Prime Factor Math Circle and School of Programming

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Prime Factor Math Circle and School of Programming Extracurricular mathematics and coding program for capable elementary, middle, and high-school students

Online Math Circles for Grades 3–6A new school year is starting at Prime Factor, and our Junior Math Circles include onl...
09/16/2026

Online Math Circles for Grades 3–6

A new school year is starting at Prime Factor, and our Junior Math Circles include online groups that students can join from anywhere.

A Math Circle is not a typical school math class. Students solve non-routine problems, explore interesting mathematical ideas, learn to reason and explain their solutions, and discover different approaches to the same problem.

Throughout the year, students explore a wide range of topics, including logic, combinatorics, geometry, number theory, and graph theory, as well as problems inspired by Math Kangaroo and other math competitions.

We offer several Junior Math Circle levels, so students can join a group that matches their age and mathematical background.

Online · Grades 3–6 · Once a week

If your child enjoys mathematics—and especially problems that are fun to think about—we would be happy to welcome them to Prime Factor!

Classes start this week. Learn more at our website www.pfmathcircle.org

This summer, our Scratch program got a major redesign.When we started preparing for our younger summer programmers, we s...
08/24/2026

This summer, our Scratch program got a major redesign.
When we started preparing for our younger summer programmers, we set ourselves two goals. First, we wanted to create projects that are accessible to beginners, but still have enough interesting ideas, problem solving, and creativity to make a full week of programming worthwhile.
Next, we wanted the summer curriculum to be its own curriculum. Many students first meet us at summer camp and later join our school-year Scratch classes. They don’t want to start the school year with the same projects they built at the summer camp.
So we got to work. We designed and tested a new collection of projects: different geometric drawings with code, a dance party, a lost-dog quest through the woods, a fish-feeding shooter game, a desert walk among cacti, and more.
Behind the funny characters and stories is a progression through Scratch: motion, loops, broadcasts, costumes, sounds, conditionals, variables, animation, and game mechanics.
A lot of preparation goes into making a project feel simple, playful, and achievable to a young programmer.

More than just knowledge. We teach students to think better.Prime Factor's original math and computer science courses go...
08/12/2026

More than just knowledge. We teach students to think better.

Prime Factor's original math and computer science courses go far beyond the standard school curriculum. Students develop skills for life—logical reasoning, creativity, and perseverance—that prepare them for advanced study and whatever challenges come next.

Enrollment for Fall 2026 is now open. Try Prime Factor risk-free with our flexible enrollment policy.

Math Arena: A Competition of Strategy, Attack, and Problem SolvingOne of the highlights of the week was Math Arena, an i...
08/06/2026

Math Arena: A Competition of Strategy, Attack, and Problem Solving
One of the highlights of the week was Math Arena, an individual problem-solving competition that combines mathematics, strategy, and a little suspense.
Every player starts in the Market Square. As students solve problems, they can use their correct solutions in different ways: attack another player, defend themselves from an attack, or heal after being injured.
There are three stages in the game: Market Square, Hospital, and Intensive Care. The goal is simple: be the last player standing in the Market Square.
Our game had a lot of action and a lot of strategy. Players attacked one another, defended themselves, and worked hard to recover from the Hospital and Intensive Care Unit. By the end of the game, most of the players had successfully made their way back to the Market Square.
The best part of Math Arena is that every correct solution matters. Students constantly make decisions: Should I attack? Save my solution for defense? Heal myself? Success depends not only on solving problems but also on choosing the right strategy.
It was a fun way to begin the week and set the tone for the mathematical challenges that followed.

Can You Do Better? Math Auction: A Different Kind of Contest-----------------------Can you express the number 569 using ...
08/05/2026

Can You Do Better?
Math Auction: A Different Kind of Contest
-----------------------
Can you express the number 569 using only identical one-digit numbers, the four arithmetic operations (+,−,×,÷), and parentheses? (You may not combine digits into multi-digit numbers.)
Here's one solution using eight 8s:
8(8+8×8−8−888)=569.
Can you find a solution that uses fewer 8s?

This is an example of a Math Auction Problem.
Auction problems are different from ordinary math problems. Instead of having a single correct answer, they often have many solutions. Some are easier to find but earn only a small reward. Others require deeper thinking and are worth much more.
In a Math Auction, teams bid for the right to present their solution. The winning team explains its solution and receives the prize money—unless another team announces that it has found a better solution. Then the problem goes back to auction, and the bidding begins again.
As a result, the competition is about much more than solving problems. Teams have to decide how good their solution really is. Is it worth bidding now? Should they wait and keep looking for a better idea? Can they bluff another team into paying too much for the right to present?
Our students quickly discovered that a successful Math Auction requires mathematical creativity, teamwork, and good strategy. This was the first Math Auction for many of the students, and it quickly became one of the highlights of the week.

Two Weeks of PythonOur two-week Python course gave students plenty of opportunities to practice programming through prob...
08/05/2026

Two Weeks of Python
Our two-week Python course gave students plenty of opportunities to practice programming through problem solving.
Instead of simply learning Python syntax, students worked on a steady stream of programming challenges that encouraged them to think, experiment, and improve their solutions. By the end of the course, they had written dozens of programs and became much more confident using Python to solve problems.
Our instructor Ioulia did an excellent job leading the course, creating a welcoming atmosphere while keeping everyone challenged and engaged.
One of the students came to the class with previous Python experience. Rather than repeating material he already knew, Ioulia prepared a separate set of more challenging programming problems for him. This flexibility allowed every student to work at an appropriate level and continue making progress.
It was wonderful to watch the students grow over the course of two weeks.

Address

2707 152nd Avenue NE
Redmond, WA
98052

Telephone

+14257653421

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