thanks, all!
Squishys - so true! that's actually how i am naturally - i couldn't give a rat's behind about making mistakes! i think that's probably why i'm finding this so hard to deal with in DD - for a kid who is clearly built to learn at a reasonable clip, it kills me to see her putting these roadblocks in front of herself.
ColinsMum - that is a good tip! my husband probably has some great examples of his perfectionism holding him back, i'm going to ask him to tell DD about them - i hope he's brave enough. the big challenge for me is that i'm completely the opposite - for as long as i can remember i've had a Search & Destroy approach to learning: if i didn't know it, i wasn't going to rest until i did. (it's probably massively annoying.)
Portia - Experimentation Time sounds totally great. it's a natural fit for homeschooling, too - we can just build that right in from Day One. it actually occurs to me that homeschooling itself might reduce the perfectionism tendency a little - she won't be in a classroom where she wants to protect her status as the All-Knowing. fingers crossed!
maybe it's time to bring back her old hero, Terry Fox. years ago she got really involved with his story, even writing to the Fox family to express her admiration. (his brother actually wrote back to her, it was really awesome.) her love for Terry really took over her life, but her interest quickly branched out more into the medical side. i have to choose a new bedtime book today, so maybe i'll pull out his biography again. thanks so much!!
