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Do you celebrate learning?

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At a young age it became obvious that I was gifted in math, very gifted.  It was a gift that for many years I threw away because no one celebrated the gifted.  We were looked at as geeks and outsiders.

Celebrating learning is crucial to forging onward to success.  As a parent, now myself, I am on a passionate mission to course-correct my journey, paving the way for the smarts to win with cheering applause. Very much like as a field goal or 3-point, no net, basketball glory, shot is celebrated, even revered.  Here is my story, learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen to your kid.

I skipped ahead a grade in math. It seemed like the right thing to do, I was bored and way ahead on the learning curve.  The problem was, that no one supported that move in a positive way.  It was more like a tactical move, than a strategic one.

The move quickly turned for the worse.  I was distraught. I resented being singled out as the smart one. I wanted to have the courage to stand-alone on the outside while 300 huddled together.  Unfortunately, the courage escaped me.  Instead of my gift working for me, I was determined to ignore it.

I forged a plan.  I purposely regressed my math skills.  I set out to become average.  I hung out with the bad kids.  I cut up in class.  I turned in my homework late.  I relied on talent rather than hard work and I slept through years worth of lessons.  Why?  Because average kids have way more fun, are cooler than smart ones.

In our society, who cares if you are smarter than the average person?  Very few people celebrate intelligence the way we celebrate sports or fame, and therein lays the issue.

I have chosen to make it my life’s work to build tools to allow children to unlock their potential.  To stand on the shoulders of our experiences and see what heights they can reach.  I know that I want that for my daughter and you should want it for yours too.

GPALOVEMATH™ is one such tool.  It was built from the ground up to help your child love learning.  To give them the vehicle to catch-up, not fall behind, or in a case like mine, to stretch and move ahead of my peers.

What tools and diagnostics do you have at your disposal to help your child stay on the right path?  What’s your plan for building their future?

(Luke is a GPA’s senior software developer)

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Parent Talk: Succeed in Life (1 of 5)

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Frequent Discussion with Parents and Takeaways from the Type A Parents Conference

Our booth was buzzing at the Type A Parents Conference 2014 in Atlanta GA.  Parents were huddled around our display monitors sharing their concerns:

1)   How do I give my child the best chance to succeed in life?
2)   How can I be more impactful on my child’s learning process?
3)   How do I help my child who is struggling in math?
4)   How do I challenge my child who excels in math?
5)   How do I get my child more interested in math?

Parents feel helpless and they want more control of their child’s education.  They fear that they are not doing everything they should.  They want to make sure their child is not at a disadvantage.  They want to make sure they are setting their child up to succeed in life.  These are feelings we all share as parents.

Although the questions are the same, parents struggle to find answers to these questions.  Today, I will share my answers to the first question and I will answer the other four questions in future blogs.

Parent Talk

TOPIC 1:  How do I give my child the best chance to succeed in life?

Success means different things to different people.  There is one thing I know to be universally true about success.  People who pursue the things they love tend to succeed more often than those who do not (either because they are happier, earn more money, have more job security, or all of the above).  But how does one know what they really love?

My daughter is nine years old.  Watching her do her homework the other night made me reflect on when I was nine.  I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up.  Many of the jobs that exist today did not exist when I was nine.  I would have had no ability to say, “When I grow up… ‘I want to be a computer programmer’, ‘I want to be a technology entrepreneur’, or ‘I want to be a biotechnologist’.”

A strong education provides a bridge to the jobs of tomorrow.  And when it comes to education, parents can give their children no better gift than a strong foundation in mathematics.  Strong math skills give students the ability to rapidly learn other subjects  (e.g. science, computer programming, biotechnology, etc.)  By 2018, 75% of the fastest growing occupations require significant mathematics or science preparation. (adeccousa.com).  By 2018 there will be an expected 2.4million unfilled job vacancies in these most influential occupations. Workers with associate’s degrees in STEM fields out-earn 63 percent of people who have bachelor’s degrees in other fields.  Almost half of workers with bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields out-earn workers with Ph.D.’s in other fields, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

At Great Parents Academy (GPA) we have built our technology to address the many barriers that stand in the way of children gaining math mastery.   Whether your obstacle is knowing where to start, knowing what to focus on, structuring better conversations with your child’s teacher, or motivating your child to learn math, GPA’s gamified math platform can help.   If you want to give your child the best chance to succeed in life, give them a solid foundation in math. Give them a subscription to GPA.

 

TOPICS 2-5: Coming soon

How can I be more impactful on my child’s learning process?

How do I help my child who is struggling in math?

How do I challenge my child who excels in math?

How do I get my child more interested in math?

 

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Don’t say it!

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Even if you believe it please don’t say it as a parent, “I’m not good at math” or “I don’t like math”.  Why?  Psychologists, teachers and researches agree on the negative impact of those statements on your elementary school child.  The child’s dislike of math at that young age is limiting their future career, earnings and success.

What should you say?  “I don’t understand that math concept, would you please explain it to me?” then listen and learn.

GPAMATH™ is built to help children learn math and improve communications.

How will you respond to your child asking for help with math?

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Bright future?

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Bright future but can we see it?

I’m an engineer by trade but sadly I didn’t know today’s stats.  The U.S. has always led in the fields of science and technology and I think we always will but the new numbers are alarming.  I grew up in an age just after the Apollo missions and loved watching the Space Shuttle launches. Learning about and experiencing those amazing events, along with my love of flying, fueled my desire to become an engineer.

The events of the 21-century are also inspiring (NASA’s future manned mission to Mars and SpaceX to name a couple) and will require a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) careers.  STEM jobs are now on the rise and in the future the need will only increase.  Sadly the data shows we cannot fill those STEM careers with our current workforce.  An Adecco study and Infographic highlights these facts.  Currently 277,000 STEM jobs are vacant, and few people seem to be priming themselves to fill them. Of all the students who enter college and earn a bachelor’s degree, only 19 percent graduate with a STEM major, only 10 percent get a job within a STEM field and only 8 percent still work in that field after 10 years.

The future is STEM and we need to ensure that our children are ready for it.  The future will be bright and exciting, and the preparation starts right now with math and science.

Is your child ready for the STEM future?