Are math skills natural, or rather acquired?

soccerfanatic
Sat, 31 Dec 2005 03:07:25 +0000

Most of what you guys are calling “natural” is developed in the early years. The ability to apply knowledge, memory strength, all have a lot of building in the early years. A kid who is born into a family that plops them in front of the TV all day will be at a disadvantage to a kid who has parents that read to them every night, who has interactive toys like building blocks, and has to solve problems for themself rather than parents/older siblings doing things for them, and a kid who has to learn to apply knowledge (which shape goes in the triangle-shaped hole?) These two kids will turn out vastly different, since in the early years, they have so much rapid brain development.

To some extent (besides attitude, etc) this is why you see kids in their later years pick up problems naturally, and others struggle as if they were unaccustomed to solving such things.