Math and Children

I was reading the Summer, 2008 issue of Northwestern Magazine, the Alumni Magazine for Northwestern University. Researcher Greg Duncan studied 35,000 preschoolers in the U.S., Canada, and England. He came up with some important results. Here is what was printed in the article:

"Researchers found that children who enter kindergarten with basic math and reading skills are the most likely to achieve later academic success. The study discovered the paramount importance of early math skills--of beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order, and other rudimentary math concepts--as the very strongest predictor of future academic success."

It goes on to say.... "Mastery of early math skills not only predicts future math achievement, it also predicts future reading achievement," Duncan said. "And it does so just as reliably as early mastery of vocabulary, letters, and phoenetics skills predicts later reading success."

However.... "The opposite--reading skills predicting math success--does not hold up."

And..... "Attention-related skills also consistently, though more modestly, predict academic success."

So what's important? Study math. Teach your children at home from birth on in a fun, no pressure atmosphere where learning is valued and thought of as exciting. There is no greater thing a parent can do than to teach your child so they have success in school and life. Children who start school reading and who can do basic math problems are going to be ahead and stay ahead.