Elena's been with us for a year, and she's six (as you'll see in her "candid camera" interview below).
Why would she need to start math enrichment at the age of five?
Aren't five year olds supposed to be doing ballet & little league?
Of course ballet and little league are fabulous, but more and more parents are seeing the value in academic enrichment as well.
Here are three reasons Elena will have a huge advantage through the next 11 years of grade school (and into college).
While Elena's classmates are introduced to new math concepts for the first time, she is solidifying familiar math skills she has already been working on at Mathnasium. Instead of feeling nervous/unsure/confused, she feels excited to participate & share answers. For Elena, school is a place to shine & grow, not a place to fall behind. This works wonders for building her math confidence.
Let's be honest. Most parents don't seek out math help until their child is seriously struggling. With so much to do as a parent, why would you seek out math enrichment if your child's doing fine?
While we could give a long list of reasons (including the insecurities that build up in the now-I-need-help student), here we'll discuss one major problem with waiting to "feel math pain" before taking action in the form of an example.
Let's talk about teeth:)
If you've neglected to brush and floss to the point of developing a cavity, you can't expect starting those habits (brushing & flossing) will make the cavity disappear. Nope! You have to actually fill the cavity at hand and then move forward with good habits to prevent future cavities.
Math pain is just like this! Before your child can start succeeding in math, the math gaps of the past have to be assessed and filled! The longer these are left neglected, the more difficult & time consuming it is to fill them.
Let's start out by repeating that ballet, little league, and other after school programs are wonderful. This is not meant to be a critique of them.
What is extremely important to point out, is that while parents often tell children the importance of academics, their designation of time & money speak otherwise!
Let's zoom in on youth sports.
A 2019 Ameritrade study shows that 27% of parents spend more than $500 per month on youth sports (an 18 billion dollar industry).
The Aspen Institute unveiled that children involved in sports spend an average of 11.9 hours per week on athletics!
After school academics receive less than half the time & money as youth sports.
What message does this send to children?
Elena's parents break the trend by not only telling her how education will benefit her, but by designating their time and money proportionally.
