any materials to prepare me so they actually have a shot at success? I'm not a math person, DD is. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaben Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 MathCounts actually has a fairly precanned set of lesson plans to get started that you could go off of. PM me and I could put you in touch with a friend of mine who is fairly active within the group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 First check out the free online MathCounts handbook. See also this thread http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/556228-aops-mathcounts-trainer/?hl=%2Bmathcounts&do=findComment&comment=6445393 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Check out the MathCounts Minis. They are problem sets and videos by Richard himself, so your student can self-study and prepare for the exam. Registering a team is easy, especially if it is just for your dd. I have a team of just 3-4 homeschooled students this year and we meet once a week to review old exams. MC is very friendly to homeschoolers. LMK if you have further questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I have a team of just 3-4 homeschooled students this year and we meet once a week to review old exams. MC is very friendly to homeschoolers. LMK if you have further questions.Do you need an umbrella group or is it okay as long as it is a group of homeschoolers with PSA? DS10 is ambivalent else I could tag on to yours since my county is contiguous to yours. His friends' parents are interested :lol: Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Do you need an umbrella group or is it okay as long as it is a group of homeschoolers with PSA? DS10 is ambivalent else I could tag on to yours since my county is contiguous to yours. His friends' parents are interested :lol: Good luck Oh, too bad, you aren't in Peninsula Chapter? Because I could really use another student on our team. We don't have an umbrella group, we're all just a bunch of independent homeschoolers. On the homeschool participation form, we all write "<LastName> Family Homeschool," because that was what I was told to do when I called them. I've called them a few times with one question or another, and they are very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Oh, too bad, you aren't in Peninsula Chapter? Because I could really use another student on our team. ETA: We are in santa clara valley chapter, didn't realise there are chapter boundaries. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Mathcounts is easy. My first year I only registered my son as an individual competitor. For the past many years, I've been taking a team both to chapter and state. For a team, Mathcounts does have some requirements about living within your chapter and you sign a form saying you legally homeschool, etc. Mathcounts provides a Club in a Box if you have a group of at least four, but you can easily do it without this as well. Once you register, you have access to the website with all the past club materials that you can download. Take old tests for practice. Mathcounts mini's are great as well - google for the Mathcount mini website with the worksheets that go with the videos. If you have specific questions, I'd be glad to answer if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Mathcounts is easy. My first year I only registered my son as an individual competitor. For the past many years, I've been taking a team both to chapter and state. For a team, Mathcounts does have some requirements about living within your chapter and you sign a form saying you legally homeschool, etc. Mathcounts provides a Club in a Box if you have a group of at least four, but you can easily do it without this as well. Once you register, you have access to the website with all the past club materials that you can download. Take old tests for practice. Mathcounts mini's are great as well - google for the Mathcount mini website with the worksheets that go with the videos. If you have specific questions, I'd be glad to answer if I can. How was the experience for your DS competing as an individual? We are considering that approach, but I was wondering if it will diminish the experience. (We live in an area where the only team is at the middle school-and they are very hostile to homeschoolers.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I'm considering having my DD do it as an individual as well. I barely have enough kids to get the Math Club in a box, and for the most part, they aren't interested in competing (the two I have who are are in two different STATES-plus the other attends a charter school and can't be on a homeschool team). I think she'd enjoy it, even though she's unlikely to be competitive. She's good at math, but she tends to do the required minimum and head on to science or writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 My son had a lot of fun as an individual (6th grade). As a 7th grader, we recruited two friends and had a "team" of 3. As an eighth grader we had a full team of four and now I take about 8 to chapter. The experience is very similar as an individual compared to a team, other than you don't have friends to compare answers with at breaks. As a 6th grader, my son won "best" in his school (only one) and best new school. I would definitely recommend going as an individual. It makes no difference if the schools are hostile to homeschoolers or not since you aren't allowed to join their team even if they were friendly. Same problem with crossing geographic borders - everyone on the team must live in the geographic confines of your chapter -- you could meet together for club activities and then compete in different chapters if necessary. I have found most of the teachers and administrators very nice and excited that we are participating as homeschoolers. I have also found that Mathcounts takes some average students and inspires them to learn more math for the next year. It has been very positive for us. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJosMom Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Thank you for the information, Julie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 My son had a lot of fun as an individual (6th grade). As a 7th grader, we recruited two friends and had a "team" of 3. Did they let you do team round with 3 students? (This may be my situation this year.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Did they let you do team round with 3 students? (This may be my situation this year.) Yes, we signed up as a three person team. You can choose to sign up as three individuals or as a team (which is slightly more expensive as you are paying for four). For your team score, they average all four individual scores (so you are averaging in a zero) and then add the team test to it. Annoying as we placed not far from getting a trophy even with a zero averaged in, but I still thought it better to have a team. Since then my homeschool team has won trophies yearly at our chapter and sent students to state every year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mozwo Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 I signed up DS 10 and DS 12 as individuals this time but it will be great for us to be able to join a team. We are in the Peninsula chapter as well. Boys are excited for the challenge. There seems to be a ton of material out there including the recent AOPS mathcounts trainer ( now available on IPAD offline) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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