Charlotte Math Meetup

What's New

2023 Registration is OPEN. Please use the registration link to register.

The meetup will focus on entry level math competition problems, which are equivalent to problems in MOEMS (Math Olympiads for Elementary and Middle Schools).

The meetup will be led by Leo Hong, Kyle Liao, and Henry Lu, under the supervision of Dr. Tao Hong. Leo ,Kyle, and Henry are close friends and study partners. They became AIME qualifiers in 5th grade. Leo and Kyle were first participants of CMM in 2020. Both of them won gold medals at International Mathematics Competition 2022 and International Mathematics and Science Olympiad 2022.

Next Meetups: Jan, 2023 (Date TBD)

• Meeting IDs are sent to the parents who filled in the answer sheet prior to the deadline. If you filled in the answer sheet but didn't receive the meeting IDs one day after the assignment due date, please contact Dr. Hong directly.

General Information

Participants: 1st to 12th graders, passionate about math, feeling math at school too easy, living in South Charlotte area. The meetups are divided into four groups by math level.

• • Level B focuses on elementary school math up to 2nd grade. The students are expected to be familiar with basic arithmetic operations before joining the meetup. The problems are similar to Math Kangaroo Levels 1 to 2.

  • Level E focuses on elementary school math up to 5th grade. The students are expected to be familiar with basic arithmetic operations, fractions, and decimals before joining the meetup. The problems are similar to the level of MOEMS (Division E).

  • Level M focuses on middle school math up to 8th grade. The students are expected to be familiar with pre-algebra and algebra basics before joining the meetup. The problems are similar to the level of MATHCOUNTS, MOEMS (Division M) and AMC8.

  • Level H focuses on high school math up to 12th grade. The students are expected to be familiar with algebra and geometry before joining the meetup. The problems are similar to the level of AMC10 and AMC12.

Meetup platform: ZOOM.

Assignment:

• Dr. Hong will update the assignment page by Friday of each week.

  • Students can chose any or both sets to work on. They are expected to spend about an hour on the math problems before each meetup, and record the time (in minutes) for each problem.

• The assignment should be completed by each student based on individual effort.

• The parents should help the student fill in the answer sheet prior to the deadline.

• Each assignment is due by 8pm ET the following Tuesday.

  • Late submissions may not be included in assignment statistics nor spotlight students contest.

Answer sheet:

• The answer sheet is based on Google Forms. Dr. Hong will turn them off after the deadline, so please fill in the forms in time.

• Dr. Hong will perform some analysis on the results after the deadline and update the parents accordingly.

• Dr. Hong will send the meeting ID to the email addresses of the contact parents on the answer sheet.

  • Upon request from contact parents, Dr. Hong may provide update on the progress of their kids.

Past meetups:

• Recordings of past online meetups are available on the YouTube channel Hong Analytics.

  • Past assignments, class profiles, and solutions can be found from the assignment page.

Spotlight students:

• Every week, the students who have completed all assignment problems at a given level correctly before the deadline are eligible to be recognized as the weekly spotlight students. Prior to June 2020, the ones spending the least time on the problems and submitting the answers earliest were be selected as spotlight students of the week. Starting from Week 11, total correct answers in both levels are used as the first tie-breaker, while duration is secondary.

  • Every month, the students having most correct answers at a given level are eligible to be recognized as the monthly spotlight students. Starting from June 2020, total correct answers in both levels are used as the first tie-breaker when more than three students are having the same number of correct answers at a given level. Each monthly spotlight student has the privilege of creating a math problem for future CMM assignments.

• Students at 6th grade or higher are not eligible to be recognized as spotlight students in CMM Level E.

Participating schools

• Elementary schools: Ballantyne Elementary; Barringer Academic Center; Elizabeth Lane Elementary; Elon Park Elementary; Hawk Ridge Elementary; Hinchcliffe Elementary School (O'Fallon, IL); Lakeridge Elementary School (Mercer Island WA); Marvin Elementary; Polo Ridge Elementary; Providence Day School; Providence Spring Elementary; Sandy Ridge Elementary.

• Middle schools: Community House Middle; David Thibodaux STEM Magnet Academy (Lafayette, LA); Fulton Junior High School (O'Fallon, IL); Jay M Robinson Middle; Marvin Ridge Middle; Piedmont IB Middle; South Charlotte Middle; Wydown Middle School (Clayton, MO).

CMM Rules

Students participating in CMM online meetups should follow the rules below:

• • Mute the mic unless Dr. Hong asks to unmute and speak.

  • Do not spam the chat box.

  • Do not give away answers without Dr. Hong's permission.

  • Do not bully other students.

  • Do not share screen.

The ones violating the rules will be uninvited from future meetups.

Contribute to CMM

Charlotte Math Meetup runs on low monetary budget but super high labor cost. You can contribute to the meetups by helping Dr. Hong write math problems and solutions. If you encounter any interesting math problems that you consider a good fit for CMM, please contact Dr. Hong directly.

Major contributors

• • Ying Liao is the father of Kyle Liao, one of the youngest kids in CMM. Ying participated in math competitions since 3rd grade, and entered CMO (China Mathematics Olympiad) in high school. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Physics from Tsinghua University and his Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. Currently, he is a data engineer and lives happily in Seattle area.

CMM does not offer stipend to our the contributors. As a return to the time invested by our major contributors, CMM welcomes their kids to the meetups even if they are not located in Charlotte area.

Frequently Asked Questions

• • Are these meetups aiming at enhancing performance at math contests, such as MATHCOUNTS and AMC8?

No. The meetups are organized to challenge the students, enhance their interest in math, and trigger their curiosity to the outside world. Although some problems may be picked up from or similar to the problems from past math contests, these meetups are not meant to be math contest preparatory training. Dr. Hong will share his view of solving those problems, while sometimes inviting students to share their ways of solving them. These methods and thought processes may or may not be optimal for math contests.

• • Do you follow any curriculum or textbooks?

No. These meetups are not meant to replace regular school work nor rigorous training sessions for math competitions. Every week, Dr. Hong selects or makes up some interesting math problems and puts them into the assignment. He will then discuss them in the coming meetups.

• • How often do you host these meetups?

Dr. Hong tries to host at least one meetup every week. During the school lock down period, Dr. Hong tries to host two meetups every week.

• • How long do you plan to host these meetups?

As of March, 2020, the plan is to continue the current schedule (twice a week during daytime) until Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools reopen. After that, Dr. Hong may host these meetups once a week in the evening or weekend, depending upon the needs of the attending kids.

• • We are outside North Carolina, can my kids join the meetup?

Due to resource constraints, this meetup is currently open to local kids and their friends. If your kids are friends of CMM kids, you are welcome to join. Exceptions will be made to major contributors to the program.

• • My daughter is in 2nd grade, can she join the meetup?

It really depends on her math level. If she is comfortable with the math problems assigned by Dr. Hong, she will most likely enjoy the meet up. If she is struggling with most of the assigned problems, it may be better for her to invest the time in fundamentals and regular school work. You can find some sample problems HERE. If she can not answer at least 30% of the level E problems correctly, you should consider keeping her on regular school work.

• • How do we determine which level is a good fit for my kids?

You can test your kids using the assessment problems. After that, you can determine the level based on the outcome of the test. Dr. Hong recommends that students with math knowledge 5th grade and under stay with Level E only, while students with math knowledge 9th grade and higher should stay with Level M only.

• • Can I have my child attend meetups at both levels?

Yes. It's your call. Dr. Hong recommends that elementary school students with middle school math level attend both meetups. Middle school students without math competition experience may attend both meetups too.

• • I'm in Level M, and not interested in Level E. Can I skip assignments of Level E?

Yes. You are only responsible for the assignments of the level(s) you choose. Which ever assignment(s) you submit answers for, you get the meeting ID of the corresponding meetup session(s).

• • My kids didn't have time for the assignment last week, can they join the meetup?

No. The meetup is for the kids who have devoted time to the assigned math problems. Your kids may catch up the assignment and join future meetups.

• • We turned in the assignment after the due date. Can my kids join the meetup?

Yes. As long as the answer sheet accepted your answers, your email address will be recorded. After the due date, Dr. Hong sends statistics to parents, with the next meetup time and ZOOM meeting ID. Dr. Hong may send another round of reminder with ZOOM meeting ID to include people late for assignment submission. After that, Dr. Hong would turn off the answer sheet. If the answer sheet does not accept answers, it's too late. Keep in mind that Dr. Hong is working on this initiative by cutting his sleep hours short. Please do not contact Dr. Hong with your excuses. If you want to join future meetups, make sure you turn in the answers early next time.

• • Do we have to attend every meetup to secure the seat?

No. You can attend any meetup as you like as long as your kids complete the corresponding assignment. Missing one meetup does not forfeit your eligibility to the next meetup. The meeting ID will be sent to those who have completed the assignment in time. You have the "ticket" to the next meetup as long as your email address is submitted via the answer sheet before Dr. Hong sends out the meeting ID.

• • Can you help my kids with the assigned problems prior to each meetup?

No. They are expected to work independently on those problems and time their efforts. They don't have to solve all those problems. You or others (not Dr. Hong) may help your kids after the answer sheet is submitted. Please make sure that the answer sheet reflects their individual efforts and time correctly.

• • How much does it cost to attend the meetup?

The meetup is free of charge. However, nothing is really free. You are expected to read Dr. Hong's emails, and pass the announcements and assignments to your kids in a timely manner, and help them fill in the answer sheet after they complete the assignments, which should cost you a few minutes every week. When your kids are struggling with the assignment, you are expected to encourage them without providing them a hint or solution, which takes your time and energy too.

• • Can we hire you to do 1:1 tutoring for my son/daughter?

No, thanks. Dr. Hong's time is better spent helping a group of kids rather than just one or two. You may also check his HOURLY RATE, so that you can better understand why he doesn't do math training for profit.

About CMM

CMM is a brainchild of Dr. Tao Hong during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

On March 14, NC Governor Cooper ordered all K-12 public schools to close for at least two weeks in response to COVID-19. Dr. Hong had to take care of his kids at home while working on his already overloaded academic duties. Experiencing the chaos himself, he felt grateful for his university job, for which he has the flexibility to make up the work in the early morning before the kids wake up or at late night after putting the kids to sleep. Meanwhile, he thought other parents who work 9a-5p must be more struggling than him. He felt even bad for those kids who love math but didn't have the right resource or environment. As a forecaster, he predicted that the school closure would be way beyond two weeks. Therefore, he had the idea of hosting some online math meetups to support the local kids.

On March 21, Dr. Hong posted the following message on Nextdoor:

"I've been coaching the Math Olympiad team at Elizabeth Lane Elementary. Unfortunately due to the coronavirus, we can no longer meet in person. To help the kids get the math they want and the quality education they deserve, I would like to host some virtual meetups once or twice a week to discuss hard math problems at the level of MOEMS, MATHCOUNTS, and AMC8. I'd like to open the invitation to all math savvy kids (4th to 8th graders) near our neighborhood. If your children are interested, please send me a message with your email. If I receive requests from a wide range of students, I may break them into several groups based on their math levels. The meetups are free to join. Each student will need a computer. The students are expected to work on a few math problems for an hour or so before each meetup."

On March 23, NC Governor Cooper extended school closures statewide to May 15, 2020. In the same week, Dr. Hong hosted his first online meetup with 11 local kids, ranging from 3rd to 7th grade. The following week, the participation tripled to 33, including 32 local 3rd to 8th graders from 8 elementary schools and 5 middle schools. Due to the rapid growth in participation, Dr. Hong splitted the meetup by math level in the third week to keep up the education quality, hosting 41 students for elementary school level math and 22 students for middle school level math. Meanwhile, Dr. Hong started to record the sessions and upload them to Youtube to offer learning opportunities to a wide range of students.

On April 24, NC Governor Cooper announced that NC K-12 public schools will continue remote learning through the end of the 2019-2020 school year. The next day, Dr. Hong opened the CMM registration to friends of CMM students regardless their locations, so that CMM students have one more channel to network with their friends.