Competition Math Grades 3 and 4

Week 1

Theme: Introduction (Foundations and mixed skills)

Focus skills: Counting, basic combinatorics, digit properties, simple set counts, multi-step problems

Strategy spotlight: Careful reading; simple sketches/tallies

Practice test: Intro mixed mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 2

MOEMS Focus: Reinforce Introduction skills using MOEMS-style problems

Emphasis: Precise parsing, smart estimation, simple case splits

Practice test: MOEMS mini-set on foundational skills (start in class, finish at home)

Week 3

Theme: Patterns

Focus skills: Numeric/symbolic patterns, row-sum balance, cyclic seating, cube color adjacency

Strategy spotlight: Find a Pattern; verify with small cases

Practice test: Patterns mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 4

MOEMS Focus: Pattern problems aligned to Week 3

Emphasis: Recurrence spotting, modular repeats, pattern extension

Practice test: MOEMS patterns mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 5

Theme: Draw a Picture

Focus skills: Area/counting by parts, queue modeling, maze paths, growth comparisons, flips/reflections

Strategy spotlight: Draw a Picture; annotate paths/counts

Practice test: Diagram-based set (start sketches in class, complete at home)

Week 6

MOEMS Focus: Diagramming and visual reasoning

Emphasis: Translating text → picture, marking invariants on diagrams

Practice test: MOEMS visual mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 7

Theme: Make a List

Focus skills: Exhaustive casework, digit-sum constructions, maximizing sums, ordered selections, permutations, points feasibility

Strategy spotlight: Organized List; group by cases

Practice test: Listing/permutations set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 8

MOEMS Focus: Systematic listing and casework

Emphasis: Case partitioning, avoiding double counting

Practice test: MOEMS casework mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 9

Theme: Guess and Check

Focus skills: Maximization by pruning digits, digit-sum constraints, grid scanning, multi-clue name logic, size parity pairing

Strategy spotlight: Guess–Check–Revise; track attempts

Practice test: Guess-and-check mini-set (attempt in class, finish at home)

Week 10

MOEMS Focus: Efficient guessing with constraints

Emphasis: Bounding, parity checks, targeted trials

Practice test: MOEMS guess-and-check mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 11

Theme: Make a Table

Focus skills: Temperature sequences, operator outcomes, calendar feasibility, linear combinations, coin reachability

Strategy spotlight: Build a Table; pattern spotting

Practice test: Table-building tasks (set up in class, complete at home)

Week 12

MOEMS Focus: Data tables and pattern extraction

Emphasis: Row/column labeling, incremental fills, spotting regularity

Practice test: MOEMS table mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 13

Theme: Guess and Check

Focus skills: Structured trials with provided figures, constraint satisfaction using visuals

Strategy spotlight: Use handout figures to document/prune

Practice test: Visual guess-and-check set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 14

MOEMS Focus: Visual guess/check extensions

Emphasis: Recording trials, eliminating families of cases

Practice test: MOEMS visual constraints mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 15

Theme: Act it Out

Focus skills: Physical/constructive reasoning with cutouts, nets to dice, domino tiling, cup moves, square recombination

Strategy spotlight: Act it Out; manipulate pieces

Practice test: Hands-on mini-set (begin builds in class, finish at home)

Week 16

MOEMS Focus: Acting out combinatorial processes

Emphasis: Invariants during moves, constructive counterexamples

Practice test: MOEMS manipulation mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 17

Theme: Work Backwards (Handout)

Focus skills: Reverse multi-step processes; calendar/time reversal

Strategy spotlight: Work Backwards; reverse steps explicitly

Practice test: Backward-reasoning set (start in class, complete at home)

Week 18

MOEMS Focus: Reverse reasoning drills

Emphasis: Undoing operations, checking by forward replay

Practice test: MOEMS backwards mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 19

Theme: Logical Reasoning (Handout)

Focus skills: Multi-clue deduction; grid/placement logic; elimination strategies

Strategy spotlight: Organize clues in a simple grid

Practice test: Logic puzzle set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 20

MOEMS Focus: Logic grid and elimination problems

Emphasis: Contradiction spotting, must/cannot placements

Practice test: MOEMS logic mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 21

Theme: Time and Calendar (Homework set)

Focus skills: Travel timelines; day offsets; burner scheduling; custom calendars; rate-time differences

Strategy spotlight: Clocks/calendars; timeline bars

Practice test: Time/calendar mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 22

MOEMS Focus: Scheduling and time arithmetic

Emphasis: Overlaps, parallel tasks, modular weekdays

Practice test: MOEMS time/calendar mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 23

Theme: Geometry (Homework set)

Focus skills: Counting rectangles; complementary cuts; right-side views; perimeter scaling; painted surfaces

Strategy spotlight: Visualize 2D/3D; systematic counts

Practice test: Geometry mini-set (start in class, finish at home)

Week 24

MOEMS Focus: Geometry counting and nets

Emphasis: Decomposition, symmetry, layer/face accounting

Practice test: MOEMS geometry mini-set (start in class, finish at home)