Genie Academy makes kids smart all over

Parents whose children have completed the Genie Academy program say it’s not just their math skills that have improved, their children have made solid advances in other areas.

Visualization helps in Sports

Ekta Gujrathi, whose son Parth immersed himself in the Genie Academy program for 2 1/2 years, said the program, which develops and strengthens visualization using math, helped her son excel in sports.

“Definitely, his sports skills have increased,” Ekta said. “His visual power – to look around, to see what’s happening around. He thinks quicker nowadays.”

Parth’s father, Amit, agreed, saying his son has learned to apply skills he learned at Genie Academy to his soccer game.

“When he goes out in the field (he analyzes) how many players are on the field — the judgment where he should be on the field, that improved,” Amit said. “The precision with which he was doing the kicking, all that improved.”

Piano & writing and other subjects

Nine-year-old Keya, who has been in the Genie Academy program since December 2009, said that learning to master mathematical problems on the abacus – a mathematical device as old as a civilization that uses beads to solve math problems – has enhanced her approach to other subjects.

“It helped me in piano and in writing and reading and in every job, really,” Keya said. “It helped me to be more patient and not to get over-frustrated. I’m much smarter now.”

Keya’s father Manish believes that because Genie Academy does not burden students with rote memorization, which can often bore and frustrate students, children learn to solve problems creatively.

“It taught her how to think about things differently than what she was traditionally told,” he said. “We’re happy to see how quickly she’s grasping things.”

Vijay, whose daughter Rutu has been attending Genie Academy for 2 ½ years, said that before Genie Academy, his daughter was doing so poorly in math that she would often grow frustrated.

“She was struggling. She was hating math,” Vijay said. “Then she started here. Slowly, after learning the tricks and the abacus, she went from hating to. ‘Oh, I like it.’ And now she’s at the stage where she’s saying, “Oh, I love it. I want to do more.’”

Keya said that the best thing about Genie Academy is how it helps her zip through schoolwork.

“In school, everyone else is done in 30 minutes,” Kaya said. “I’m done in ten.”

Parents are often astonished at the speed with which their children work.

“His speed in doing math is amazing,” Ekta said. “I have to use the calculator to check his work, but he does it very easily. And he checks his brother’s homework. He’s trying to teach him the technique.”

Some parents say the family atmosphere at Genie Academy makes all the difference in how quickly their children become smart all over.

“It’s more like a family environment here than going to a class and just coming out of a class, said Keya’s mother.