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EARLY MATH SKILLS are the strongest predictor of likelihood to attend college, compared to reading, attention, social behavior and mental health.
research from UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE and UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON
SARAH FLORES
“ She’ s got such a love for math now.”
KARENSA FLORES
At age two and a half, Sarah Flores was diagnosed with autism, and doctors said she might never learn to speak. Her parents worked with her at home and saw progress, eventually deciding to put her in mainstream classes at Dream Lake Elementary School in Apopka, Florida. Entering third grade,“ She was just really withdrawn and socially inept,” says her mom Karensa.“ She didn’ t like reading, she didn’ t like math. Just nothing.”
That all changed when Sarah met JiJi.
Dream Lake had just recently received a grant from the MIND Research Institute to implement ST Math. Sarah loved the ST Math games so much that her teacher used them as a reward for completing her reading assignments.“ I think that because autistic learners are visual, and there is no sound – it is all visual in JiJi Math – the kids just get in the zone with it,” said Karensa.“ When you step in with programs like these, it really boosts kids’ motivation and their desire to learn.”