I heard this a lot as a child. I thought therefore if I couldn't make school work it must be my fault - and later just that maybe I wasn't very bright (intellectually I knew I was but why was I always in the upper class in a composite - maybe all the other kids were better - one case where the absence of grades was a problem). So I just buried myself in a book and ignored school as much as I could.
But I still hear things like that and people saying send the kids who have a haelrder time academically to private schools not the bright ones who will do well anywhere.
In defence of my parents I think it did work for them. But schools in the 1950's early 1960's were more slanted towards academic success.
ha, yeah - i didn't live up to my potential in school, either! my system was to do *just* enough to not have to explain myself to my parents. my parents themselves did fine with school - but then again, they also got multiple grade skips, and no questions asked.
fwiw, the private school we painstakingly picked (and SCRIMPED to afford) for DD didn't want to deal with her issues - they also thought she should just magically be a-ok, and they didn't care too much when she wasn't.
of course, 1/3 of her class got free speech therapy (which is awesome!) through the school - but DD got booted out of a math enrichment program that a teacher had specifically invited her to join. she fit in beautifully, but when the administration found out, it was all over: the sessions were 2+ grades above her "level" and she was suddenly persona non grata.
that was an excellent thing to have to explain to a 5 y/o who had finally found something good about school.
