Math Olympiad

Taught by Dr. Ahn

Division E (5th and 6th)

Division M (7th and 8th)

Goal: Develop analytical and critical thinking process

Picture above: Dr. Ahn coaches Whitney High 7-8th graders for Math Olympiad at school classroom. His regular classes are now one-on-one private.) - Image is blurred for privacy.

What is Math Olympiad?

Created in 1977 by Dr. George Lenchner, the Math Olympiad went public in 1979.

Test Dates: A total of 5 tests, each in November, December, January, February and March each year.

Number of Participants: In 2017-18, nearly 180,000 students from 6,000 teams worldwide participated in the Olympiads. All 50 States and about 30 other countries were represented.

Formats: 5 problems of short answers in each test. 30 minutes are allowed for 1 set of 5 problems.

At the end of March test, students are ranked according to how many, out of 25 problems, students got correct answers. Various awards are given to students in May.

What are the eligibility to participate?

Any student who is willing to take challenges in math can participate in the training and competition.

Usually 4th graders are a bit premature to undertake the training. However, 4th graders are eligible. Even some talented 3rd graders can participate.

Time table memorization is a must before taking this course.

What type of problems are they being trained for?

Problems relating to clock, coins, cards, probability, dice, number theory, divisibility rules, sudoku, puzzles, calendar and much more.

How is Dr. Ahn training students?

After students solve each problem, they share how they tackled the problems with Dr. Ahn. In many situations, Dr. Ahn presents the simplest methods students can utilize for similar future problems.

They will analyze the seemingly hard problems in order to convert them into simpler scenarios by figuring out patterns or shortcuts.

When Dr. Ahn occasionally teaches shortcuts, they are not tricks. They are logically and systemically explained how those work. Students are not locked into thinking in one way. He encourages students to be creative in approaching problems.

How will this course help my child in school math?

In many ways! Simple math solving technique they learned in school is enhanced by word problems that are twisted or convoluted. Once students get comfortable with these competition style math problems, they find school math relatively easy.

Especially nowadays, students have Common Core Math which emphasizes students' understanding of math in the real world, which is in alignment with what competition math can provide and much more.

Math Olympiad

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