I agree with Bostonian and Val; wishing that everyone can do it if they try hard enough isn't the same thing as it being TRUE.
I agree with this too - but over many years of working as a math tutor for high school and younger students struggling with math, I've also seen a lot of very capable kids turned off on math by the message sent out by their elders (teachers, mentors, parents). They hear adults around them saying things like "You're just not a math person, neither was I" or "You'll never use geometry again once you're an adult" etc - and for a kid who is absolutely capable but has to work just a little bit to understand math, hearing messages like that can instill a mindset that they *can't* do it or that there is such a thing as a "mathy" person and they aren't whatever that type of person is. I absolutely agree that there are truly talented "math people" out there and that there are some people who are more capable than others and that some of us enjoy math more than others... but I also think as a society we don't realize how often we undermine our children's belief in their own capabilities when it comes to math. We probably don't see that much around these forums simply because we're parenting HG/+ kids and chances are math comes easily to most of them. It doesn't come easily to my MG dd - she struggles to learn math. But that doesn't mean she shouldn't continue to struggle her way through it, and it doesn't mean she's not capable of learning Algebra II. It just means that for some types of topics, she's going to have to work through it. Same for most of the students I've tutored - regardless of their IQ.
I have no idea what the IQ cutoff is for kids who can/can't do Algebra II. I'm not sure anyone's really done a valid study on that lol! But I do think that we, as parents of kids who are exceptionally gifted with intellectual ability, sometimes underestimate the potential for achievement in "average" ability students.
polarbear
