Primary Students Take on Tough National Math Contest

Feb. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Attempt to answer the following question: “My dog Latka is 7 years older than my cousin’s dog, Chase. Chase is 2 years younger than Mugsie. If Mugsie is 8 years old, how old is Latka?”

Later this month, grade one to four students from across the country will answer questions like this one in the 13th Annual Spirit of Math Contest. Until that time the contest papers will remain top secret.

“Parents are always seeking new ways to enrich their children’s education,” said Spirit of Math contest writer, Rebecca Anand. “Contests provide an opportunity for children to test their skills, develop their self-confidence and learn that math is exciting!”

There are many advantages to be gained from participating in mathematics contests. Math contests provide an opportunity to celebrate the gifts and talents of your child outside of the arena or sports field. Children gain confidence in their abilities and improve their self-esteem; they learn to set and achieve goals and perform long-term planning; they learn to manage success and disappointment and most importantly, they have fun!

Spirit of Math Schools, an after-school system of schools for high-achieving students, developed this contest in the late 1990’s to provide an opportunity for younger students to compete at a high level. Though there are many national and international contests available for older elementary students all the way up through university, this is the only math contest available in Canada for grades one and two students and one of only a handful of contests available for grades three and four students.

“Math contests open up doors for bright students to earn scholarships, get into top universities and even travel,” said Anand, “but competing for the first time in high school can put enormous pressure on a student. Starting math contests at a young age, kids think of it more as a game. They gain the experience early on in a more relaxed environment so that when they do compete in the older grades, they are prepared and can focus on the math rather than their nerves.”

The contest, which takes place between Feb. 20 and Mar. 3, is hosted in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Vancouver and at more than a dozen locations throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Each student will receive a participation certificate and have the opportunity to achieve a certificate of distinction and placement on the Spirit of Math national honour roll. Medals are awarded for 1st place.

Students from grades 1 to 4 interested in participating can register by visiting www.spiritofmath.com/2011contest before Friday, Feb. 18 or by calling their local Spirit of Math Campus.

To learn more about the Spirit of Math program and how to get your child involved visit www.spiritofmath.com.

For more information Contact:
Lindsey Dickie
Marketing Coordinator
Spirit of Math Schools Inc.  
Phone: (416) 223-1985 ext 126
ldickie@spiritofmath.com
www.spiritofmath.com

# # #

Spirit of Math is an after-school program unique to the education system. It offers exciting, fast paced math classes to high-performing students. “We take students from the top of the class to the top of the Nation,” says Spirit of Math co-founder and CEO, Kim Langen. Initially developed in the 1980’s by Langen’s father, Charles Ledger, then a teacher at Zion Heights Middle School in North York, the Spirit of Math program uses a non-spiral approach to education and focuses on drills and problem solving, cooperation and communication. The success of the program as evaluated through national competitions has been unrivalled by any other mathematics program. SMS has been offering courses to students since 1992 and has 20 schools in the GTA, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa and New Jersey.