Some people appear smarter than others. In some cases it is easy to understand how a child can be smarter than another if one of the children is affected with some type of mental illness or learning disability. Sometimes seeing why a child may be smarter than another is not that simple. Children of the same age group, geographical location, and even local community will have differences in how smart they are. How can this be? There are many factors that will affect how smart a child is.
A child is born with a certain degree of potential to be smart. A child who is eager to learn and explores many different areas of crafts, hobbies, books, etc may find hidden talent by doing so. This child will openly seek knowledge and may learn more than a child who is more reserved and who does not openly seek new adventures.
Children who are encouraged to learn and explore new intersts by a parent or teacher often appears to be smarter than those children who are not. Children learn by routine, schedule, and by seeing. A child who is encouraged to learn may come from a family that takes pride in teaching thier little one as much as possible even before they begin school. This child will have a jump on a child from a family who does not take as much effort to prepare them for their future that is to come. This is not to say either child is any less loved, the family not so interested in teaching thier child may be holding down a job to make sure the child has their basic necessities and simply not have the time they need to devote to the child’s learning. Children who come from supporting families take more pride in learning. This is because they do not want to let the person who has been teaching them down.
Some children are born to be competive and learning is just another task they wish to over come. These children are driven to learn by their competitve nature. A less competitve child will not have as much drive to learn so they can answer all the questions in class or even be smarter than their peers. Some degree of competitve behavior is perfectly healthy and good for a child but too much can be harmful. A child who has to always win may be smart but may not appear to be so when they throw tantrums because they did not finish first.
Some children also have the ability to go to better schools than others. A child can learn in most any environment but a well maintained school with caring teachers will have a better turn out of children who succeed than a school without. A good school will teach a variety of subjects and encourage children both mentally, physically, and emotionally. All of these traits form the child’s personality. A smart child knows not only what the correct answers are but how to express their feelings in a conductive manner and how to properly act.
Book smarts is not the only smarts that matter. A child can be an ace is school and lack what we call good old common sense. A smart child will have a good degree of book smarts and common sense. When you have one without the other the degree of the child’s intelligence can be put in jeopardy. It is important to learn your subjects in school to be able to graduate but once you are out there in the real world you need the common sense of how to get a job and then what you have to do in order to keep it. Book sense without common sense is of not much use to any individual.
Children are born with potential. This potential is raised or lowered depending on the child’s desire to learn, parents and teachers who help them learn, how competitive the child is, etc. All children with proper teaching can learn as long as they are not impaired with some type of mental illness or learning disability. A child who hides from a challange may need guidance and be encouraged in order to learn a subject that is difficult for them but with the proper course of action can get over the hurdle of learning. Creative ideas for teaching may cause a little mind that has been uninterested in the learning process to suddenly become involved in what is going on around them. Little minds are like sponges and sometimes we just need to change the flow of our water for them to soak up what they need.
