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Do kids learn how to write proofs in math competitions? (Pardon my ignorance, but my kid also did not do competitions – except in chess). It was experience writing proofs that seemed to separate the A+ students from the rest of the students in his honors math sequence – and they were mostly East Europeans. Those of you who are more knowledgable might have some opinion on whether that is a skill that could reasonably taught in middle or high school to many more students.</p>