We hope you all had a wonderful summer.  To prepare for a new school year, we are delighted to send you this inaugural issue of The Avid Learner, an online newsletter of Avid Academy for Gifted Youth.

Table of Content

1. 2006-2007 Math Olympiad and Problem Solving Programs
2. Directory of Summer Camps for Gifted Students
3. Gifted Education Events in Orange and San Diego County
4. 2006 International Academic Olympiad Results
5. California Standards for Gifted and Talented Students (GATE) programs
6. Make Math Fun to Learn - The "WOW" Reaction
7. America's Best Colleges 2007

1. 2006-2007 Math Olympiad and Problem Solving Programs

The schedule and calendar of 2006-2007 Math Olympiad and Problem Solving Programs are now available.  We offer nine programs for talented math students in grades 4 - 11.  Five of the programs use a hybrid model of multimedia distance learning, classroom lecture, and group problem solving sessions.  Registration period for the Fall Session starts from August 15 through September 1, 2006 for returning students and from August 15 through September 8 for new students.  Qualifying exams are required for new students.  Please visit our website at www.AvidAcademy.com for more information.

2. Directory of Summer Camps for Gifted Students

The 2006 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp was concluded on August 4, 2006.  We sincerely appreciate Young Math Olympians and their families for making this gifted education event memorable and successful.  Special thanks also go to the teachers and school principals who nominated their top students to participate in this program.  To get a glimpse of the camp activities, please go to the 2006 Orange County Math Olympiad Summer Camp Photo Albums.

One of the goals at Avid Academy is to create a learning community that shares gifted education resources and experiences.  As summer is near the end, we are starting to evaluate and compile the 2007 directory of summer camps for gifted students.  If your child went to a camp this summer and would like to share his or her experience, please email us at info@AvidAcademy.com.

3. Gifted Education Events in Orange and San Diego County

You can purchase this newly published book, The Mislabeled Child, from the Avid Academy for Gifted Youth Bookstore.

Each summer, United States sent out teams to various International Academic Olympiads competitions.  The following is a summary of 2006 results:

• 47th International Mathematical Olympiad, Slovenia: United States International Math Olympiad (IMO) Team competed against 90 countries and 500 students and finished in 5th place behind China, Russia, Korea, and Germany.  The team received two gold medals and four silver medals.  Zarathustra Brady of Magnolia Science Academy, Van Nuys, California received a gold medal and was the highest scorer on the U.S. team. 
• 37th International Physics Olympiad, Singapore: The U.S. Physics Team received four gold medals and one silver medal.  Henry Tung of Torrey Pines High School, San Diego, is one of the gold medal winners.
• 38th International Chemistry Olympiad, Korea: The U.S. Chemistry Team won three silver medals and one bronze medal.
• 17th International Biology Olympiad, Argentina: The U.S. Biology Team received two gold and two silver medals.

The California State laws require all school districts to provide gifted education programs, but leave the implementation of such programs to local school districts.  In 2001, California State Board of Education approved Recommended Standards for Programs for Gifted and Talented Education.  The revised standards was approved last year.  If your child is currently in or plan to enroll in a GATE program, you may be interested in getting familiar with the standards to see how your GATE program measuring up against the standards.

I would like to thank Nita, mother of Bianca who attended 2006 Math Olympiad Summer Camp, for sharing with me this op/ed opinion piece from The Baltimore Sun - Do the math - if teachers think it's fun, so will kids.  I wholeheartedly agree with the "WOW" reaction described in the article, but believe it is not only important for the teachers, but also for the parents and students to say: "I never knew math to be so interesting!"

In the The Conditions of Learning and the Theory of Instruction, Dr. Robert Gagne (1965) identified the nine conditions or events necessary for learning to occur.  These events are important for the basis for the design of instruction.  The first event is called "gain attention".  Receiving the "WOW" Reaction is a good indicator that the first condition of learning had been met.

One of the key elements contributed to the success of 2006 Math Olympiad Summer Camp was the strategic introduction of learning activities that elicited the "WOW" reaction.  These activities included the problems of the day, mental math tricks, math games, magic tricks, history lessons, and problem solving techniques.  Starting every learning activity with a "WOW" Reaction is one of the core instructional design principles of our Math Olympiad and Problem Solving Programs.  If you would like to make math fun to learn for your students or children, Entertaining Mathematical Puzzles by Martin Gardner (1961) is a good place to start.

U.S. News & World Report published the America's Best Colleges 2007 rankings.  Princeton, Harvard, and Yale took the top three honors.  Here are the rankings of other Southern California colleges:

• 26 - UCLA
• 27 - USC
• 38 - UC San Diego
• 44 - UC Irvine