The math challenge curriculum textbook series is designed to help students learn the fundamental mathematical concepts and practice their in-depth problem solving skills with selected exercise problems. Ideally, these textbooks are used together with Areteem Institute's corresponding courses, either taken as live classes or as self-paced classes. According to the experience levels of the students in mathematics, the following courses are offered:
- Fun Math Problem Solving for Elementary School (grades 3-5)
- Algebra Readiness (grade 5; preparing for middle school)
- Math Challenge I-A Series (grades 6-8; intro to problem solving)
- Math Challenge I-B Series (grades 6-8; intro to math contests e.g. AMC 8, ZIML Div M)
- Math Challenge I-C Series (grades 6-8; topics bridging middle and high schools)
- Math Challenge II-A Series (grades 9+ or younger students preparing for AMC 10)
- Math Challenge II-B Series (grades 9+ or younger students preparing for AMC 12)
- Math Challenge III Series (preparing for AIME, ZIML Varsity, or equivalent contests)
- Math Challenge IV Series (Math Olympiad level problem solving)
These courses are designed and developed by educational experts and industry professionals to bring real world applications into the STEM education. These programs are ideal for students who wish to win in Math Competitions (AMC, AIME, USAMO, IMO, ARML, MathCounts, Math League, Math Olympiad, ZIML, etc.), Science Fairs (County Science Fairs, State Science Fairs, national programs like Intel Science and Engineering Fair, etc.) and Science Olympiad, or purely want to enrich their academic lives by taking more challenges and developing outstanding analytical, logical thinking and creative problem solving skills.
The Math Challenge III (MC III) courses are for students who are qualified to participate in the AIME contest, or at the equivalent level of experience. The MC III topics include polynomials, inequalities, special algebraic techniques, triangles and polygons, coordinates, numbers and divisibility, modular arithmetic, advanced counting strategies, binomial coefficients, sequence and series, complex numbers, trigonometry, logarithms, and various other topics, and the focus is more on in-depth problem solving strategies, including pairing, change of variables, advanced techniques in number theory and combinatorics, advanced probability theory and techniques, geometric transformations, etc. The curricula have been proven to help students develop strong problem solving skills that make them perform well in math contests such as AIME, ZIML, and ARML.
The course is divided into four terms:
- Summer, covering Algebra
- Fall, covering Geometry
- Winter, covering Combinatorics
- Spring, covering Number Theory
The book contains course materials for Math Challenge III: Combinatorics.
We recommend that students take all four terms. Each of the individual terms is self-contained and does not depend on other terms, so they do not need to be taken in order, and students can take single terms if they want to focus on specific topics.
Students can sign up for either the live or the self-paced online course at https://classes.areteem.org .
