Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Advice/tips for encouraging gifted child

Good tip! We did get the books, but didn't shell out for the pricey paper. Any tips for getting my kid to leave a space in between words?

Jen21 - my kiddo was the same with his writing, getting frustrated when things didn't look how he wanted. He refused to take any advice or instruction from us parents before school. We left it to the teacher at kindergarten to teach writing. DS7 is still pretty bad at handwriting, but he's getting better. You can now recognize letters! (Though all the words squished together makes reading it a bit tricky.)

So, not really advice other than saying that sometimes with perfectionists, letting a teacher handle some situations (like handwriting, which is normally taught in kindergarten anyway), worked for us. Also HWT did help too. Mostly I think DS7 just needed to be developmentally ready for handwriting. And he needs lots of practice.

I have Wyatt draw a space in between words. _.

DS 6 also hates to struggle even the slightest bit. He likes "already knowing". This has been a problem since he was 3. He is not good at everything but he seems most vulnerable to tantrums over academic work. I think this is an area where he learns quite fast and a concept quickly become easy. I've realized that if I want him to keep on experiencing real learning I have to be on my toes because he will struggle with a new thing for only a few days before he needs another thing to keep him challenged. If I let him go at his schoo'sl pace where a concept is taught for a month or more than he will have spent too much time not practicing being challenged and will have a major melt down when the next hard task crops up.

Jen,

There is a very simple childrens book called "ISH" that had an amazing effect on my then 5 yo perfectionist. I can't remember who the writer is but if you look it up on google it will come up. It's somewhere around 9-12 dollars and worth every penny!

The book is about not letting others dictate the standard by which your work is judged. We must have read it 40 times. I was completely at a loss as to how to make my son stop beating himself up, refusing and screaming tantrums when something wasn't perfect. This made a HUGE difference.

Just looked it up. Peter Reynolds is the Author and the book is $8.23 on Amazon,

Thanks shari, My DD does a bit to much erasing. I think I'll get that one.