ABSTRACT
The National Association for Gifted Children stated in its position statement on differentiation that providing challenging coursework means ensuring opportunities for advanced classes beginning as early as the elementary years. Currently, most gifted children spend the majority of their time in regular classrooms without access to challenging coursework or teachers knowledgeable about the special learning needs of our most highly able learners. Mathematics Olympiads for Elementary and Secondary Students is an international program in which students explore a topic or strategy in depth and utilize creative problem-solving strategies. Over the course of an academic year, students participate in five contests that include non-routine problems. During the Mathematics Olympiads meetings, students worked in pairs and in small groups to solve challenging mathematics problems similar to ones they would be presented with during competition. Strategies were taught to help students think creatively about problem solving. Students took turns explaining their strategies to the class and evaluated their efficiency for problem solving.
