So, took DS to a math club today. Didn't go so well, as there he is young for it and completely failed to read each of the problems they did correctly. Feels a bit of an oops, not sure whether to work on being careful reading instructions with hm, write off the experience, or just take him again and hope the context and the TD stuff at school helps him get over that hump. He does have problems with word skipping when reading and things along those lines, but other problem contexts seems like he gets it.

Also, the strange thing was they just sit in there like more of a math olympiad prep for two hours than an engaged and interactive club for mathy kids to meet.

That doesn't sound like much fun.

If these are kids in the grades 5-8 range, it's not unusual that they are doing problem-solving prep right now. MOEMS contests start in November, and the AMC 8 is in November as well. If you want more than problem-solving at this time of year, you may have better luck looking for a STEM club rather than a math club. Those typically mix things up more and can include building, game playing, puzzle solving, and working with computers for animation or programming.

What are the ages involved?

What led them to let a younger person in the club? Maybe they understand that a younger person can be highly precocious in mathematics, but still have the need for other skills to be developed.

Also while some different formats might seem like more fun, I think the important thing is that the mathematics itself is fun, especially if it is offering something that is missing in regular school.

This group is through probably age eleven. They say 4th to 6th grade, but say they are open to anyone who enjoys math. DS is seven. The thing that most struck me is that this was the very first meeting for the year to be lacking the intros, etc.

Math is his main hobby at home and he gets some one on one enrichment through school. I guess at this point we are going to take some time each week on carefully reading problems and maybe look for a circle or STEM club. Next month's meeting is the same day as the TriMathlon thing and I'll let him pick between them.

Appreciate the suggestions.

There are no "public" math clubs/circles/etcetera where we are. There are math clubs in some B&M schools, but our DS7 is not in a B&M school. I have thought about approaching the local gifted middle school about if he could sit in on their math club when he is "ready" (which is not yet). My concern is even if/when he's ready for the level of mathematics, he still might not be "ready" in pragmatic ways such as reading comprehension, writing output, classroom conduct etcetera. That's why I'm curious to hear about others' experience with this.

Sorry to hear the math club wasn't off to a great start for your DS, Zen Scanner. If it helps, DD has been doing EPGY for awhile but is having difficulty with preparing for the final because it's a totally different format/approach than she experienced from the class, plus it's all written on paper (vs. on the computer, which is weird for me to think about in that direction but for her I guess is something she is not used to). So maybe your DS just needs practice having problems introduced in a similar way? (maybe think procedure, versus content??) For DD, writing things down on scratch paper in a legible way, with appropriate numbering (so she could get partial credit, possibly) is not something we were thinking about practicing during the course and so now apparently feels strange to her, on top of reviewing stuff she hasn't seen for awhile.

We are also in NC and have not found a math club locally that is gearing up for any kind of competition--I would love to find something online, but I am not sure they exist. Which in this day and age seems odd. Would love to be proved wrong.

Best of luck!