He is both a perfectionist and an applied learner- can't tolerate too much "instruction" without breaking down. :nodding:
This is also my DD.
Here's what works with her--
I do a problem, explaining as I go-- oh, and the other trick that I've learned is that the problems have to be HARD. REALLY hard-- hard enough that a cobbling-together of previous skills WILL NOT work to solve them, or she'll use what she knows rather than what I want her to learn.
We also work on either a large white-board or on a large plate-glass surface like a big window-- it's more fun, and dd's handwriting issues are less of a problem.
Then I ask questions-- or make errors ON PURPOSE... and have her 'check' my work.
Then I let her show me one.
The handling frustration thing, well-- I have no great advice for you there but to keep applying gentle pressure, because it DEFINITELY doesn't get better if they are permitted to quit what they find the slightest bit challenging. Goldilocks effect. Big time. Think about ways to stretch that proximal zone so that his tolerance
improves over time. No-- it isn't going to be pleasant for either one of you. But it has to happen or he'll be in real trouble as he gets older.
Some tips for math in particular--
pick up older copies of used textbooks-- just for the 'challenge' problems in them-- use those to "work on math" together as I described above.
DD has learned everything through trigonometry and statistics using that method. In algebra II I added a brief kind of 'recitation' to things, and expected her to take notes. But that was when she was 12 or so and needed to develop note-taking skills for college.
