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I do believe the kids have different ability levels. Some students need things to be concrete and scaffolded while others learn quickly with little direction. However, all kids have different strengths in different areas. I also think that hard work and dedication does determine your rate of success moreso than natural ability.

True story: Most kids who are in the Gifted and Talented programs at school are simply there because they have vocal parents, not because they are necessarily more gifted or talented than their peers.

@mrbee: Yes!

@mrbee: He's kind of a dev (in the software sense). His job is to fix code with bugs in it. He could've done a lot more, but he's never been super motivated. He also has severe social anxiety, so once he found a job he's been happy to stay there forever.

Did you do CTY?

I do believe that certain skills and subjects come more easily to certain people. Like I have a natural gift for music that runs in my family, while I have friends who are tone deaf or lack rhythm and no amount of lessons would change that

I went to a HS with a lot of kids who were tremendously smart but didn't care to work hard. Like 1600 on the SATs but would fail classes. It made me so crazy that they squandered their talents. They were way smarter than me in many ways but I ended up valedictorian because I worked my butt off.

So even though some people may be naturally more skilled in certain areas, I think that hard work is the greater predictor of success in life!

I do believe some kids are genetically born with higher intellect, though I don't think that always means that school comes "easy" for them. BUT, I firmly believe a kid who works hard will almost always achieve more than a child who is smarter but doesn't put in as much effort.

I think that just about every quality has both "nature" and "nurture" in its origins.
I also think that "smarter" or "working hard" shouldn't always be equated with "successful", because in my eyes there is typically a lot of privilege that supports most success.

I feel like I'm struggling to be articulate here, so hopefully that made sense,

Yes. definitely. Answers come to them instantly. I think there is a large amount a person can do through motivation and hard work to achieve comparable results on an everyday level. But that's not the same as being smart. (Or is it?) In my opinion, that's determined....another awesome quality. Not better or worse, just different.

I think everyone has different abilities and natural talents.

By age 2, I could play the piano by listening to a song, which I could then play back.

My brother, however, could speak and started reading before 18 months. He always did better in school than me, with VERY little effort.

BUT, I do believe hard work and lots of effort pays off and evens the playing field.

Yes some kids are definitely born smarter and with certain natural abilities. learnt to play an instrument but I had to work very hard whereas I know little kids right now who naturally had an ear for music and even though they have never had lessons they are able to teach me things

I do believe that some people are naturally smarter, but I also believe that others can work really hard and do just as well or better. I went to an advanced high school that you had to apply to (kind of like applying to college) so I saw both people who were incredibly naturally smart, like genius level, and people who worked REALLY hard, hours every night, to get straight As. My husband also went to my high school, and I remember a friend of ours getting mad because she and DH took this multivar calc class together--he didn't do any of the homework (it was optional) and hardly studied but aced every test. She still aced the tests but had to work really hard and so she was annoyed at him for not putting in the work I guess. But anyway, I guess I think that doing well in school is half natural ability and half hard work. If you have a lot of either of those things, you'll be fine, even if you have less of the other.

I think some people are smarter than others. I personally don't think I'm smart, I just work really hard. DH is super smart and that is probably the trait I admire most in him.

@mrbee: I do think that some kids are born with talent. Whether it's sports or music or art. I think a lot of "smahts" as we say in Boston, are because of your ability to learn and opportunities you have over others.
I have many artists in my family and it comes to me naturally. It was always really easy for me to excel in art class and I didn't have to try ever. Actually I was flattered and frustrated at the same time, while it was nice to get good grades and be recognized, at the time I wasn't interested in doing it at all. When I would win art awards or get into special classes and seminars I was wishing I could learn an instrument and be better at music. Teachers and family members would encourage me to follow painting and drawing and thought it was silly of me to pursue anything musical.

Yes for sure some people are born smarter or with aptitude for particular things. For instance, a person born with perfect pitch has a much easier time learning to play the violin than a person without PP. The person born without it might be better off playing a different instrument like the piano, since PP matters a lot less with that instrument.

I don't have PP but I learned to play both the violin and piano. I just had to work a lot harder with the violin.

@mrbee: Good point! I guess I just assumed that people with perfect pitch had a way easier time with instruments, but I guess that is not always the case and just a case of "the grass is greener...". I do still think that it provides an advantage when playing a stringed instrument though. I had a much easier time with the piano when I didn't have to worry about whether or not I was playing in tune.

I do think some kids (people?) are born smarter, but I don't think that anyone is limited. I was always at the head of my classes in grade school and early high school so I never learned to work hard or study, then reality set in when I got to be a senior and in University that I had no study skills or attention span.

I do think some kids are just smarter than others. I'm sure environment can factor heavily on some things, but I don't think it can be blamed for everything. Just as I don't think every kid who gets bad grades has a learning disability/doesn't have parents who helped them enough/is a bad test taker. I just think some kids are naturally smarter, just like some kids are natural athletes.

I definitely believe some people are naturally smarter, but I also know that hard work can level the playing field. When I taught, there was a boy in my class who was extremely smart, his brain just made connections that other people couldn't see and he picked things up nearly instantly. Yet one day he said to me that he wished he was as smart as a certain other boy in the class- the other boy was average in every sense of the word except he worked harder than any kid I have ever met. Studied for hours, did twice the work assigned to him, reread the texts etc.

I would be curious to see where they both end up one day, I am certain both will be successful but in different ways.