Why I trained my 6-years old boy in Math Olympiad

Not long ago, my 6 years old son who was in Primary one told me that his teacher has enrolled him in Math Olympiad competition. Was my boy’s math grade outstanding? Not at all. Why did the teacher decide to enrol him? I am not sure. In any case, I am not unfamiliar with the Math Olympiad competition, for I myself have participated in a few of them when I was young. Anyone who has participated in public assessment tests such as TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT would know that although the test questions are different in every single test, the underlying patterns remain largely the same. The reason I trained my boy in Math Olympiad was not because of the award, glory, or fanfare on his CV. Through the Math Olympiad, I want him to develop a lifelong skillset –?thinking on paper.

Let me explain with an example. I found this P1 Math Olympiad question on the internet:?

A class of students lined up to enter a museum. Peter is the 20th?student counting from the start of the line, Harry is the 23rd?counting from the end of the line. Peter stands right behind Harry. How many students are in this class?

I believe that even adults won’t be able to come up with the answer right away, let alone Primary One student. Let’s think about it. To solve this problem, we must be able to do the math while juggling with multiple information (two characters standing at different places, Peter stands behind Harry). Is it difficult? Absolutely for Primary One student. The key to solving it is to draw the situation on paper.

When you draw it out, the answer is almost self-explanatory: 20+23-2 = 41 (minus two due to duplicate counts for Peter and Harry)

The purpose of questions like this is not to test the student’s actual arithmetic skill but their ability to visualize the problem. The game changer is to think on paper. Make a graph, draw a line – whatever it takes. First put it on paper, only then do you start to think.

Don’t underestimate this simple skill – it’s almost counterinitiative. Most people are used to think, analyze, and problem-solve within their head. In other words, everything stays in their head.

Let’s look at an example. A restaurant owner is suffering with declining sales. Seeing that Korean food has been gaining a lot of popularity in his community, he is thinking whether he should introduce Korean cuisine in his restaurant.

The owner obviously has a lot to think about, such as:

·??????How does the Korean cuisine blend into the existing menu?

·??????Is the market for Korean food already saturated? Is there room for growth?

·??????Do my chefs know how to make Korean food?

·??????How did my competitors succeed or fail in Korean food?

·??????What if my customers turn out not liking the Korean food? Do I have a Plan B?

Too many questions. Too many possibilities. If the owner only thinks within his head, he will likely be overwhelmed and miss key information. A better way is to “think on paper” with a structure, such as mind-map.

This mind-map takes on three key considerations: Customers, Competitors, Company (i.e., his own restaurant). As you can imagine, you can go even deeper and wider to capture more ideas. There are other tools one can use, such as fishbone diagram, force field analysis, SWOT, etc. Thinking on paper is a much more effective way to problem-solve than thinking in the head. It has at least three advantages:

1. Tap into the benefits of different senses

In addition to using your mental power to tackle the problem in your head, thinking on paper can tap into your visual sense (seeing the problem on paper) and your kinaesthetic sense (writing or drawing the problem on paper). The more senses you use, the more channels you can explore to solve the problems.?

For instance, imagine you attend a lecture only to listen to the speaker for 30 minutes, you are not likely to retain a lot of memory at the end of the class. However, if you, in addition to listening to the lecture, also get to participate in group discussion, watch a video, and engage in hands-on activities, you are much more likely to develop your own interpretation of the contents of the lecture.

2. Externalize the problem and stay objective

When you write the problem on paper you basically externalize it. The problem gets disconnected from you. I am not suggesting that when you externalize the problem you don’t own it anymore. I am saying that when you write it down, not only do you externalize the problem itself, you also externalize the emotions associated with it. Emotions are the devil that skew our judgement. When we put it on the paper and “see” it with our eyes, we literally become the third party to the problem – it gets much less personal. Hence, we get calmer and more objective in our judgement.

3. More efficient and effective communication and discussion

Thinking on paper allows you to communicate the problem more effectively with others. Imagine you try to describe a problem (take the Korean cuisine example) and lay out your train of thought purely with words to others. It is by no means easy. Speaking precisely and concisely is a skill that takes a lot of practice. Furthermore, verbal communication leaves a lot of room for misinterpretation.

Conversely, if you could draw the mind-map and show it to your colleagues, you stand a much better chance to making your colleagues understand your ideas. You and colleagues can discuss the details by pointing straight to the mind-map and extending / revising the map during the discussion. The end result is efficiency and effectiveness.?

Efficiency: Since all the information is written on paper, you can save much of your brain power holding all the information in your head. It can also save you time clarifying back-and-forth arguments by simply pointing to the paper.

Effectiveness: Higher level of understanding of the issue plus quality discussion will reduce biases and miscommunication, and improve the discussion outcome.

Whether or not my son earns any award in the Math Olympiad competition is not my concern. All I care is to plant a seed in his problem-solving skill, which can benefit him for life. By the same token, practice thinking on paper can bring you less frustration, more objective and effective discussion, and better decision-making outcomes.