Rachel Crosby
“The place you are to occupy in the universe is the space where your greatest passion meets the world’s greatest pain.”
Is there anything more painful than giving up on your goals in life?
Too many times, I have seen students drop out of college or change majors because they did not have the math skills to succeed. Too often, I see students who in middle school who say they want to be an architect or pediatrician change to “I don’t know” or “maybe a truck driver” by the time they are ready to apply to college. The job market for truck drivers is grim, in case you were wondering.
The numbers add up to a lack of college preparation = lack of college graduation
- 75% of high school graduates are not proficient in math
- 75% of students who take remedial classes in college will drop out
- 67% of college students will not get a degree within four years
- 42% of college students will not get a degree within six years (and remember, this is of the select group of students who went to college in the first place)
You can ruin your life in a big way or in a lot of small ways
Maybe it sounds harsh to talk about a middle school student ruining his or her life, but this is the talk I had with my kids at that age. I told them you can ruin your chances at college graduation by getting addicted to meth or driving while drunk, killing a pedestrian and going to prison. You can also mess up your life in a bunch of small ways every day, by not doing your homework, not paying attention in class, not asking for extra help when you are unsure.
Perseverance, not giving up when it’s hard, is part of Dakota culture
You might think I just veered off to a different subject there, but I didn’t. When I had the idea for 7 Generation Games, I thought I would do remedial online math courses for tribal colleges. I approached a few members from a couple of tribal councils and they said,
We need intervention sooner than that. Can you do something in elementary school?
That’s why we started with Spirit Lake: The Game. However, since I track users, I will tell you a little secret. Even though the standards taught are supposed to be covered third- through fifth-grade because so many students nationwide are below grade level, we have far more users in middle school than we do third-graders.
It would be cool if I was a physician and could help in Doctors without Borders or had a pile of money to start my own foundation like Bill and Melinda Gates. I can’t do either of those things. This is what I can do, helping those kids in middle school learn a little more, try a little harder and show up at college ready to achieve their goals.
I’m trying to follow this advice
“Do small things with great love.”
– Mother Teresa
As the new school year starts, it seems very appropriate to focus on all of the small things necessary for getting kids college preparation in middle school.
Falling behind in reading often causes compounding problems as well.
The right teacher or program can boost a child’s reading many grade levels in less than a year.
Early elementary school is often an easy place to turn things around, especially if parents reach out for help.
Schools often have remedial reading programs or can recommend one.
Parental tutoring as well as Educational Games have been shown to dramatically help.
You are absolutely right. One of the reasons we made Making Camp Premium, with English/ language arts activities included as well as math
is because we got so many comments from teachers and parents that “Kids need help in reading, too, you know.” and “Don’t you have something like this for reading.”
Yes!