Kudos to puffin and Platypus101! This is a great resource.
"What a Child Doesn't Learn", by Tracy Inman (bio
here), posted on the
Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University (WKU). The article opens with a quote by Susan Assouline (who many may be familiar with, from her work on
A Nation Deceived).
As a new school year is beginning for many families, I'm going to summarize this article briefly, listing the
ten skills mentioned as those which children develop through effort, but may not develop if under-challenged:
What does a child not learn? He doesn’t learn the values and skills needed in order to be a productive and caring person who contributes to our world.
...
Work ethic...
Responsibility...
Coping with disappointment...
Self-Worth Stemming from the Accomplishment of a Challenging Task...
Time-Management Skills...
Study Skills...
Goal Setting...
Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Skills...
Sacrifice.
...
these are the ingredients for a successful life.
The appropriate
challenge level is often called the zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Adding a link to an old post which had an impropmtu list of drawbacks to children who are not presented with academic & intellectual challenges.Kids need this appropriate level of challenge and they also
need academic/intellectual peers.
These
observations may signal that a change is needed and may be overdue.
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NOTE: The article, "What a Child Doesn't Learn", by Tracy Inman, is archived on the WayBack Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wku.edu/gifted/documents/resource_articles/what_a_child_doesnt_learn.pdf
