Popular Elementary School Math Competitions — Do You Know Them?
Math competitions for elementary school students are designed to create an enjoyable learning experience and foster a love for math and problem-solving. Participating in math competitions during elementary school can have many benefits. It can build confidence, and promote a love of learning. Math competitions can expose students to some fun and challenging problems, and gain experience in a competitive environment. Additionally, math competitions can be a valuable addition to a student’s academic portfolio, highlighting their skills and achievements. Overall, math competitions can help students develop critical thinking skills, improve their academic performance, and prepare them for future challenges.
If your child likes to work on math problems, you might consider helping them improve their problem-solving skills by participating in elementary school math competitions. Here are some of the most popular competitions that focus on encouraging students:
Math Kangaroo is an international mathematics competition in over 77 countries. There are six levels of participation, ranging from grade 1 to grade 12. The competition is held annually on the third Thursday of March.
The challenge consists of problems in multiple-choice form that are not standard notebook problems and come from a variety of topics. Besides basic computational skills, they require inspiring ideas, perseverance, creativity and imagination, logical thinking, and other problem-solving strategies. Often there are small stories, intriguing problems, and surprising results, which encourage discussions with friends and family. Math Kangaroo’s focus is on improving students’ math scores and teaching them new strategies for solving word and logic problems, helping them with critical thinking and gaining confidence in the classroom.
The tests are divided into three parts. The first third are easy, one-step problems involving little thinking. These are the routine, standard problems that are commonly seen in the mainstream mathematical curriculum offered in most schools. The second third of the problems are more difficult. The require moderate thinking and creativity in problem solving outside of standard math classes. The final third are the most difficult problems. These are typically multi-step problems at a much higher level than the school curriculum.
In all participating countries the challenge is a multiple-choice test. Collecting results, marking, and awarding prizes are regulated and organized nationally.
The Beestar National Math Competition (Grades 2–8) is a biannual event held online in March and October during the fall and spring, offering convenience and flexibility for students to participate from anywhere. Additionally, the competition is well-recognized for its exam quality. Participants can then view the scores, percentiles, and rankings that provide an overall understanding of their math level among their peers. The competition is affordable, making it accessible to students from diverse backgrounds.
The Beestar National Math Competition comprises of 7 grade-specific levels, from 2nd grade to 8th grade. Similar to the two-round MathCounts competition, Beestar has Dash and Spark rounds. The Dash Round problems assess students’ fundamental skills. They are similar to the word problems in Beestar’s weekly math exercise program. It includes 4 exams of total 40 multiple-choice questions. The Spark Round problems are more challenging and complex, making it a typical advanced competition. They are similar to the problems in Beestar’s weekly GT math program. This round has 4 exams of total 20 questions. The two separate rounds encourage students to master the fundamentals first and then strive to solve challenging problems. The sample tests in PDF format are available online, and this competition offers age-based flexibility, allowing you to register for multiple competitions.
Competition results are posted in each student’s account two days after the competition ends. Participants can then view the scores, percentiles, and rankings. The top students are recognized and honored on Beestar website with medals and certificates.
MOEMS (Grades 4–8) stands for Mathematical Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools. Although the name contains “Olympiad,” it is not related to the Olympiad. MOEMS has a long history and high-quality questions, making it quite popular in the United States.
The competition begins in November and ends in March of the following year, with one monthly contest. The contest is held at schools (both public and private educational institutions are eligible). There are two groups: grades 4–6 (elementary school group) and grades 6–8 (middle school group). The questions have some depth and are interesting, and the organization is relatively flexible. Participation is through registration with the school, and each team can have up to 35 students, but a school can have multiple representative teams. Five questions must be completed in 25 minutes, with one point awarded per question. Definitions of concepts beyond the scope of knowledge will be given, and calculators are not allowed.
After completing all five contests, individual scores are calculated. The top 10 members’ scores from each team are added up to determine the team’s score. Each participating student receives a certificate, and exceptional individual performance can result in a medal, while good team performance can earn a trophy.
The Math League Math Competition (Grades 3–12) is a longstanding and widely influential math competition for primary and secondary schools in North America, held in April each year.
The questions are challenging and require a high level of speed. The competition time is short, and research-oriented students may not be able to finish within the specified time. Math League includes a competition for grades 4–5, which is a 30-minute test consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions.
The competition focuses on the mathematical concepts and knowledge points learned in the corresponding grade, including basic mathematical operations with decimals and fractions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and occasionally exponents), application and logical problems, permutations and combinations, and more. The competition for grades 6–8 is also 30 minutes long and consists of 35 multiple-choice questions with a maximum score of 35 points. The questions focus on all the mathematical concepts and knowledge points learned in the corresponding grade, including basic mathematical operations with decimals and fractions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponents, and roots), financial applications, logical problems, planar and solid geometry, and sequences and permutations and combinations. Compared with other competitions, Math League has fewer geometry questions and more logic questions, which require students to have a high level of logical problem-solving ability. Students who perform well can receive a certificate of honor.