So do you think as a mom or dad that the prestigious status of whiz kid, accorded to children with outstanding mathematical abilities, is reserved for the other parent's children? Well think again. My bold claim is that any child can be accorded such privileged status provided that he has an interested parent and that the process of acquiring this status is begun early, preferably during the early pre-teen years.
During the pre-teen years, children are certainly more moldable than when they hit pubescence. Teenagers are more inclined to be rebellious and to resist any "new labels" that are attached to them. Catch these children early, get them to believe that they are something special, and this label tends to get incorporated into their inner psyche, allowing them to ward off the negative attacks that will almost certainly come later on. Children need to know that they are special early on and that they possess special talents. Even if this belief is only partly true, the belief itself becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, fortifying your children against negative self-perceptions which can severely inhibit their emotional and intellectual development.
Consequently, getting them to master mathematics early on is critical to their intellectual and, as a result, scholastic, development. Children who do well in mathematics have an easier time in college than those who do not, simply because the challenges that math presents help them to overcome the challenges that a university will present. Moreover, math develops the ability to problem solve effectively and success in college is dependent on this skill.
If you want your son or daughter to acquire whiz kid status, and as a result, guarantee them success scholastically, start exposing them to arithmetic shortcuts and math tricks. Have them read some of the books on these topics and have them develop a love for numbers and mathematics. It does not take complicated mathematic or statistical models to show that the correlation between a child's ability to master basic mathematics and success in school and indeed life is very high.
See more at Wiz Kid Ebooks and Cool Math Sites 
