I receive many wonderful letters from parents and children, and I feel compelled to share this uplifting message that speaks to the true meaning of success and achievement — Robert Sun, inventor of 24® Game and creator of First In Math®
Left to right: Brothers Matan & Doron. ranked 3rd and 2nd, respectively, among all grades in the First In Math Online Program Year-End National Rankings for the 2020-2021 school year.
Our younger twin son, Doron, has already completed ALL games on First in Math this year. I want to make you aware of the significance of this achievement and, in a tangential way, your involvement in it.
Doron has multiple special needs that interfere with executive functioning and memory retention, making his 11th-place finish last year in the First In Math Rankings most impressive.
Particularly difficult for children facing the challenges he faces are the need to re-learn some concepts that may have been forgotten from a month or two before, develop coping mechanisms to retain complex data over short- and medium-term periods, develop sustained focus (particularly in the face of failure), and hold on to the ordered elements of projects that involve longer horizons.
Yes, I did work with him to explain and to aid his development of these skills, but it is a pure testament to his character that, working completely on his own, he was able and willing to achieve something great with the faith that he could succeed despite not being able to see the goals fully ahead of time. My wife and I are overjoyed with how well he has done in terms of his broader human growth experience.
As this year's Rankings competition deadline arrives, it may be unlikely that he will maintain his current second place position when all is said and done. Other children — not to mention his brother, Matan — are catching up.
That being said, it doesn’t matter as much as his personal achievement, and what’s really great is that he knows it. He obviously would like to be in the top 10, but he knows his real achievement is sticking with it and completing everything and that’s why we are so proud of him — and his brother, Matan (who also has special needs). The First In Math program has taught them many things, only a small portion of which has to do with Math.
We want to thank you so much for creating this program and for your willingness to engage with children, in particular. Having that Zoom session last year and including Doron in it definitely inspired him to push harder this year.
As we say in my faith tradition: May you go from strength to strength. Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our children and in our family.
Sincerely,
Gerald and Sarah F.
Editor's Note: This letter was written prior to the conclusion of National Top Ten competition on April 30, 2021. Doron maintained his 2nd-place ranking and Matan advanced to 3rd, making the brothers National Top Ten Award winners!