Why start Gifted Math in Grade 4 or 5?

The Jiansing Junior High math and science gifted-class screening takes place in Grade 6. Joining in Grade 4 or 5 gives children a more comfortable preparation period to build solid foundations, rather than cramming in Grade 6.

Do classes include more advanced problems?

Yes — but not trick questions designed to trip children up. We add competency-based applied problems: long contextual passages, reading charts and diagrams, and cross-subject questions, so children get used early to the question formats that appear most often in later entrance exams.

My child does well but isn’t exceptional. Is Gifted Math a fit?

Yes. This course builds thinking habits; it is not only for children who are already strong. Before enrolling there is a free one-on-one math assessment, and we will tell you honestly where your child is starting from and what arrangement suits them.

When is the Jiansing math and science gifted-class screening, and what does it test?

Students apply in Grade 6. In recent years the first round has been around January–February, with achievement tests in math and science; the second round, around March, has hands-on math and science assessments and an aptitude test. The official Tainan City guidelines for each year are the final word on dates and content.

If my child isn’t aiming for Jiansing, is the course still worthwhile?

Yes. Systematic enumeration, explaining reasoning and generalizing patterns are exactly the core skills behind the competency-based questions on the CAP (Taiwan’s junior-high exam) and the GSAT (the university entrance exam). The Jiansing screening is just the first gate on that path; these thinking skills keep paying off through junior and senior high.

How is this different from a math olympiad class?

We don’t drill trick problems or race ahead in the syllabus. Olympiad classes train competition problem-solving techniques; we train thinking methods children carry with them — reading new definitions, enumerating systematically, writing out clear reasoning — with gifted-class screening and long-term study in mind, not contests.

We only heard about the course in Grade 5. Can my child still join?

Yes. Gifted Math takes students in Grade 4 or Grade 5, and the whole class works toward the Grade 6 screening together. To join, add us on LINE to book the free assessment; we will look at your child’s level and whether that year’s class has a suitable way in, and give you honest advice.

§ PROGRAMS · Elementary Gifted Math

A question first

Why would a science lab
teach math?

When children struggle with math, it is usually not a lack of ability — it is that they have only memorized and never really reasoned.
Hypothesize, test, explain why: that is what a lab does every day. We watch every step of the process, not just the answer.

For Grades 4 and 5
Thursdays 19:00 – 21:00
Starts Thu, Sep 10, 2026
NT$800 / class (billed monthly)
Aim: Jiansing Junior High math & science gifted class

§ 01

Our approachPhilosophy

Not olympiad math — math that goes the distance

Solid training in logic, so children meet every exam with composure

The goal of this course is clear. Children learn to:

✓Read a problem through instead of giving up because “it’s too long”
✓Know how to set up an equation rather than guess by instinct
✓Work neatly and carefully, earning every point they should
✓Think boldly and reason well, staying calm with unfamiliar questions

A child resting their chin on a hand, thinking, with a light bulb of inspiration above their head and an open notebook and pencil on the desk — More than speed, what matters to us is **how** a child thinks

We value thinking

There are no shortcuts in math. Rather than memorized methods and stock tricks, we care about how children think —
understanding a new definition given on the spot, enumerating systematically, deriving a general rule from special cases, and writing out clear reasoning.
These four skills are the fundamentals that go the distance.

Drawing on years of science and engineering background and on trends in competency-based exam design, we designed the course backwards from future entrance exams and gifted-class screening —
thinking becomes a habit, and the scores follow.

§ 02

Course featuresFeatures

What makes this course different

Three key design choices behind children’s progress

Competency-based, aligned with future exams

A focus on long word problems, real-world contexts and reading charts and diagrams, so children get used early to the question formats of the CAP and the GSAT.
Small classes where the teacher sees every child

In a small class the teacher keeps track of each child’s pace, so no one quietly falls behind the way they can in a large class.
Strong math lifts every STEM subject

Math is the root of science and engineering. With a solid foundation, physics, chemistry and computing all come more easily.

Math building blocks forming a foundation that holds up a physics atom, a chemistry flask and a computing laptop

Know the terrain first

Preparing for the Jiansing screening by drilling
is like memorizing a script for an improv speech

Hands-on assessments ask children to work things out and explain their reasoning — abilities that can’t be crammed in the three months before the exam.

On the left, a colorless room with a child slumped over a pile of worksheets; on the right, a room in color with a child holding up a geometric model

§ 03

The screeningWhat It Tests

The Jiansing gifted class has never been about speed

It’s all math, but the paper asks for something entirely different

School tests

Question types you’ve practiced
Rewards fluency and care
Right answer, full marks

Gifted screening

Questions you’ve never seen
Rewards reasoning and structure
You must explain why

Understand a new definition given on the spot
Enumerate systematically, missing nothing
Derive a general rule from special cases
Write out clear reasoning

Three sample questions in the screening style — children can try them on paper first, then open the answers. The point isn’t speed; it’s depth of thinking.

Question 1 Generalizing

Tower of Hanoi: move a stack of discs from the left peg to the right peg, one disc at a time, never placing a larger disc on a smaller one. What is the fewest number of moves for 4 discs? And for n discs?

Hint: Work out 1, 2 and 3 discs first, then look for the pattern.

Show answerHide answer

4 discs take 15 moves; n discs take 2ⁿ − 1. 1 disc → 1, 2 → 3, 3 → 7, 4 → 15… each extra disc means “double the previous number, plus one,” giving the general formula 2ⁿ − 1. Counting move by move never ends; you have to spot the pattern in small cases and turn it into a formula (10 discs take 1,023 moves).
Question 2 Spatial reasoning

A large 3 × 3 × 3 cube (27 small cubes) has its whole outer surface painted red and is then taken apart. How many small cubes have exactly three painted faces?

Hint: Think about which positions touch three outer faces at once.

Show answerHide answer

8. Only the eight corner cubes show three faces. (For the record: 12 edge cubes have two painted faces, 6 face-centre cubes have one, and the single cube in the very middle has none.) Spatial reasoning is a regular in hands-on assessments, and children who have never handled 3D shapes are at the biggest disadvantage.
Question 3 Logical reasoning

Someone took the cookies, and of three children only one is telling the truth. A says, “B took them.” B says, “I didn’t.” C says, “I didn’t.” Who took the cookies?

Hint: Assume each child in turn is the culprit, then check how many are telling the truth.

Show answerHide answer

C took them. If C did it: A’s “B took them” is false, B’s “I didn’t” is true, and C’s “I didn’t” is false — exactly one truth-teller, B, which fits. (Assume A or B instead and two children end up telling the truth — a contradiction.) This tests the logic of assume → check → eliminate.

Note: these are all sample questions in a similar style, not actual Jiansing questions, and serve only to illustrate the direction of the exam. Question styles are compiled by STARK Lab from the subject descriptions in past public admission guidelines and other publicly available information; they are not officially released exam questions. Jiansing Junior High School runs its own admissions and has no partnership, authorization or affiliation with STARK Lab. Please refer to the school’s official announcements for exam content and dates.

§ 04

Thinking, step by stepThinking Demo

We don’t hand out methods — we teach a process that keeps checking itself

Three sample questions show how we guide children’s thinking in class — the point is not the answer but the order of thinking

Demo 1 | Systematic enumerationModeled on 2024–2027 screening question styles

How many different sizes of square fit on a pegboard?

Stretching rubber bands on a 5×5 pegboard, how many squares of different sizes can you make?

1
First, pin down what counts as “different.” The question says different sizes — same size in a different position counts only once.Inner question: “What exactly am I counting?”
2
Start with what you’re sure of. Upright squares: side lengths 1, 2, 3 and 4 — 4 sizes.Inner question: “Bank the certain ones first.”
3
The key step: “Does a square have to sit upright?” Think of one side as “a pegs right, then b pegs up” — and tilted squares appear.Inner question: “Is there a placement I haven’t thought of?”
4
List every (a, b) systematically. (1,1), (2,1), (2,2) and (3,1) all fit — 4 more tilted sizes, for 8 in total.
5
Finally, ask: “How do I know I haven’t missed any?” Every size corresponds to one (a, b) pair; once the pairs are all listed, the sizes are too. That sentence is the “reasoning” the assessment is looking for.

Going further in class: if squares in different positions also count as different, the answer jumps to 50 — and now (1,2) and (2,1) must be counted separately. Why? That layer we save for class.

The most important step

How do I know I haven’t missed any?

Getting 8 earns only half the credit — being able to say “why this is all of them” is what the screening is really looking at.

This question trains: systematic enumeration plus explaining why nothing is repeated or missed.

Demo 2 | Reading a new definition · generalizingModeled on 2024–2027 screening question styles

The question invents a brand-new symbol

Define a ◎ 1 = a, and a ◎ n = a ◎ (n−1) + 2n.
What is 3 ◎ 5? And 3 ◎ n?

1
A new symbol isn’t scary — it’s just the “instruction manual” that comes with the question. Put it in your own words first: each step up adds “2 × the step number.”Inner question: “Have I understood every word of the rule?”
2
Start small and keep a record. 3 ◎ 1 = 3 → add 4 to get 7 → add 6 to get 13 → add 8 to get 21 → add 10 to get 31.Inner question: “Get the small ones right before tackling big ones.”
3
Look back at the structure. 31 = 3 + (4+6+8+10) — it is just 3 plus a run of even numbers.
4
Generalize. Add up the run of even numbers and simplify, and 3 ◎ n turns out to be exactly n×(n+1)+1.
5
Check with the smallest cases. n=1: 1×2+1=3 ✓; n=5: 5×6+1=31 ✓.Inner question: “Let the special cases tell me if the formula is right.”

Going further in class: what about 3 ◎ 100? Children without the formula are still adding one step at a time; children with it write 100×101+1=10101 in ten seconds. That is the power of a general formula.

This question trains: reading a new definition plus deriving a general rule from special cases. Recursion and sequences are “junior-high” ideas, yet elementary children can reach them in their own way.

Demo 3 | Explaining your reasoningModeled on 2024–2027 screening question styles

Why does the number “spell out” your birthday?

Take your birth month, ×4, add 7, ×25, add your birth day, then subtract 175. Tell the teacher the result, and the teacher instantly names your birthday — why? Explain your reasoning.

1
Experiment first. March 14: 3×4+7=19 → ×25=475 → +14=489 → −175=314. Wait — 314 is March 14!Inner question: “Try it and get a feel for it.”
2
Write it for “anyone.” Call the month m and the day d; the whole process is (m×4+7)×25+d−175 = m×100+175+d−175 = m×100+d.
3
Say why it always works. m×100+d puts the month in the hundreds and up and the day in the last two digits — the number spells out the birthday, and people with different birthdays always get different results. Only an equation can guarantee “always.”Inner question: “Can I make someone else understand why it can never be wrong?”

Going further in class: that “subtract 175” isn’t random — it exactly cancels the 7×25. Seeing through how a question is built is where mathematical taste begins: if it were “add 3, then ×25,” what would you subtract?

This question trains: turning a process into an equation and explaining why it always holds. Fourth graders who aren’t yet comfortable with m and d are fine — a feel for symbols is built over two years, which is exactly why we start in Grade 4.

Note: these are all sample questions in a similar style, not actual Jiansing questions, and serve only to illustrate thinking methods. The label “modeled on 2024–2027 screening question styles” (ROC academic years 113–115) reflects STARK Lab’s compilation from the subject descriptions in public admission guidelines and other publicly available information; these are not officially released exam questions. Actual exam questions are determined by the organizing authority.

Time is the biggest advantage

Cram in Grade 6 and it’s a scramble;
start in Grade 4 and there’s room to breathe

The same summit — one child climbs step by step, another hauls up a sheer cliff. Two years of breathing room turn thinking into a habit.

The same mountain: on the left a child with a backpack walks up steps, on the right a child struggles up a vertical rock face, with a red flag at the summit

§ 05

Class timesSchedule

Gifted Math schedule

A new Gifted Math class opens every year for Grade 4 and Grade 5; the 2026–27 class starts on Thu, Sep 10, 2026

Gifted Math | Class times

Grades	Class time	Tuition (billed monthly)
Grades 4 · 5	Thursdays 19:00 – 21:00	NT$800 / class

The December 2026 tuition adjustment does not apply to Gifted Math; tuition stays at NT$800 / class.

What we really want to give

Getting in is the result of one day;
thinking well lasts a lifetime

An exam is just a gate along the road; thinking stays with them the whole way. A child who walks into the exam with a method stays calm wherever they go.

A road passing through three gates — an elementary student, a secondary student and an adult — each accompanied by a glowing light bulb, heading toward the sunrise

§ 06

Skills for lifeBeyond the Exam

Gifted class or not,
this way of thinking lasts a lifetime

The four things the pegboard question trains really come into their own after the exam

For life

Break big problems into small ones

Count the upright squares, then the tilted ones — in life, too, you sort first and then deal with each part.
For life

Look from another angle

“A tilted square is still a square” — change the angle and the answer goes from 4 to 8.
For life

See the pattern in a few examples

Try a few cases, find the rule, and you no longer have to start from scratch every time.
For life

Be able to say why

Children who can explain their reasoning can persuade others — and are hard to talk into something wrong.

What we’re after isn’t a pretty report card,
but training in a way of thinking.

§ 07

Trial & enrollmentSign Up

How to start: two simple steps

Enroll online, and your child can be in class the following Thursday

1

Enroll online and secure a place

The first round of enrollment is for a full block of four classes, so children can genuinely settle into the course before deciding whether to continue.
Families who book only a single trial class will not have a place held; whether the child can join afterwards depends on availability at that time.
Enroll online →
2

Start class — no pressure to stay

After the first four classes, if your child isn’t settling in, you can talk with the teacher at any time about adjustments. If your child stops attending, you simply stop paying — no pressure.

§ 08

Absences & make-upMake-up

Missed a class? Here’s what happens

Every class can be made up, so no part of the course is missed

After an absence, an in-person make-up is arranged; a teaching assistant contacts you to confirm the time
For now, make-up classes are in person; once the make-up recording system is installed, recorded make-up will also be available
Please let us know about absences in advance on LINE; a teaching assistant will then arrange the make-up time

§ 09

FAQFAQ

What parents ask most

Common questions before enrolling, answered in one place

QWhy start Gifted Math in Grade 4 or 5?: The Jiansing Junior High math and science gifted-class screening takes place in Grade 6. Joining in Grade 4 or 5 gives children a more comfortable preparation period to build solid foundations, rather than cramming in Grade 6.
QDo classes include more advanced problems?: Yes — but not trick questions designed to trip children up. We add competency-based applied problems: long contextual passages, reading charts and diagrams, and cross-subject questions, so children get used early to the question formats that appear most often in later entrance exams.
QMy child does well but isn’t exceptional. Is Gifted Math a fit?: Yes. This course builds thinking habits; it is not only for children who are already strong. Before enrolling there is a free one-on-one math assessment, and we will tell you honestly where your child is starting from and what arrangement suits them.
QWhen is the Jiansing math and science gifted-class screening, and what does it test?: Students apply in Grade 6. In recent years the first round has been around January–February, with achievement tests in math and science; the second round, around March, has hands-on math and science assessments and an aptitude test. The official Tainan City guidelines for each year are the final word on dates and content.
QIf my child isn’t aiming for Jiansing, is the course still worthwhile?: Yes. Systematic enumeration, explaining reasoning and generalizing patterns are exactly the core skills behind the competency-based questions on the CAP (Taiwan’s junior-high exam) and the GSAT (the university entrance exam). The Jiansing screening is just the first gate on that path; these thinking skills keep paying off through junior and senior high.
QHow is this different from a math olympiad class?: We don’t drill trick problems or race ahead in the syllabus. Olympiad classes train competition problem-solving techniques; we train thinking methods children carry with them — reading new definitions, enumerating systematically, writing out clear reasoning — with gifted-class screening and long-term study in mind, not contests.
QWe only heard about the course in Grade 5. Can my child still join?: Yes. Gifted Math takes students in Grade 4 or Grade 5, and the whole class works toward the Grade 6 screening together. To join, add us on LINE to book the free assessment; we will look at your child’s level and whether that year’s class has a suitable way in, and give you honest advice.

§ What parents say

Real feedback

Not us praising ourselves — it’s the parents

Taken from public comments on the official STARK Lab Facebook page and LINE messages from parents, translated from the original Chinese (excerpts marked with …). Names are withheld.

Last summer she took the science-fair training course, and along the way she came to feel deeply that “the most fundamental skill in science is math,” because every experiment needs precise, data-based analysis. So she has been practising math especially hard … Thank you, teacher, for the inspiration.

Science-fair training parentLINE message · 2026

Take Newton’s third law — we cared about catching the ball, but he said the point is the reaction force! How much force, how high it bounces — work it out, then catch it. … Hands-on work had quietly shaped his thinking: doing, thinking and learning all at once.

A mom & textbook editorLong-term hands-on parent

Close the gap in math, starting now

The new class takes online enrollment, with limited places.
You can also add us on LINE to book a free math assessment and find the right starting point for your child together.

Enroll online: new Elementary Gifted Math class → Book a free assessment on LINE

@starklab

Why would a science labteach math?

Competency-based, aligned with future exams

Small classes where the teacher sees every child

Strong math lifts every STEM subject

Preparing for the Jiansing screening by drillingis like memorizing a script for an improv speech

Cram in Grade 6 and it’s a scramble;start in Grade 4 and there’s room to breathe

Getting in is the result of one day;thinking well lasts a lifetime

Break big problems into small ones

Look from another angle

See the pattern in a few examples

Be able to say why

Enroll online and secure a place

Start class — no pressure to stay

Close the gap in math, starting now

Why would a science lab
teach math?

Preparing for the Jiansing screening by drilling
is like memorizing a script for an improv speech

Cram in Grade 6 and it’s a scramble;
start in Grade 4 and there’s room to breathe

Getting in is the result of one day;
thinking well lasts a lifetime