Mathlete Madness: Club MATHCOUNTS para estudiantes no escolarizados

MATHCOUNTS is a nationwide math competition and math puzzle club for students in the US (but this class is open to everyone). 

Why should my student take this class?
These types of exams and puzzles are great for building the types of test-taking skills that will help your learner do well in standardized tests, entrance exams, competency exams, and college courses. Participation in MATHCOUNTS is a great thing to add to a college application. For some kids, competition is a real motivator. For others, the playful and tricky nature of these problems is a refreshing and inspiring approach to math. And that infectious enthusiasm can easily spread to other math and science school work.

While the competition itself is only open to US students in 6-8th grades, any student is welcome to take this Math Club class. For example, students might also:
1) take it for fun, or 
2) take it to prepare for a Math Olympiad outside of the US, or 
3) take it while in 4th or 5th grades to help prepare for when they are eligible to compete.

The MATHCOUNTS Club is usually run by a math teacher in a public or private school (I participated as a competitor when I was a kid). If your learner is enrolled in a school, they should try to participate in the competitions through that school first (though they are welcome to also take my class). This is a MATHCOUNTS rule.

Topics for each day:
1) Mental math tricks: squaring, 11s, 13s, combining long multiplication with mental tricks
2) Logic tables, and/or connections, counter examples, process of elimination
3) Geometry Angles: triangle definition, creating triangles in other shapes, estimation
4) Estimating square roots and cube roots without a calculator
5) Tiling: regular polygons, analysis of angles, famous tilings, tiling puzzles
6) Geometry of Volume: 3-D and 4-D Pythagorean Theorem, using angles to simplify, Spherical coorindinate system
7) Practice competition test
8) Interactive review of test

Homeschool students can participate too! To compete, you would create a new "school" just for your homeschool, listing me as your coach (contact me for directions on how to do this). Then you pay a sign-up fee to MATHCOUNTS (currently $35), but then MATHCOUNTS sends you a package of math materials that are quite good. Then their platform has a ton of extra materials. You could then act as your own coach or use me and this Outschool course as your coach instead. Signing up with MATHCOUNTS is not a requirement to take this class.

More information can be found here:
https://www.mathcounts.org/our-story
https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/MATHCOUNTS
Competition Info Page: https://www.mathcounts.org/programs/competition-series