Updated August 9th, 2021
American students lag significantly behind other advanced nations in educational performance and are slipping further behind. Recent data suggest that this underachievement is not merely an issue for poor children in poor neighborhoods but for most children in most schools. In fact, many suburban parents don’t know that their schools are doing a poor job.
Don't let the Covid slide overtake your child. Keep them ahead of the curve by challenging them appropriately and regularly checking in to make sure they are working on material that is just right for them. Ask your child's teacher about reassessing them before the start of the new school year to make sure your child is getting everything they need.
Our Kids Our Not Being Challenged Enough
Schools don’t challenge children enough when they are young. Sam Wang, an associate professor at Princeton University wrote in the New York Times. “The first six years of life are a time of tremendous growth and change in the developing brain. Synapses, the connections between brain cells, are undergoing major reorganization.” So by not challenging a child’s brain at a young age, we miss an important opportunity to permanently affect a child’s brain cells and synapses.
At Genie Academy we start teaching children from 3 1/2 years of age. By 6 years of age, these children can do complex addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. All indications are that this early exposure to our methods improves their ability to learn new things.
We All Learn Differently, and School’s Don’t Recognize This
Schools don’t take into account every child’s unique learning style. Some children are visual and learn by creating and remembering images. Some are auditory and learn best by creating and remembering sounds. Others are kinesthetic and learn best by touching and feeling. The fact that most schools don’t take this into account in their teaching methods causes millions of children to not be fully engaged in the learning process and some to be classified as learning disabled.
Thus, millions of children do not achieve their full potential. We at Genie Academy have developed a curriculum that solves the above problems. Our math and reading programs have transformed hundreds of average children into extraordinary achievers.
How Underachievement Economically Affects Us
There are economic consequences for this underachievement that affect us all. The consulting firm McKinsey and Company estimated that this underachievement costs us $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion in lost GDP or gross domestic product, which is almost a 9% to 16% of the current GDP.
Imagine the economic prosperity our nation would enjoy if we fixed this underachievement. This extra GDP would almost erase the GDP losses we suffered in the economic crisis of 2008. Only 40 years ago American education led the world in educational achievement. There is no reason why it cannot become a leader again.
While there are many causes for this underachievement, two of them are directly linked to the teaching styles employed by most schools.
What Is Potential?
There seems to be a secret to unlocking a child’s potential. As parents, we sometimes struggle to find a happy medium between what is enough. We think, should I push my child more or should I ease up so they don’t hate learning?
When we consider extraordinary people, many of whom are famous and have achieved many amazing feats in their lifetime, we often fail to consider their childhood and how it shaped them for the rest of their lives.
At Genie Academy, we are constantly pushing our students to do better. We teach them that they can do anything. We repeat over and over again that the sky is truly the limit. In each class, we lift them up, praise them, and push them to the next level and new standard.
Giving up is not an option. There is no such thing as failure. There is only up. “Anyone who loves a child is a champion of potential.” -Samantha Ettus in 2016 TedTalk.
It is our mission to help your child tap into their ability to be a genius. At Genie Academy, anything is possible.
Sign up for your free class and assessment today here.
-The Genie Academy team
