Elementary School Math Competitions held in the USA and Australia
Updated: Feb 24
Math competitions are an interesting way of improving the problem-solving skills of students. They also allow the students to show off their math skills. The kids start seeing math as something more than just memorising a bunch of facts and formulae. Their love for learning increases. To read about the Advantages of preparing your Elementary student for Math Competitions click here.
For the academic year 2020-2021, the competition season is almost upon us. The first competition starts as early as November and we need to prepare for it. But for us to reap the above-mentioned benefits and prepare for the competitions, we need to know what's available right? So here are some Math competitions for Elementary students.
(For Australia, New Zealand, Singapore Malaysia - check out the end of the blog for AMC - Australian Mathematics Competition and APSMO Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads)
Math Competitions in the US
Math Competitions held in Australia
Online Math Competitions and Math Competitions for Homeschoolers
Math Competitions in the US
1) MOEMS (Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools):
It consists of 5 contests held from November to March. Each test is for 30 min and consists of 5 questions and the kids need to write the answers in the space provided. Pretty challenging but really gears up the students to take on the Middle School curriculum. Once the kids get used to Problem-solving they really enjoy this challenge.
Grades: 4-6 and 6-8
Enrolment: Through schools or registered institutions only http://www.moems.org/enroll.htm -
Post-COVID they have opened up individual registration as well.
Open for individual enrolment: No (Yes after COVID)
Important dates:
Contest 1 - November,
Contest 2 - December,
Contest 3- January,
Contest 4 - February
Contest 5 - March
Books to Prepare: These are past papers to help you prepare for the competitions. Hints and detailed solutions are also available in these books
1) Math Olympiad Contest Problems for Elementary and Middle Schools, Vol. 1
2) Math Olympiad Contest Problems, Volume 2
3) MOEMS Contest Problems, Volume 3
2) CML (Continental Math League)
This also consists of 5 contests to be taken from November to March (for grades 4-6). Each test is 30 min and has 6 questions. You can enrol in either of the 2 divisions - the Pythagorean division or Euclidean division for each grade level. The Pythagorean division requires above-average problem-solving skills and Euclidean requires average problem-solving skills. But I've generally found that both levels are slightly easier than MOEMS.
So, this is an excellent competition to start if you're new to problem-solving and kids as young as Grade 2 can register. For grades 2-3 there are only 3 contests to be taken between November and January. If you are enrolling as an individual, the tests can also be taken at home!
Grades: 2-3, 4-6 and 7-9 and there's also Calculus
Enrolment: Can enrol through school or as an individual
If enrolling as an individual you'll need to email them and ask them for individual registration
https://www.cmleague.com/product-category/cml/ Chose the grade and division.
Open for individual enrolment: Yes
Registration deadline: Before the contests start. They are not extremely strict about it though. But it's good to register and prepare beforehand.
Books to prepare: These are questions from past competitions
For grades 2-3:
2011-2015 CML competition problems
2016-2020 CML competitions problems
For grades 4-6:
1996-2000 CML competition problems pdf free download. This is a really old one but it still gives you an idea of what to expect.
CMLgrades4-6pdf
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Download • 2.06MB
2011-2015 CML competition problems
2016-2020 CML competition problems
Continental Math League (CML) Practice problems and Sample papers
Sample grade 2 CML test
Sample grade 3 CML test
Sample grade 4 CML Euclidean test