Hi,
I'm looking for some advice on how to nip hiding one's gifts and skills in the bud. My 5 year old son started reading at age 3. After starting to read he lost interest for awhile but regained the interest about a year ago. At the moment my guess is he's reading at 2nd grade level. He can easily read lengthy passages at home and has developed several strategies for figuring out words he doesn't yet know. He enjoys reading at home and feels proud of himself.
Here comes the problem... at school (a very, very good preschool) he hides his abilities (notably reading and math) from the other kids and his teachers. Yesterday when I noticed he pretended that he couldn't read a simple 5 word sentence I asked him why. After some gentle probing he finally admitted "I have a secret, mommy. I don't want the other kids to know that I'm a good reader."
His teachers are aware that he's advanced and they are great. They don't know, however, JUST how advanced he is. For example, he's in the highest math group. Last week he came home with the daily note that said the kids in his group were introduced to the idea of fractions. Well, he has a firm grasp of fractions so I asked him if he knew what the teacher showed him or if it was new for him. He replied that it was simple stuff she showed them and he already knew it. I asked if he told the teacher so she could show him something new and he said "no, I didn't want to hurt her feeling."
I am a firm believer that things like love of learning, fear of failing, perfectionism, creativity, joy, kindness, challenging oneself and not hiding skills is perhaps more important to focus on at this age than academic skills. That's why this is important to me. I want to nip in the bud the idea that he has to hide his skills so he can fit in or not be challenged or not hurt someone's feelings.
Has anybody come across the same issue with a young one? Any ideas or suggestions as to how to help him?
THANKS!!!
