Math Teams
for
HomeSchoolers
of Santa Barbara County
in Grades 4-12
SB Family School offers math enrichment groups
designed for kids who enjoy math
or puzzles or problem-solving,
or who are good at them,
or both.
The 2011-2012 school year is our 14th year of coaching math teams in Santa Barbara.
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The 2010 MathCounts Group Celebrating the Team's 3rd
Place Win at the Chapter Competition (with a MathCounts logo cake) | 4th-Graders with their 1st-Place
Cantilever at the 2009 Math SuperBowl Competition |
The competitive aspect: The main orientation of the groups is preparation for math competitions, with the emphasis being on cooperation - i.e., working as a team. All the groups participate in competitions (at least one exciting off-site event per year and several low-key ones on site). However, no individual is required to participate in any competition. For specific information about the various competitions, see the contest chart.
The enrichment aspect: Also included is more general math enrichment, especially for the younger kids. Some of the topics we cover correlate with the standard curriculum, but there is much more of an emphasis on creative "outside-the-box" problem-solving, and also on special, interesting topics that are not part of typical curricula.
The benefits: In addition to broadening their horizons and increasing their math skills, the students learn to do math as teamwork, just as in sports (which is how most professional scientists and engineers do it but is rare in our educational systems). It can also be enjoyable for them to have math be a social experience.
The 2011-2012 schedule:
Combined grade-level groups generally have weekly 90-minute meetings.
The upper elementary
school groups (grades 4-6) meet from mid-September to mid-May, generally
on Mondays. Currently there are two groups on Mondays, one 11:30-1:00 and the other 1:15-2:45.
The middle school group (grades 6-8) meets Wednesdays 1:30-3:00 from the
end of August through mid-March.
This year, the high school group will only have a few practice meetings
in January and/or February.
All the meetings are located in the math room at my house, which is in
Goleta near the corner of Cathedral Oaks and Fairview.
The
cost is $12 per hour, i.e. $18 per weekly 1½-hour
session, if you sign up for a whole season. Otherwise, it's $20 per 1½-hour
session. If your child is not sure if [s]he would like this program,
[s]he's welcome to try a couple of meetings; then if you decide at any
point to make a commitment for the rest of the season, the rate is converted
to the lower rate retroactively - so there's no penalty for taking
your time to decide to join.
All materials are included, except the team T-shirt, and there's a small
additional charge for some of the competitions.
Scholarships are not available at this time. However, if money is an issue,
please contact us to discuss it - we are open to bartering for
all kinds of things, especially gardening!
References are available among HBP and Homesteaders families.