My husband and I were noting recently that our DS6 seems to have completely lost his perfectionist tendencies this year in K.

Of course sometimes K is easy but we push him at home to do above grade level work in math and he is in an immersion environment at school which can be harder for him. There's also a lot of writing which he's struggled with in the past for fine motor reasons. So I don't think it's that he has easier work.

I have a theory... in an immersion classroom you watch your classmates make huge mistakes and struggle daily just to speak simple sentences. It becomes normal/not scary. I think the immersion classroom itself has helped him with his perfectionism, which, if true, would be a nice side benefit.

Or maybe he just outgrew it!?

I'm curious. Anyone else have experience with this?

DS7 is in first grade this year, and his perfectionistic tendencies have definitely diminished since starting. Then again, the school actively encourages the kids to take risks, so I think that helps.

But I do think you're on to something. Having an environment where it's safe to fail really helps.