It’s Not Talent, It’s Better Preparation

Want to get notified about new posts? Join the mailing list and follow on X/Twitter.

Here is why some students seem naturally gifted at math and they learn new concepts instantly while everybody else is really struggling. The kids who seem the brightest sometimes they are, but a lot of the time.

It’s really coming from the fact that they have mastered the prerequisites. So they’re really prepared for what it is that they’re being asked to learn.

And when you’re in that situation, whatever new concept you’re being asked to learn, well, that’s the only thing that you really have to think about. It’s just the new thing.

You don’t have to worry about that huge swath, the mountain of prerequisite skills that this is sitting upon. If you got those skills on lockdown, then it’s just, it’s no big deal.

But if you don’t know your foundational skills, then oof. Being asked to learn one new concept can bring along so much baggage that you might as well be asked to learn an entire semester of math in a day.

And that’s why, you know, natural talent, it is a thing, but what looks like natural talent is often largely the result of being better prepared.

Further reading:

• One Of the Most Comforting Things That a Struggling Math Learner Can Hear
• You Don’t Have to Be Born an Outlier to Become an Outlier

Want to get notified about new posts? Join the mailing list and follow on X/Twitter.