Thanks for your advice, everyone. Gifted Mom, my son�s teacher is also determined that he needs to learn to do boring work. (Thank you very much for the book recommendation, BTW.) In some ways, I agree � sometimes you just need to practice (like hand writing, or playing an instrument) and it�s not always exciting. But there are ways to make practice less boring.
For example, he has to do a daily journal at home for writing practice, and often it was hard to get him to sit down and write. Then, for a few days, he started writing about the science books he had been reading and was really jazzed about it � wrote more than usual, without prompting, with elaborate, labeled diagrams � and was really excited to show it to his teacher. Instead of being pleased, she asked him to go back to writing about his day, like the other kids. When I asked her why, she said because he found it challenging. Well, sure � challenging to his six-year-old patience! He doesn�t care about keeping a diary; he cares about learning about science. If it�s just for writing practice, why not let him write about what he�s passionate about?
Movingup, I can relate� last week was a bad one� DS missed computer lab one day because he was made to finish his work and he missed PE twice. I was especially disappointed with him missing PE, because lack of exercise typically makes his behavior worse. I will check out the book you recommended.
I�m worried this laziness/stubbornness/defiance/underachieving/whatever it is will take hold and really sour his attitude towards school. And, of course, I want to see him do his best and develop his gifts. At the same time, though, I really don't want to aggravate his teacher, as she is very sweet, very qualified and (like most in public schools) underpaid and stretched thin. Maybe I will try the homework idea. Maybe I will just hold off for a bit and see how things progress.
On another note, DS did well with the 2nd grade math� already knows much of it and is ready to learn the rest. However, he got one problem wrong, and when I started to walk him through the right way to do it, he burst into tears.
I asked him why he was so sad, and he said, �Because it�s always supposed to be correct when I do it!� He was a sobbing mess for several minutes. That�s the first time I�ve seen him react like that� perfectionism? Frustration with not being good at something the first time, with little effort? All I can think is, uh oh.
