– According to the National Research Council, the earlier children – as young as preschoolers – are exposed to math learning, the better they will eventually succeed academically. During the previous decades, a strong focus has been placed on early literacy development, and this was a great move. However, research has shown that numeracy skills in preschool are an even stronger predictor of a student’s subsequent school performance than early literacy skills themselves.

– A 2015 U.S. Department of Education study revealed that the learning gap between children of low and high income families is already apparent as early as nine months of age. Three-year-old disadvantaged ​kids, for example, have on average only half the vocabulary of their more advantaged peers, a gap that can be as wide as 18 months at kindergarten entry.

– Greg Duncan, the famous professor of education and early math expert, has explained that children’s math abilities by the end of 3rd grade are as important – and even more – than language abilities as indicator of their success in high school.

Preschool class at Educare California in San Jose (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)

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