My five-year-old girl entered kindergarten this past fall, bringing me one of life’s greatest experiences: watching her explore her curiosities and creativity as she desires and develops skills that will last her a lifetime. Her energy and joy for learning is inspiring. Each morning before school, she’ll sprint up the bus steps, only stopping to give a quick wave back home. She’s anxious to get to school and enters each day with a natural curiosity and desire to learn. From designing worlds in Minecraft, to using such learning tools as Dash and Dot, Osmo,Code.org, and Ozobot, her passion for science, math and technology radiates.

Recently, after completing her math homework, she looked up at me and said, “Daddy, I just love math. I’m so good at it.” I savored the moment because like any parent, I don’t want my daughter to end up being a negative statistic.

Quite often, our K-12 system ends up schooling the love of learning out of students by the time they graduate. Will my daughter have the same desires in high school? Will she yearn to learn with the same level of excitement as she gets older? Will she remain confident and continue to love her current passions of math, science and technology?

Statistics suggest not.

This article originally appeared in EdSurge. To view, click on the link below.