Working through two old contest problems

I’ve been sort of on pause doing new math with the boys for the last couple of weeks. I want them to find their stride with the new school year before seeing what additional enrichment math we can do at home.

So, while on pause they’ve just been working through problems from old AMC tests in the morning. When they finish we talk through some of the problems that gave them trouble. Both problems were pretty interesting lessons (for them and me, I mean) today.

Here’s what my older son had to say about problem 18 from the 2013 AMC 10b. It was fascinating to me how he counted the numbers in this problem.

and here’s what my younger son had to say about problem #17 from the 1985 AMC 8 (which then was the American Junior High School Math Exam). It was fascinating to me to see both how he played with the averages and how he found his arithmetic mistake.

I love using these old AMC problems to keep the kids engaged with math. It is always fun to see what sorts of ideas give them problems and just as fun to see their problem solving strategies.