To Infinity and Beyond: Levels 4-5
Our Level 4-5 curriculum has units from each of the four main areas: algebra, geometry, number, and combinatorics. We also explore some interesting areas of math, e.g. graph theory and cellular automata. The focus of our program is not on teaching students a specific set of techniques. Rather, we use various math topics to teach kids how to investigate difficult math problems and find their solutions. This is critical to success in advanced math competitions, such as MathCounts and AMC-8/10.
We firmly believe that you cannot “teach” advanced mathematical topics – they must be “learned” through discovery. One must develop a sense for them, a feeling that comes from “inside”. And so we go through a variety of topics and have students work in groups to discover the solutions for themselves, with some “nudging” from us. We help students discover and prove important theorems of geometry, find patterns in combinatorics problems, and develop intuitive sense for the number theory.
Students participate in many advanced math contests. Our teams compete in MOEMS Divisions E and M, AMC-8, and Math League Algebra I contest. Many students also join math teams at their schools and compete in numerous contests. Our program goes a long way to help prepare middle school students to successfully represent their school in the math contests.