Are my kids less intelligent than other kids?

Yes some kids just aren't as bright as others but that doesn't mean you should give up on them, despite what other people say. With class sizes these days it's hard for teachers to spend one on one time with each student, so a lot of kids slip through the cracks. Maybe you should hire a private tutor to get them up to speed with the rest of the class. I'm sure once they have extra time spent on them they are just as capable as anyone else.

YES, some kids are born less intelligent than others. IQ scores test for that kind of thing. A learning disability is when you have a high IQ, but you're not performing up to the level of your intelligence. If you have a low IQ and you're not performing, you don't have a learning disability, you're just not that smart - you ARE living up to your potential.

When I read about kid's struggling in school, I'm mystified... school was easy for me, if anything I'd get bored because I wasn't challenged. But then put me in an advanced calculus class or a physics or chemistry class and I struggle.. it's not the way my mind works, I'm not genetically wired that way.

There is a link between genetics and IQ, but really environment is the strongest predictor - environment includes the womb, the home, the family culture, the school culture.

But, having an average IQ does not mean they won't succeed nor that they can't be wildly successful either - IQ does not measure social IQ nor creativity. Maybe your kids need to work harder then others but hard work means they learn things better when they master a subject.

"Are some kids born less intelligent naturally?"

Um, what? Yes, of course. Half of all kids are less intelligent than average - that's what average means.

Of course your kids are less intelligent than at least _some_ other kids.

maybe the thought of you and mom being seperated is starting to affect the kids in some way