Hands-on math!

Program Strong Points

  • Appropriate age group
    In the opinion of the authors and education professionals, the 5th and 6th grades are turning points in a child's academic career. This is where they start making life decisions about what they want to become. By giving them a positive experience in math, they are opened to considering the STEM subjects as life-long pursuits. Especially girls. At this age girls haven't been subjected to peer opinions about math and can make up their own minds. Once they get into high school those decisions have been made. This program exposes them to math at a very critical time in their development.

  • Time Tested!
    This program has been tested on thousands of 5th and 6th graders and has been upgraded and modified over the years to correct shortcomings, omissions and defects. It is a far cry from the program first used in 1990. Inputs from coaches, educators and the students themselves have been incorporated into the updated program you see here. One of the biggest changes was the shortening of the lecture portion of instruction. We learned that 5th and 6th grade students learn by doing better than by listening to lecture. Most of our lesson lectures are about 10 minutes.

  • Adherence to NCTM Standards
    The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has published standards for math instruction in all grades. We adhere to their 5th and 6th grade standards in this program. Specifically,
    • We concentrate on the specific subject areas NCTM recommends:
      • Number sense
      • Measurement
      • Geometry
      • Probability and Statistics
      • Algebra
    • We incorporate mental math warmups in our lesson plans. Mental math (the ability to solve problems without pencil and paper) is a key NCTM recommendation.
    • We teach kids how to work in groups to solve problems. (this is the format of the WSMC Math Olympiad. All problems are worked by kids in teams of 3 or 4).
      Here is the NCTM Reference

    • We offer extensive instruction in 'problem solving':
      • working real world problems that can be solved using multiple approaches.
      • explaining the logic used to solve the problem with pictures, graphs, tables and diagrams.
      • communicating clearly the solution and how it was arrived at.
      • checking the result with a different approach.


  • Washington State Math Olympiad Preparation
    • This website has more archived WSMC Math Olympiad problem sets than even the state website (21 years worth)!
    • We also provide 12 years of WSMC Math Olympiad problems with hints and solutions for: This allow the coach to prepare his/her students for that competition. The hints put the students on the correct path to the solution. The solutions are complete step-by-step explanations.
    • The Highline Math Olympiad problem sets (5 years of local competitions in the same format) provide a 'stepping stone' approach to the state competition, providing materials that are not as difficult as the state's.
    • In addition, a set of easier practice problem sets, graded by difficulty, allow the coach (you!) to tailor local competitions to their students' level.
    • Math Jeopardy. A set of competitions in the format of the popular TV game show that prepares kids for the Olympiad in a fun setting.
    The 2019 Math Olympiad was held at 14 sites across the state of Washington, offering all students a venue to compete. The authors of this website (Don and Jerre McQuinn) ran the largest of these sites (Tacoma: 200 teams; 800 kids!) for 3 years.

  • Complete Materials
    Everything a coach needs, including lesson plans, handouts, in-class and homework exercises and answers, are provided.
    • Lesson plans: Step-by-step plans with time allotments for each step are provided
    • Mental math: The lesson plans have mental math warmups.
    • Board examples: The examples that the coach puts on the board are provided!
    • Coaching flexibility:
      • Coaches with limited math training:
        The completeness of materials allows coaches with non-STEM backgrounds to effectively coach kids in math. We have had (successful) coaches that had to 'bone up' on the materials before they taught them to the kids.
      • Inclusion of new coaches:
        This completeness of materials also allows the inclusion of new coaches into the program, even in the middle of the school year!
    • Practice competition materials: Practice competition materials are provided in the plans of lessons 9 and later for a second weekly hour of scrimmages that prepare students for the WSMC Math Olympiad. These scrimmages are optional, but the students find these practice competitions fun, expecially when small prizes are awarded.