This is a very fundamental question: when do you say about a child that she is a genius? What is genius? All children are born geniuses.
Often we observe a young child, and admire the fact that they learn at the "speed of light".
"Wow! This child is smart" - we say.
"She is like a sponge.
Everything she hears she repeats".
The speed by which children learn is amazing.
Their uncanny ability to repeat what they heard is amazing.
It is also amazing to me how young children are able to use new information they have learned immediately in their daily life.
In school, in Biology, I have learned that intelligence is determined by the ability to use the information an entity has learned in everyday life.
This goes for animals, as well as people.
If we use this as a measure, then - again - children are geniuses.
My neighbor, while watching a little toddler playing, said to me jokingly: "How come all these smart - genius - little children turn into such dumb adults?" It is easy to notice that the speed by which we learn diminishes over the years, and as we grow up, we don't seem to be that amazingly smart.
So it is natural for children to be geniuses.
They learn fast, they use what they have learned immediately.
What other traits do they have that makes them geniuses? Curiosity.
If you observe a child while they are playing, you will notice that they are very curious.
They WANT to learn.
They are moving endlessly, looking for something new to learn.
A child plays with a toy only as long as she is learning something new.
As soon as the child feels that she has squeezed the last bit of learning out of it, she will toss it aside and start looking for something new to learn.
Sometimes we think that a child's attention span is short, because they don't stick with one toy or one subject for long.
This is totally wrong.
It is not their attention span that is short.
It is the time they need to learn about something new.
The child learns at such a speed, that she doesn't need much time to learn all she can about one subject.
Then she moves to a new subject.
What else - a very important component of genius do we see in children? It may be the MOST important one: CREATIVITY.
I have recently observed my little niece trying to reach the kitchen counter.
Her mother was preparing food at the counter, and she wanted to see what's going on.
She looked around, found a stool, moved it to the counter, and stepped on it.
Is that not genius? It is creativity and problem solving! Creativity is when a child comes up with a new solution, a new idea, a new creation.
There is no question, children are very creative.
Even though the degree of creativity varies from child to child, in general we much say - children are very creative.
In conclusion - all children are geniuses.
They are curious and look for subjects to learn non stop.
They learn lightening fast.
They use what they have learned immediately.
They are creative and able to come up with new ideas, new solutions and new creations.