Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Confused on My child

I won't comment on whether your son is gifted. I think no matter what label a kid gets, as parents we want to find the learning environment that matches their needs, instill in the children that strong work ethic is required regardless of innate abilities, and everyone will be able to achieve something with hard work. Even if a few other kids catch up next year, so what? Your son will still be better off than not working hard.

I think whether an hour is too much depends on the child. If your son thinks it's appropriate, it most likely is. If he gets tired, frustrated, impatient or tells you that he doesn't want to do it, then it's too much. My kids didn't do that much extra math at that age (actually didn't do extra math at all in 1st grade), but they did plenty of music instrument practice. So I'd say watch your son, he'd let you know.