The discussion below is very interesting. Do other people think I work the kids? Absolutely! It's incredibly annoying. It comes from other parents (so what's your evening schedule? What workbooks are the "secret"?), even after I tell them over and over that we don't do workbooks they just ask again next time they see me. It comes from teachers. DS8's violin teacher always, always comments on how busy DS is (she doesn't mean that DS doesn't have time to practise, it's really just "oh how does he handle all these he is still so young"). Yes he has a lot of activities going on, but given that he feels that everything is easy, it actually doesn't take him much time and I think he ends up having more free time than most of his friends. Plus, HE WANTED TO SIGN UP FOR ALL THESE HIMSELF! He truly enjoys all of these activities. And it could come from schoolteachers, too, but fortunately this year we are having an understanding teacher.
So my question is, for you guys out there with older kids, do you find this simply annoying, or does it actually hurt the kids? I think people might underestimate the kids' talent and self motivation if they believe that pushy parents are behind the kids' success. And this in turn will have impact on what opportunities the kids might get. So I sometimes go out of my way to explain that DS is truly this good, he is not the work of some flashcard system. Am I just paranoid?
