HomeForNow Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 2021-2022 MATHCOUNTS Registration Is now Open (not sure when it appeared - just noticed it). Main page https://www.mathcounts.org/programs/mathcounts-competition-series Registration https://www.mathcounts.org/registration/login?destination=/registration It looks like it's back to the standard 4 levels in the MATHCOUNTS Competition Series: school, chapter, state and national (so "chapter invitational" level was for 2020-21 only). Schools can now have a team of 4 plus 8 individuals (total 12), so 2 more individuals than before. Home schoolers have the same rules as before, and can make a team or compete as individuals (which is what our son did for 3 years). But what is a big deal for us is that the "Non-School Competitor (NSC)" category, which was newly introduced last year, has been continued, which wasn't a sure thing. This means that students who are in a school that does not compete in Mathcounts can compete as individuals, similarly to homeschoolers. It used to be that students in this category (attending a non-Mathcounts-competing school) were out of luck and could not compete in Mathcounts. This means our daughter can compete (as she could last year) just because of this NSC category. Yay! 🙂 NSC registration https://www.mathcounts.org/programs/non-school-competitor-registration Rules https://www.mathcounts.org/programs/official-rules-procedures Good luck everyone. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Yes, I was fairly shocked that a school would actually object to a MathCounts team being formed, even if there was no cost to the school. I did learn a few things volunteering for MathCounts this year: (i) During the pandemic, some schools dropped all ECs completely as a matter of policy. (ii) Some schools only allow for some number of ECs at their school. Adding MathCounts to the mix would mean some other EC would need to be removed. (iii) There have been instances where a school lacked a MathCounts team, and 2 parents at the same school would form 2 separate teams in the school's name. The chapter would tell the parents to sort it out so one school fields only one team. (iii) You can't compete as an NSC if your school is fielding a MathCounts team as well. Also there can be no more than 12 NSCs attending the same school. It sounds like if you are the 13th students to register you are out of luck. I'm glad to hear your student can participate! Did her school offer a reason for not particpating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Homeschoolers (at least in our state, I don't know if it's the same in every state?) can also form their own homeschool team if they have a enough homeschoolers to form one. DS14 competed on a homeschool team the past 3 years. We had to sign an affidavit form that the students on the team were truly homeschooled as their legal form of education. DS12 also competed this past year on the homeschool team, but I am not sure if the team will continue this year....so I am glad he can register as a non-school competitor if the team doesn't continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 3 hours ago, kirstenhill said: Homeschoolers (at least in our state, I don't know if it's the same in every state?) can also form their own homeschool team if they have a enough homeschoolers to form one. DS14 competed on a homeschool team the past 3 years. We had to sign an affidavit form that the students on the team were truly homeschooled as their legal form of education. DS12 also competed this past year on the homeschool team, but I am not sure if the team will continue this year....so I am glad he can register as a non-school competitor if the team doesn't continue. Homeschoolers can not be NSCs. Only students who are enrolled in a regular school which does not have a MathCounts team can compete as an NSC. But! The good news is that homeschoolers can compete as individuals, though it's infinitely better if you can have 4 students at a minimum on your team, so you can participate fully in all the events. If you have 1-3 homeschooled students, they can still compete as individuals, but won't be able to fully compete in the Team Round. Since all the schools showing up at chapter competition typically have 10 students on their team, it's nice as homeschoolers to show up with at least one other friend, and preferably more. Good luck this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 47 minutes ago, daijobu said: Homeschoolers can not be NSCs. Only students who are enrolled in a regular school which does not have a MathCounts team can compete as an NSC. But! The good news is that homeschoolers can compete as individuals, though it's infinitely better if you can have 4 students at a minimum on your team, so you can participate fully in all the events. If you have 1-3 homeschooled students, they can still compete as individuals, but won't be able to fully compete in the Team Round. Since all the schools showing up at chapter competition typically have 10 students on their team, it's nice as homeschoolers to show up with at least one other friend, and preferably more. Good luck this year! Thanks for the clarification. We've had two different families leading the homeschool team over the past three years, and I got the impression from them you needed 4+ to compete as homeschoolers, but I probably misunderstood that what they needed was 4+ students to be able to dodo the team round. Both the families that led the team had high school age kids who did most of the coaching, with the parents helping oversee the paperwork, etc for the team. But both of the high school students who did the actual coaching have graduated, so I'm not sure what the team status is. The boys enjoyed meeting together as a team to practice (or meeting together online as the case was last year), but maybe we could still get a group together at least for the competition even if we don't have anyone willing to meet with them on an ongoing basis for coaching. I think my older DS would be able to grow into a role as a coach for the middle schoolers, but I am not sure how it would work schedule-wise with him heading to public school in the fall. I'm not sure if the other homeschool families would be willing to meet at a time that is conducive to his availability. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirstenhill Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Well, I agreed to take the baton of the homeschool mathcounts team that my kids were a part of last year....wish me luck! 😳 My 14 year old DS will be doing most of the actual coaching, as he participated the last three years and really enjoys helping younger kids with math. So I will get to be the planner/organizer/adult supervision and I am hoping he will do most of the leading in the problem solving practice with the team. We have three students so far including my 12 year old DS...hoping we can find at least one more for a full team! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.