At Art of Problem Solving, we aren’t afraid of hard problems. Our students solve all types of challenges every single day.
This New Year, we’re challenging YOU to Resolve to Problem Solve. That's right: We want you to pledge to solve math problems with your student for the whole month of January.
Problem solving is one of the best skills you can learn. Why? Setting the math foundations today helps students build resilience, creativity, autonomy, perseverance, and confidence — skills that can be applied to any subset of life.
Set a Problem Solving Habit
Resolving to problem solve is the type of resolution that pays off for the entire year. Setting a problem solving habit now will go a long way toward training the brain to tackle all types of challenges — in math and beyond.
So how can you get started? First, set your habit. Pick your frequency (could be daily, weekly, or a few times a week), and then set aside a regular time of day to problem solve. It could be over breakfast each morning, or three times a week before bed. Decide what works best for your family. But remember, consistency is key!
Next, determine the resources, games, curricula, or tools to work on in your daily math sessions.
Need some inspiration? We have plenty of ways, big and small, to add problem solving into your January. Check out our resources (below), listed in order of difficulty.
Tag us to show us how you're problem solving! @theartofproblemsolving; @artofproblemsolving; @aopsnews
12 Free & Affordable Ways to Problem Solve this January
Ages 4+
Beast Academy Playground (free)
How can you bring playful math to life? Our expert curriculum developers put their heads together to come up with Beast Academy Playground: a free collection of tabletop math games, activities, and crafts to help kids ages 4+ build numerical literacy and problem-solving confidence.
Perfect for parents looking for an offscreen, informal math lesson.
*Recommended challenge*: Commit to doing two activities every week of January.
See our free collection →
Ages 6–13
Beast Academy Comic Books
Learn challenging math concepts and problem-solving skills through the richly illustrated adventures of four little Beast Academy monsters. Our captivating comic books make up a full math curriculum for aspiring math beasts ages 6–13.
Bundle a full level of books with our online program to save more than $50.
*Recommended challenge*: Read the books for 20 minutes every day — pairs well with bedtime.
Ages 8–13
Beast Academy Online
Learn engaging, challenging math through an interactive, self-paced online learning platform. Through Beast Academy’s captivating comic-based storylines, elementary students tackle tough challenges that move them to math mastery. Starts at $8 a month.
Bundle the online program with a full level of comic books to save more than $50.
*Recommended challenge*: Work on online lessons for 20 minutes every day.
AoPS Virtual Campus Classes
For students grades 2–12 , AoPS Virtual Campus offers live face-to-face instruction via video conference, including year-round courses in math and language arts. Using our world-renowned AoPS and Beast Academy curricula, expert instructors guide students through immersive active-learning experiences.
*Recommended challenge*: Try out a class! Many math and language arts courses kick off in January.
Ages 10+
Alcumus (free)
Our free adaptive online learning system offers students a customized learning experience by adjusting problems and lessons according to student performance. Alcumus is designed to provide high-performing students with a challenging curriculum that matches their abilities.
Alcumus aligns with our AoPS Online courses, but any student can use it for free! Note that you will need to sign up for a (free) student account.
*Recommended challenge*: Try to solve one Alcumus problem every day.
AoPS Online Courses
AoPS Online offers live advanced online math courses in an interactive text-and image-based classroom. Live instructors teach advanced concepts in math, physics, chemistry, and computer science to students grades 5–12.
Also available as a textbook curriculum.
*Recommended challenge*: Try out a class! Many courses kick off in January.
MATHCOUNTS Trainer (free)
Compete against yourself as you solve problems from the MATHCOUNTS competition. In this fun and challenging single-player game, students advance through rounds, improving their pace in the face of competition-style problems.
Play with your AoPS account or as a guest.
*Recommended challenge*: Challenge yourself to 15-30 min. three times a week.
Instructional Video Library (free)
Peruse 100s of videos on advanced math concepts and problem solving techniques featuring AoPS founder Richard Rusczyk.
Most videos align with our Prealgebra, Introduction to Algebra, and Introduction to Counting & Probability courses, but we also feature videos that cover problems from math competitions like MATHCOUNTS and the AMC series.
*Recommended challenge*: Watch 2 videos each week (videos are about 2 - 5 min. each).
Start watching (and learning) →
Keep Learning (free)
Our staff-curated Keep Learning puzzles offer problems and puzzles you can solve from anywhere — home, school, even on the sidewalk with chalk!
We post new problems every week, so check in often to find new complexities and perplexities.
Recommended challenge: Try two Keep Learning puzzles each week (they’re released weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays).
Ages 14+
For the Win (free)
How will you measure up in competition-style math? Battle it out in For the Win!, AoPS’s premier online math game. Freshly revamped, For the Win! pulls questions from former math competitions like MATHCOUNTS, MOEMS, AMCs, and more.
Anyone can compete — but can you win?
*Recommended challenge*: Play one game a day.
Practice Contest Platform (free)
Students preparing for upcoming math contests use the AoPS Practice Contest Platform to sharpen their day-of competition skills. But anyone can sign up to take a practice contest!
Designed by the AoPS curriculum team, practice contest problems are completely new and different from past competitions — promising to provide challenges never seen before.
*Recommended challenge*: Prepare for and take one practice contest this month.
CrowdMath (free)
Want to help discover new mathematical truths? For high school and college students who like working with others to solve problems, CrowdMath offers challenging, unsolved problems throughout the year.
Collaborate with exceptional peers and top-tier mentors around the country in mathematical research and potentially discover entirely new ideas!
CrowdMath is a collaboration between MIT PRIMES and Art of Problem Solving.
*Recommended challenge*: Challenge yourself for 30 min. twice a week. Visit the Resources tab of each problem set to get started.
Tag us to show us how you're problem solving! @theartofproblemsolving; @artofproblemsolving; @aopsnews
