Please help!
Aiden (6.5) is having a few difficulties with Nathan (4.75) achieving more than he is. This past weekend they both competed in SEMAS (japanese abacus maths) competitions, with Nathan getting a gold medal for paper A and Aiden a silver for paper B. Aiden is telling everyone who congratulates them that Nathan only got a gold because paper A was easier, and so HE himself actually did better. They both did incredibly well! They only did the program for 3 months before competing and I was so proud of both of them as they achieved their own personal goals in the comp - they didn't know there were medals etc to win beforehand.
He did work harder (ie did a few more practice tests and devised an entire convoluted practice technique for helping himself speed up) in the preparations, but wouldn't let me help him with a few things (including number writing clearly) as he insisted on doing it his way. Nathan worked consistently and let me show him a few things.
Nathan is definitely a faster learner - able to understand things on just a different level faster. He grasps things quicker and is able to apply them more openly across the board in what seems like a natural way - Aiden needs to think about it for a bit longer. I mean even Aiden is awesomely out there, but Nathan is just astounding to be honest. Possibly because he is less outwardly intense it's more visible - he has no perfectionism issues or performance anxiety things that i am aware of (Aiden has both).
How can I help them both cope with this narrowing gap? and with things like what happened at the competition? Please help me, I want them to be buddies (they are usually) I don't want Nathan to feel he has to downplay his achievements or hold himself back, and I don't want Aiden to feel he "lost" or that he has to continually justify his results.
