It's a bit late in the thread to be relevant to other people, but this link may shed some light on dealing with your younger players: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7406521 I've been tutoring a few students for the past year and noticed that several of them had this "You either got it or you don't" mentality. For some, it can be difficult to convince them otherwise. But I find that the best way to get them to be willing to challenge themselves is EXACTLY what you've been doing: lead them into it gradually. It makes sense when you realize that there are two issues here: their concept of intelligence and the lowered self-esteem that comes naturally from years of thinking "I don't got it."