Do you celebrate learning?

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)