A new study by researchers at the University of Missouri indicates that parents and teachers should work to ensure that students understand mathematics from a young age in order to foster future success in the subject.

The team of researchers studied a group of 177 young students from 12 different elementary schools between kindergarten and the 10th grade. In doing so, they found that children in first grade who understand the basics of arithmetic as well as numbers and the quantities that each digit represents are more successful in math through the end of fifth grade.

According to researchers, other studies indicate that early knowledge of mathematics is also a strong predictor of life-long skills in the subject.

David Geary, one of the researchers, said that the new study was done in order to show why students who fall behind in math have a hard time catching up. He said that if students do not understand the basics when they are young, it may be hard for them to learn more complex topics as they progress through school.

Parents who are worried that their children do not have the proper skills in math, as well as a variety of other subjects, may want to ask their students to take a kids IQ test.