We don’t participate in Mathcounts over here, but APSMO is a similar sort of event. It certainly is delightful to watch one’s child discover the joy of maths.
DH, my two older kids and I have all been good at maths from a young age, but my youngest used to believe she was terrible at maths and the odd one out. When she started high school, DS (who is two years above her in grades and was in an accelerated maths program) would tell her about how he solved IMO level questions and I thought he was being ridiculous, but somehow, she was able to follow his reasoning and realised that she also had the potential to do well at maths. She is now top of her year at maths, has taken on the highest available level of maths studies and is planning on becoming a maths teacher.
