ThomasT Posted August 12, 2023 Share Posted August 12, 2023 Math is my DD12's favorite subject. Though we, as parents, both have solid STEM background, she works through AoPS pre-algebra and algebra with very few intervention from us. She also attends local math circle since last year. Now, she is thinking about attending the coming AMC8 and AMC10. For AMC10, we are not sure she is ready because she has only learned some middle school Geometry through an online math camp this summer. How can we support/advise her? Suggest to work directly on previous contest problems, or take some crash courses?! Compared to the systematic learning based on a curriculum, we wonder if this will make the knowledge fragmented and is not a way to build solid foundation?! Kind of a distraction?! Or, it's better to accelerate/enrich math background first and have a longer-term plan?! We appreciate if you can share your experience and offer some suggestions. Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malam Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 (edited) Here are some resources for AMC 8/10 prep: https://artofproblemsolving.com/store/book/aops-vol1 https://daily.poshenloh.com/courses/0-introduction (live version) https://www.awesomemath.org/product/beginner-problem-solving-1-online/ On 8/12/2023 at 2:58 AM, ThomasT said: Compared to the systematic learning based on a curriculum, we wonder if this will make the knowledge fragmented and is not a way to build solid foundation?! Kind of a distraction?! Or, it's better to accelerate/enrich math background first and have a longer-term plan?! I think competition math exposes kids to areas of math that often aren't seen in the traditional curriculum, like combinatorics, numner theory, and probability. Ideally you would be doing regular curricular math with competition on top, rather than only practicing for competitions. I suspect she would get more out of past AMC 8 problems than past AMC 10 problems. Note that they problems get harder the later in the test you are, so it's helpful to focus on the problems in her "goldilocks zone" of not being too hard to even understand the solution but not being so easy she solves it without any effort or learning. Has she taken a recent AMC 8 exam yet? How has she done? Edited August 13, 2023 by Malam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 (edited) On 8/11/2023 at 11:58 PM, ThomasT said: How can we support/advise her? Suggest to work directly on previous contest problems, or take some crash courses?! Compared to the systematic learning based on a curriculum, we wonder if this will make the knowledge fragmented and is not a way to build solid foundation?! Kind of a distraction?! Or, it's better to accelerate/enrich math background first and have a longer-term plan?! The best way to prepare for these contests is to take the old exams at home and study the problems you could not solve. You can find them free at the AoPS wiki: https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/AMC_Problems_and_Solutions AoPS offers crash courses, and they are fun and I wouldn't dissuade students from taking them. But I think their ROI is low compared with self-study. I generally don't recommend using math contests in place of a systematic curriculum, though I do know a student who hated math curriculum, and learned algebra, geometry, c&p, and NT just by taking old MathCounts exams for 3 years, lol. Rather I would have your student take an old AMC, say, once a week or as often as you like. You can read about interleaving and spaced repetition, and see how supplementing with math contests helps with long-term memory. I made a little video about the AMCs for parents who are unfamiliar: Also, girls who do very well on the AMC should apply to Math Prize for Girls which I also highly recommend. Edited August 13, 2023 by daijobu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted August 13, 2023 Share Posted August 13, 2023 (edited) On 8/12/2023 at 6:58 PM, ThomasT said: Math is my DD12's favorite subject. Though we, as parents, both have solid STEM background, she works through AoPS pre-algebra and algebra with very few intervention from us. She also attends local math circle since last year. Now, she is thinking about attending the coming AMC8 and AMC10. For AMC10, we are not sure she is ready because she has only learned some middle school Geometry through an online math camp this summer. How can we support/advise her? Suggest to work directly on previous contest problems, or take some crash courses?! Compared to the systematic learning based on a curriculum, we wonder if this will make the knowledge fragmented and is not a way to build solid foundation?! Kind of a distraction?! Or, it's better to accelerate/enrich math background first and have a longer-term plan?! We appreciate if you can share your experience and offer some suggestions. Thank you! My older ds did math competitions, and it was a very important part of his life for 6 years. We are in NZ so didn't have exams that had questions like AMC or AIME; all of our competitions were proof based like the USAMTS. So I can't advise on how to prepare for the AMC. However, I can say what we did and you can ask me any questions you like. By 12yo, ds had finished AoPS intro A and geometry, and he decided to push through AoPS intro to combinatorics and number theory. This got him up to the level of being able to pass the exam to get into our national math camp. We then made a major push to up all 4 topics and complete the intermediate series over about 1.5 years. He did this with the AoPS classes to increase the pace he was working through the books. This was very effective and got him up to the next level in the competitions so that he could take the BMO, AMO, and APMO. At that point he started self studying with more advanced books and with cool proof based questions. The work he did in 11th and 12th grade allowed him to place out of 7 undergraduate classes. As for fragmented learning, this is simply not the way we did it. We did all 4 intro books then all 4 intermediate books. He did not do any practice questions from old exams during this time. However, his exams were proof based so AoPS prepared him well, and I believe that the AMC is multiple choice? I also think the AMC is more of a speed test, so I would assume that more drill and previous exams is required for your dd. As for distraction, absolutely not. The competitions were just a way to find people with shared interests, study together, and travel overseas (IMO 3 times). My ds is not really a competitive kid, it was more just a fun hobby that was a side effect of his love of math. He now has a Bachelor's degree in Maths and Physics, and is currently getting a PhD in physics in quantum computing. Because his math background was so strong in high school, he was able to take 2 undergrad courses and 7 graduate level math courses for his undergrad math major. This means that now in his PhD, his math background is stronger than any other PhD student in physics at his school because his undergrad was basically all grad classes. Given he is in theoretical physics, his strong math background is incredibly useful. This was just our experience, but I'm happy to answer questions. Ruth in NZ Edited August 13, 2023 by lewelma 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malam Posted August 15, 2023 Share Posted August 15, 2023 And don't forget https://www.integirls.org/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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