All About Math Olympiad Training & Questions

[turquoise]

Merlion:

> Maths should be fun & Olympiad Maths can be fun if no pressure is given to the child.


I agree but it is real hard not to have pressure these days. Singapore IMO team trained for 2 months (full time) for the recent IMO in Germany. I heard that the team members did nothing but maths for 2 whole months. They fall behind in other school subjects and now have to work extra hard to get back. :?:

If they are passionate about Math I don't think it's a sacrifice. It's just like being very involved in a sport. You train very hard for the competition, sometimes at the expense of your schoolwork. But you derive a lot of satisfaction from the hard work you put in.

[acforfamily]

turquoise:

Merlion:

> Maths should be fun & Olympiad Maths can be fun if no pressure is given to the child. .

It's just like being very involved in a sport. You train very hard for the competition, sometimes at the expense of your schoolwork. But you derive a lot of satisfaction from the hard work you put in.

Totally agree. I trained very hard for my sport in my JC days (yes, my schoolwork took a backseat) and the reward was a medal. Now, years later, is it the medal that I remembered or the grades that I achieved in JC?

It is important to remember not to 'force' your child into anything, be it sports / arts / maths etc. If he loves what he is doing, it will not be considered a 'sacrifice'.

[MdmKS]

Merlion:

> Wondering why he was not in the GEP programme?


GEP selection is based on maths and english, not just maths alone.

>How? First parents can start drilling them or send their kids for special training to take an important exam in P3. If the child is selected, he/she is gifted

Please try to look thing in a bigger picture. Not all GEP kids went through \"special training\" or \"drilling\", there are a lot of truely talented kids in GEP. Do you have a better way than current system to do GEP screening? If so, please call GEP branch and suggest to them. There are a lot of talented kids in both GEP and mainstream. As long as you are gifted, you will be discovered and recognized somedays.

To get selected for \"GEP\" programme here, first English must be good enough to interpret the math question correctly.

[Merlion]

I think the english used in maths problem (in GEP selection test or PSLE or MO competitions) is usually plain and simple. Students should not have problem understanding it. But whether they know how to solve it is another issue.

[MdmKS]

Merlion:

I think the english used in maths problem (in GEP selection test or PSLE or MO competitions) is usually plain and simple. Students should not have problem understanding it. But whether they know how to solve it is another issue.

The English paper, compre and close are not easy too.

[kiasiparent]

mjl:

lim jeck has neither received formal training in primary school (a neighbourhood sch, not any of the GEP schools who get maths trainers to teach the p4-6 GEP maths) nor in any training centres. he only gets the maths training at NUS High (part of the school maths curriculum) and at NUS (after doing well in SMO and got selected into the national-level training teams).


I think external training is not necessary if one is passionate about the subject and has some talent in it.

How you know lim jeck's primary school didnt hire MO trainer to train the class? :shock:

[mjl]

kiasiparent:

mjl:

lim jeck has neither received formal training in primary school (a neighbourhood sch, not any of the GEP schools who get maths trainers to teach the p4-6 GEP maths) nor in any training centres. he only gets the maths training at NUS High (part of the school maths curriculum) and at NUS (after doing well in SMO and got selected into the national-level training teams).


I think external training is not necessary if one is passionate about the subject and has some talent in it.

How you know lim jeck's primary school didnt hire MO trainer to train the class? :shock:

My daughter is from the same primary school (Queenstown Primary). No MO trainer was hired. He was the only student with Platinum award in SMOPS in the school's history.

[turquoise]

I understand his older sister also does very well at Math Olympiads. Perhaps they had external training in primary school?

[justbehappy]

turquoise:

I understand his older sister also does very well at Math Olympiads. Perhaps they had external training in primary school?

I happen to know them, they did not have any external/formal training when they were in primary school. Formal training for them starts when they go to sec sch. Schools like RI, RGS, NUSH and HCI have their own regular MO training in the school - could be conducted by seniors, teachers or external trainers. These few schools usually take majority of the top 30 positions in the MO competitions in Singapore. Then the good ones will be selected to join the jnr/snr/national team training conducted at NUS Maths Dept. These are all free training (by the schools and by NUS), no need to pay a cent

[JustKP]

justbehappy:

I happen to know them, they did not have any external/formal training when they were in primary school. Formal training for them starts when they go to sec sch. Schools like RI, RGS, NUSH and HCI have their own regular MO training in the school - could be conducted by seniors, teachers or external trainers. These few schools usually take majority of the top 30 positions in the MO competitions in Singapore. Then the good ones will be selected to join the jnr/snr/national team training conducted at NUS Maths Dept. These are all free training (by the schools and by NUS), no need to pay a cent

If he can get platinum award in primary school without any training, he is really a rare talent! Are his parents also good in Maths?