Feeling Stupid
Tuesday November 13, 2007
I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about her gifted daughter. She was concerned about her daughter's attitude toward her abilities, particularly in math. My friend is sure her daughter is quite smart (she is), but says her daugher sometimes just doesn't see it, especially when she has to study the material, like she does in math. She kept trying to explain what she meant, and ended up saying, "She just always sells herself short."
At this point, I said, "You know, so many things come so easily to gifted kids that when they encounter something they don't immediately understand, they think they're stupid." My friend responded with, "Boy, you sure have her nailed!"
It really wasn't hard to pinpoint her daughter's attitude. It's quite common with gifted kids. And it's one of the reasons intellectual challenge is important at the earliest stages of school. I knew a first grade boy who started reading at age two. He didn't remember how he learned to read and told me once that he thought people were just born knowing things. That attitude proved to be a serious problem for him in first grade when he encountered math problems that took him more than three seconds to figure out. He just thought he was "stupid in math."
Unfortunately, his teacher didn't understand him or this problem attitude, so instead of helping him learn to meet a challenge, worked on getting him identified as ADHD. He's not ADHD and to this day, as a college freshman, he still hates math.
Does this sound familiar? Did your child ever think, "I'm stupid" when he or she didn't understand something immediately? Take the poll and let us know! Share your views on this issue by clicking on the "Comments" link below.
Poll: Does (or did) your child ever think he or she is stupid if concepts aren't immediately understood?
More polls from your guide
At this point, I said, "You know, so many things come so easily to gifted kids that when they encounter something they don't immediately understand, they think they're stupid." My friend responded with, "Boy, you sure have her nailed!"
It really wasn't hard to pinpoint her daughter's attitude. It's quite common with gifted kids. And it's one of the reasons intellectual challenge is important at the earliest stages of school. I knew a first grade boy who started reading at age two. He didn't remember how he learned to read and told me once that he thought people were just born knowing things. That attitude proved to be a serious problem for him in first grade when he encountered math problems that took him more than three seconds to figure out. He just thought he was "stupid in math."
Unfortunately, his teacher didn't understand him or this problem attitude, so instead of helping him learn to meet a challenge, worked on getting him identified as ADHD. He's not ADHD and to this day, as a college freshman, he still hates math.
Does this sound familiar? Did your child ever think, "I'm stupid" when he or she didn't understand something immediately? Take the poll and let us know! Share your views on this issue by clicking on the "Comments" link below.
Poll: Does (or did) your child ever think he or she is stupid if concepts aren't immediately understood?
- All the time
- Often
- Sometimes
- Rarely
- Never
- Have more to say? Share your thoughts.
More polls from your guide
Comments
That is my son to a T and in the same subject. I am looking for ways to test him beyond his gifted testing (WISC)so I can see if he is really better in math than he performs because he thinks he stupid in math. As in the article if it takes him a little effort to figure it out he thinks he is not good at it.
Oh my, you just described my childhood.
I live in a country where there’s no recognition or assessment of gifted individuals, so I was never properly challenged in school and my parents didn’t understand that if the school was coming short, they had to do some stimulation on their own. As a result, to this day, if I don’t immediately understand something I think I am the stupidest person on earth for not getting it in a split second.
And my therapist cashes on it!