Loy's anecdote suddenly reminded me that I went through a stage, also in early elementary, when I would say that I didn't like & wasn't good at math. This was puzzling to my mother, who resolved it by persuading the school to adjust my math instruction to a higher level. Math is also not my temperamental strength, but I am certainly not bad at it (I was enrolled in college calc at 14 yo), so I can only assume that, with the egocentricity of childhood, I interpreted boredom and lack of engagement as weaknesses in my own interest and skill level for math, rather than instructional misplacement.
