Of course, the real difference between the two nieces is their attitudes

[conuly]

Ana is, and she's improving in this regard, still a bit of a perfectionist. If she gets it wrong it's because she's TERRIBLE at it and she's NO GOOD at it and it's TOO HARD.

Consequently, she spends an inordinate amount of effort trying to find the easy way out. (This does have its benefits, such as when you show her that what you're trying to teach her IS the easy way out! She was amazed to find out that she was the only one, when they learned two-digit addition, who knew how to do it properly. I'd taught her over the summer. "Nobody else does it fast because they don't know the trick!")

Evangeline... she likes being right too, who doesn't, but I don't think it matters that much to her. And she's very good at figuring out what other people want. Ana often has worksheets where she can't quite figure out what they're asking for, and then IT IS TOO HARD! even if she actually can do the work. Evangeline can usually work it out even when she can't read the instructions. She just... I don't know, it's like her mind works on worksheets.

Evangeline's teacher sent home a list of Dolch words that Evangeline didn't read right on a test. A week or two later, Evangeline sat down with the list and carefully started highlighting the ones she doesn't know so she can practice them. Who does that? Ana certainly doesn't, I doubt anybody else in the family ever has, certainly not at that age.

It's not so much that she's oh-so-brilliant, she just... I don't know, she just doesn't mind being wrong and is good at working out the best way to... work things out.

Which may be better than being smart.

Comments

[crystalpyramid]

You're right, that's really the important part. And honestly, I suspect that attitude's a lot more precocious than the math.

[pne]

She was amazed to find out that she was the only one, when they learned two-digit addition, who knew how to do it properly.

What's the "proper" way, then? And who considers it the proper way to do so? (And who decides who gets to define what's "proper", anyway?)

Seriously, though, which method do you mean? I presume you mean something other than the "carry the one" method I learned in schol and which I've always assumed was "the standard way" to do two-digit addition.

[conuly]

Nope, that's the way. The standard algorithm. The rest of the class was still futzing about with models for, apparently, ages.

[dragonwolf]

WTF? Models? Huh? Wouldn't it just make more sense to do it the old fashioned way?

[conuly]

Well, they transitioned into that, but apparently the goal is to make sure they have a firm foundation in understanding WHY they're carrying and borrowing and whatnot.

I'm okay with that, actually. It's just that Ana already knew how to do it.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

Actually, I remember reading something that says Eva's attitude IS better than being smart. Smart people give up far more easily if they find something difficult.

[conuly]

More accurately, what you probably read is that children who are praised for being smart, or whose identity comes from being smart, have this idea that struggling means you're not smart and are therefore reluctant to expose themselves as "dumb" after all, so they avoid challenging work.

[ser-kai.livejournal.com]

It was more to do with the fact that if you don't have to work hard to learn something, you have lower frustration tolerance.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Also, that children labeled "gifted" can become inhibited to try anything new at all because they're afraid it won't come out perfect. I saw a documentary once showing some kid geniuses who had become obsessive over things like cleaning their rooms "perfectly".

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Finding an easier way has a lot of benefits -- way beyond school!