JOYHOUSE MONTESSORI- NEW COURSES

Primary Mathematics Olympiad via Recreation
By Mr Yan KC

The Primary Mathematics Olympiad via Recreation is a series of ten enrichment lessons aimed at improving the mathematical problem-solving skills of students through recreations and games.

Unlike traditional olympiad training programmes which focus primarily on the minority mathletes, Primary Mathematics Olympiad via Recreation lessons hope to reach out to all those who are keen to become better mathematical problem solvers.

Currently, enrichment maths programmes are either recreational or theoretical, not both. Primary Mathematics Olympiad via Recreation attempts to bridge the best of both – teaching the problem solving while exposing the fun part of rich mathematical ideas (through stories, history, jokes, applications, and the like).

The instructor’s vocation and avocation in both recreational mathematics (which is generally harder then school mathematics, but, nevertheless, within the ability and capability of most students) and problem solving hopes to popularise Primary Maths Olympiad to as wide an interested audience as possible, by striking a balance between the didactics and the aesthetics of mathematics.

The Primary Mathematics Olympiad via Recreation programme should appeal to the following audiences:• problem solvers who want to improve their creative and critical thinking skills in mathematics

• students who want to be exposed to rich mathematical ideas and challenging problems, not normally covered in the traditional classroom setting

• students who simply want to experience the joy and fun (and pain) of mathematical problem solving

• mathletes who are seriously preparing for maths contests and competitions

• students who want to enrich themselves mathematically.



Lesson Topics covered
1 WHOLE NUMBERS ¬ counting principles and number patterns

2 & 3 FACTORS & MULTIPLES – divisibility tests, LCM and HCF,and prime numbers

4 FRACTIONS & DECIMALS – applications and shortcuts

5 & 6 RATIO & PROPORTION – percentages, speed and rate

7 MENSURATION – area, perimeter and volume

8 GEOMETRY – angles, triangles and quadrilaterals

9 ALGEBRA & LOGIC – numerical manipulation, IQ questions

10 PROBABILITY, STATISTICS & ESTIMATION – average, statistical diagrams, guesstimation and approximation.

Duration: Ten 2-hour Sessions
Fee: $350 per participant

A sample of questions

Find a two-digit number which increases by 20% when its digits are reversed.

If 5 boys are seated on each bench, 4 will be left without a place. If 6 boys are seated on each bench, 2 places will remain. How many boys and how many benches are there?

How many times does the minute hand pass the hour hand between 12 noon and 12 midnight?

How many zeros are there at the end of the product, 1 x 2 x 3 x … x 99 x 100?

What is the most number of three-digit numbers that are divisible by 3?

I write out all the whole numbers, starting from 1. If I wrote 2009 digits altogether, what was the last complete number I wrote down?

The ages of Mr Yan’s schooled children multiply to 60 060. How many children are there?

A quadrilateral has sides 1996 cm, 1997 cm, 1998 cm and x cm. If x is a whole number, calculate the largest possible value of x.



The radius of each circle is 3 cm.
Find the shaded area to the nearest 0.1 cm2.


The perimeter of square A is 12 and the perimeter of square B is 24.
Find the perimeter of square C.



Pages 6 and 19 are on the same double sheet of paper. How many pages does the newspaper contain?

What is the least number of snaps required to break a 10-square bar of chocolate?

What is the ones digit in the value of the product
9 x 19 x 29 x 39 x 49 x … x 1999?

Find the smallest whole number which has a remainder of 1 when divided by 7,
and a remainder of 3 when divided by 11.

…

About the instructor

Yan Kow Cheong (B. Sc, M. Ed) is a mathematics consultant for MATHPLUS Consultancy. He has been active on the educational scene for over two decades with mathematics teaching appointments at the ACS (Independent), NUS Extension, Institute of Technical Education, and Singapore Science Centre. He regularly conducts workshops and seminars for primary and secondary students, teachers and parents.

He currently consults as a Mathematics Specialist for two leading local publishing houses, and also writes a regular column on Aha! Maths in the YG Singapore. Besides editing primary and secondary MOE-approved textbooks, co-writing Teachers’ Guides, and ghost-writing assessment titles, he had also written contest questions and on-line assessment tests, and course materials for CD-ROMs.

A regular contributor to mathematics periodicals and journals, such as The Mathematics Educator, Mathematics Medley and Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, he is also the author of Mathematics Quickies and Trickies (1998), Aha! Math (2006), Mind Stretchers 2 (2008) and Get Calculator Smart (2009). His academic interests involve research in mathematics education, in particular, the psychology of learning and teaching mathematics, and problem solving.

His forthcoming titles are: Higher Maths (a four-title series on Olympiad Maths), What’s Wrong?: A Comedy of Mathematical Errors, Geometric Quickies & Trickies, and CHRISTmaths All Year Round. He also regularly conducts recreational mathematics courses, and educates the public against innumeracy and pseudoscience.