Kindergartener and Abacus Student Gets Into Somerset NJ’s Gifted and Talented Program

At a tender age of 5, Rishva got selected for the highly competitive Gifted and Talented Program in Central Jersey College Prep (Charter School). His mom, Shilpa, shares how she nurtured Rishva’s gifted mind with the help of Genie Academy to advance 2 levels above his grade and gain a spot in Somerset’s much-coveted academic program.

Shilpa immediately saw Rishva’s gift when he started learning mental math independently at the age of 3. Despite his remarkable potential at such a young age, Rishva faces challenges with concentration, much like many of his peers. “Since they are so young, he gets distracted with other things. His concentration also depends on his interest level on a particular subject,” Shilpa reveals. His assignments in school didn’t keep him interested as well since they were too easy for him. “Rishva keeps saying to his teachers, ‘You’re giving me baby numbers, I want to do more’”, Shilpa recounts. Knowing how crucial it is to maintain Rishva’s focus and interest to unleash his genius, she was motivated to enroll Rishva in Genie Academy’s Abacus Math and Common Core programs. 

At first, Rishva’s abacus journey wasn’t smooth sailing as he resisted learning the abacus. “He loves Common Core but he doesn’t want to do the Abacus. He reasons that since he knows how to compute mentally, he doesn’t need to learn the Abacus.” Shilpa, however, knows that he needs to learn the abacus if he’s to excel in more complicated math. “When it comes to bigger numbers, such as three digits, division, or multiplication, he needs to know the abacus. As long as he’s doing mental math, he’ll be fine now but he’s getting to a stage where he needs to know the concepts.”

To encourage him to learn the abacus, Shilpa praises his efforts whenever he shows interest. Since he loves doing Common Core, Coach Paola of Genie Academy personalizes her approach and lets him do 30 minutes of Abacus Math and 30 minutes of Common Core. He’s also given more common core problems if he does his abacus lessons. 

Just a few months after joining Genie Academy, Rishva was chosen for Somerset's Gifted and Talented Program. This program had recently expanded to include kindergarteners, with Rishva being among the first of his peers to join. In addition to this impressive accomplishment, Rishva's assessments reveal that he is two years ahead in both reading and math.

Aside from his back-to-back accomplishments, Rishva has shown interest in communication and public speaking. “He’s outgoing and sits with grownups…He tries to grasp what we’re talking about and then asks questions,” says Shilpa. Just a few weeks ago, he attended a sweet sixteen birthday party and volunteered to give an impromptu speech. He was analyzing what the others were saying about the celebrant then he took the mic without fumbling, stuttering, or repeating words. “Everybody was quite amazed and they cheered up. He gave a good speech”, says Shilpa. Looks like we have a budding public speaker!

Shilpa has seen Genie Academy’s crucial role in his cognitive development. She shares that because of Genie Academy’s abacus program, Rishva was able to maximize his abilities because he wasn’t limited by the curriculum of the school. She also shares that Genie Academy has elevated his skill sets, which contributed to his glowing success and academic advancement. 

As Rishva embarks on this new chapter in his academic life, they are looking forward to optimizing his potential and gleaning insights from his older peers, spanning from 1st to 5th grade, in the program’s virtual classroom. We, too, are excited about his upcoming achievements and deeply thankful to accompany him on his journey. Undoubtedly, we are privileged to witness the brilliance of our young genius!