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MARK TWAIN / BAY ACADEMY PREP COURSE

Mark Twain/Bay Academy Prep for Computer-Math & Science and Creative Writing Admission Exams
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The Math Kangaroo Contest is coming up soon! This year it is on March 19th.

To expose young students to the kinds of contest problems and word problems seen in the Kangaroo contest, SchoolPlus Enrichment offers a 9-hour course, given over 9 consecutive lessons once a week. We are offering classes for two math levels in Kangaroo - 3rd-4th and 5th-6th graders.

Day, Time and Location:
Grades 3rd-4th: Classes will be held on Fridays from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm, starting on Friday, January 17th and finishing Friday, March 13th (9 classes). Cost $315.

Grades 5th-6th: Classes will be held on WTuesday from 7:0 pm to 8:15 pm, starting on January 14th and finishing y March 10th (9 classes). Cost $360.

For details on the classes\' curriculum please read below.
The lessons will be conducted online via Virtual Classroom online. In the last 3 years SchoolPlus has very much enjoyed working with students in a virtual classroom. New technology allows a teacher to work face-to-face with students in a small class setting. We have very positive feedback from students and parents about our online classes. Welcome to the virtual classroom!

Where: The link will be provided for you to join the virtual classroom.

Teacher: Mrs. Mary Marvin. Mrs. Mary is a long-time SchoolPlus teacher with extensive experience in preparing children for all kinds of Math Olympiads.

Enrollment and payment: create an account at www.schoolplus-online.com. Choose your class. Pay via PayPal. You will get a link to enter your classroom.



What to expect in Math Kangaroo Prep Classes
The Olympic training classes will acquaint students with some general and specific “guideposts,” they can recognize to help them “find their way around,” and solve the problem.

Here’s what we’ll do in a typical class

Practice reading and verbalizing problems to understand exactly what’s being asked for. Very often, the mistake in a problem occurs at the start, because a student didn’t read the problem carefully. The students will be trained to absolutely “nail down” what they are going after, and sometimes that is subtle.
Kids will present and share their ideas for how to solve the problem and comment on others’ work. It’s important to see different ways of doing a problem and also important to talk about why a certain approach didn’t work out.
Presentation by the teacher of a variety of problems that utilize a specific technique but in sharply varied settings.
Group work by students to implement these techniques themselves, and individual work, with teacher’s critique. Practice with actual Olympiads.
Homework consisting of similar problems to solve. Answers will be provided for parents to help.
There are some specific “categories” or types of problems, which when recognized, make a complicated problem a lot more sensible and manageable. Some well known techniques in problem solving, which will be studied in the classes include solving a problem by “Working Backwards,” i.e., you know the final result, but you must figure out what steps got you to that point. The skill of “Making A Picture or Sketch,” to simplify complex information is another valuable approach. Other classic problem solving techniques include “Looking for a Pattern,” and this includes both picture and number patterns, “Organizing and Listing Cases,” to list a few of the techniques we’ll study.

Solving an unfamiliar math problem with no guideposts is comparable to finding yourself lost in a strange neighborhood, with insufficient directions, just hoping you make it out. We think the techniques and approaches we’ve described will help.