First Grade Math Skills Determine Later Math Ability: US Researchers

US researchers say that children who fail to grasp a basic math skill in first grade lag far behind their peers by seventh grade on a test of the mathematical abilities.

US researchers say that children who fail to grasp a basic math skill in first grade lag far behind their peers by seventh grade on a test of the mathematical abilities needed to function later in life.

The basic math skill, number system knowledge, is the ability to relate a quantity to the numerical symbol that represents it, and to manipulate quantities and make calculations.

Math Skills Begin Early
In an interesting Australian study researchers discovered that toddlers began to count at an earlier age than what was previously thought to be.

This skill is the basis for all other mathematics abilities, including those necessary for functioning as an adult member of society, a concept called numeracy.

"An early grasp of quantities and numbers appears to be the foundation on which we build more complex understandings of numbers and calculations," said Kathy Mann Koepke, Ph.D., director of the Mathematics and Science Cognition and Learning: Development and Disorders Program at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

The researchers also evaluated such cognitive skills as memory, attention span, and general intelligence.

Study Finds Females as Good as Males in Math Skills
A meta analysis has indicated that the mathematical skills of boys and girls, as well as men and women, are substantially equal.

The researchers found that by seventh grade, children who had the lowest scores on an assessment of number system knowledge in first grade lagged behind their peers.

For the testing at age 13, 180 of the students took timed assessments that included multiple-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems; word problems; and comparisons and computations with fractions.

Parents With Poor Math Skills may Make Mistakes When Measuring Medications
A new study has revealed that parents who have poor math skills may also be poor caregivers as they have difficulty in measuring the right amount of medication.

The researchers' analysis showed that a low score on the assessment of number system knowledge in first grade significantly increased a student's risk of getting a low functional numeracy score as a teenager.

The researchers examined learning and found that first graders with the lowest scores also had the slowest growth in number system knowledge throughout that school year. Starting with poor number knowledge can put children so far behind that they never catch up, the researchers said.

Math Skills may be Boosted by Electrical Brain Stimulation
Applying electrical current to the brain could enhance a person's mathematical performance for up to 6 months without influencing their other cognitive functions, researchers have shown.

The study has been published online in the journal PLoS One.

Source-ANI